Winter Garden in the cold!

I know, I'm going to get all kinds of emails from all our blog friends up north. "We don't know what cold is down here!" Although, last night we certainly got to experience some bad Florida weather. Tornado touch downs on the Gulf Coast. The area from Sarasota down toward Venice, FL and all across central Florida braced for tornados and severe thunder storms. The town of Duette (west of Sarasota) was hit by a tornado that killed a couple and injured two children. Several other homes were severely damaged as well. Fortunately, central Florida faired well but thunder and lightening covered the area in the wee hours of the morning. If you like lightening, Florida is the place for you. Ya know, sometimes a quiet snowstorm up north might just be more relaxing than some of Florida's storms.

We're just a bit late getting out our last bike ride post. My fingers finally thawed out! Cold finger tips is something we forget about being down here so long. The cold clean air was wonderful to breath in
but the wind added to the cold air can really make you feel pretty cold here in sunny Florida

We were greeted to an unusually packed parking lot. We learned that Florida Hospital offered a symposium at the Winter Garden theater and we had to make use of other parking areas near our starting point.

 

Wishing to stay incognito (and not trying to make a fashion statement), one of our riders covers up for the ride.

 

Needless to say nearly everyone was dressed for the temperature.

Kathy is determined to be safe and warm!

As we gather we made reservations for thirty-two at the Winter Garden Pizza Company. I just realized why everyone peddled so fast... to get into the warm building!

We may look disorganized but we are a fine tuned riding unit.... once we get on the trail! Well, most of the time. 

Just realized why we have so many photos of us prior to heading out for the trail... it was warmer in the sun!

 

At our destination, everyone enjoyed the sun and some conversation.

 

(Shhhhh, this is the rider who covered her face, don't tell anyone her name!)

Remember, earlier it was mentioned we were all dressed for the occasion? The rider in yellow is a brave soul!

 

Below, Judy is politely setting down the rules of the road! ...and she means business, she even has her gloves on! (Of course all of you know I'm kidding, right!)

 

Ahhhh, at last, warmth and what we do best... eat!

And that's how our ride went this past week. Our next ride is a new (to us) trail in Minneola, FL.

We're looking forward to starting out on the Minneola Trailhead Park. It starts out in Clermont and we'll head northwest for a number of miles and return. It looks like we trying a different restaurant this trek as well. Yummy!

 

In other news, we've been hoping for clear sky in the evenings to get in some stargazing with a couple of interested folks. Given that the sky is so light polluted here and clouds come and go like a NY taxi it's amazing we get any clear nights worth setting up the equipment.

We finally got out to see the 1st quarter moon as well as the Orion Nebula, an open cluster of stars and several double stars.

Hey look, there's the "poodle" on the moon. He's sitting and facing to the left!

 

The Orion Nebula

 

The Pleiades (Seven Sisters) The tight cluster that some people think is the "little Dipper."

It's a tightly grouped gathering of seven bright stars to the naked eye. However, when looking through even a small telescope you'll notice many more stars in this grouping.

 

And, a few double stars.

Below is the North Star. Contrary to belief the North Star is not a very bright object. It also has a distinctive double star and together they rotate about each other.

I cannot take any credit for the above photos. However, you have a neat idea of some of the fun we had hunting these objects down and seeing them with our own eyes.

 

All in all, our brief observing session was well worth the time to set-up and talk about the stars... even if it was on a low-lit street! I'm sure Linda and husband David will have some things to talk about over the next few days.

 

By the way, Bill and Angela are back and attending all the games etc. at Lake Magic. We're getting right into the swing of things and....eating out!

A ride around town

The Holidays are behind us and some of our fellow riders are up north or yet to arrive for the 2015-16 season. Over the next week or so we should all be together once again. We wish everyone a safe trip.
We think Bill and Angela is somewhere between here and Massachusetts!

We held our weekly bike ride with 14 riders. With our leaders, Joan and Pete up north we were in good hands with Merikay and John. We headed for Celebration right on time.

One couldn't help notice the elaborate and orderly placement of Larry and Judy's bikes on Larry's bike rack.

...how's this?

After the official "sign-in," where to dine and obligatory greetings we headed out.

 

 This handsom feathered guest was showing off for us!

 

Here's a little info on our friend the water bird...

The above waterbird is an Anhinga.

Below is  a photo of a Cormorant...

The most identifiable difference between the Anhinga and the Cormorant is their beaks.

The Anhinga has a straight pointed beak while the Cormorant has a hooked beak.

 

 

With Larry taking the lead we looked forward to a casual ride.

 Our regular pit-stop allowed for us to discuss the cool temps and settle the routine question to "split-up or not." We decided "not" this time.

 We took the time to solve some of the mundane issues of the day before we headed out.

 Our leader for the day, Larry was awestruck and needed a moment to plan our course.

Larry says, "what the heck, I'm an Uber driver I can find my way around!"

 Below, Larry and Jud..... hey, wait a minute.... where's Judy??

 Our next pit-stop at the pond gave us a minute to check for any wildlife at the pond and catch up with some of the newer riders.

 I think this fellow followed us from our starting point! The wildlife down here just can't resist a "photo-op!"

 

 "Wagons ho!" Larry boldly goes where no man dares.

 

 On the trail, John caught something in his front tire causing it to go flat.

 

 One of our riders, Mike offered to head back to return with his truck nd give John a hand.

After a location briefing, Larry set the group in order and made sure John was all set.

 With an overload of directions from just about all of us John was ready to head out.

 

 We "circled the wagons" and put on the feed bag at the Celebration Town Tavern.

(Shhhhh, there's Judy!)

 

 After much discussion, Larry tries to get out of the photo!

But that ain't happening!

 Realizing he was trapped he tried to get others into the photo.

 Aha! Great, but hey Larry.... again, where's Judy???

And that's how it goes on our weekly ride. Next week our leaders will once again take the reins and whip the group into order as usual.

 

For the record, while Mike was helping John, a few others decided they'd like to take the ride rather than peddle the rest of the way to the Town Tavern.

 

Whew, after all this writing, I need my weekly fix of....

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Flipper's Pizza!

 

A New Year Begins!

I brought the New Year in waiting in a parking lot waiting for guests. Yep, I was one of the many working New Year's eve. It's safe to say Disney World was packed. I managed to beat the traffic thanks to the suggestions from my colleagues and took "the long way around" getting my guests back and forth. However, I wasn't so lucky returning the vehicle and clocking out. In an attempt to manage the flow of traffic, the authorities blocked any turns along the Disney Springs area of Buena Vista Blvd. Traffic was basically at a standstill but fortunately many of us returning to Team Disney arriving after 2:00a.m. were at the tale end of the heaviest congestion.

I hope many of you enjoyed more relaxation and fun as you rang in the New Year.

The Palm Tree Bikers didn't plan a bike ride last week. So, I'll have to be a little more creative writing this blog.

Hmmmm, Let's see, what would it be like if....

...Husbands and wifes had to ride together?

...Steve brought his other bike down here to ride?

...Jack was seen riding on the back roads of New England?

...The Palm Tree Bikers weren't so health conscious?

...Pete could design his own bike?

...we decided to "eat on the go?"

...this is what the West Orange Bike Trail felt like?

As they say, "Time and tide waits for no man." Here's a photo from just a few years ago. At least we're having lots of fun as we continue to make some great memories!

 Happy New Year!