Glen Beck's book signing!

I promise not to let this post turn into a political discussion! Last Saturday I spent over two hours standing in line for a chance to meet Glen Beck at Barnes & Noble's Bookstore in downtown Orlando. Arriving a mere hour and a half before the scheduled 11:30 to 12:30 book signing, I was lucky to be number 343 before the real crowd lined up. If you don't know, Glen Beck is a Conservative Talk Show host who is doing his best to perserve and protect America from the very elected politicians who are sworn to protect it. Glen has, as he says, "connected the dots" between Obama, his Czars and the unions with an ultra Left Wing, Liveral/Progressive Agenda. Glen's first two books; "Common Sense" and "Arguing with Idiots" are best sellers and filled with facts you'll never hear on main stream media.
I began listening to Glen months ago and guickly began to watch his show as the Obama administration began "saying one thing and doing quite another." Pat purchased his book "Arguing with Idiots" for me just before we headed out for the season. Following Glen on his web site and  TV increased my interest in his passion to make Americans aware of the direction America is headed under the current administration.
Glen's Book Tour placed him in Cities providing me with a chance to have him sign my books. Orlando fit the bill just right.
This is the first time I've ever attended a book signing, especially for such a controversial Talk Show Personality, and it turned out to be a good experience. Obviously, as near as I can tell, the group was made up of Beck supporters, very much ProAmerican and not happy with the current administration. The attendees were quiet and extremely patient.
Barnes & Noble establishes "rules" for book signings to expedite the process and it all became rather exciting. Glen was only going to sign "Arguing with Idoits" and  (his latest book) "The Christmas Sweater." We had to set the book cover into a specific front page. Glen would not be able to pose for photos, however you were allowed to take all the photos you like. The staff put wrist tags on all of us and ushered us to specific store book sections where they "weaved" us through the book shelves to wait for Glen.

Glen's bus stopped at the front of the store but some how, Glen "snuck" in from the side of the main floor and took his place. Those in the front of the line let out greetings and we began to move up the line.

Glen's "handlers" would take each book, open to the book to the pre-established place and set them in front of Glen. Each person had an opportunity to shake his hand, say a word or two and another "handler" would take the book, close it and hand it to you. It was my turn. I passed the book to Glen's "handler" moved in front of Glen (on the right), greeted him and he thanked me for supporting him. While shaking Glen's hand, we made eye contact and I sensed his passion and deep sincerity of his belief in our American way of life. Glen's "handler" passed me my book and I headed out the door.

Glen signed nearly 1000 books. Outside, people were lingering nnd taking photos in front of his bus.

My first book signing turned out to be quite an experience.

A "bed time" story!

Here's a story that will tickle your funny bone. It's 10:00 p.m. and you're settling in for a quiet night in mild temperatures. Your windows are open and even the local Florida night time insects are soothing. Suddenly, it's raining water into your camper! You scamper for towels or anything that will hold back the spray as it seems to be coming at you from every window. A sudden storm? We know "Ida" was due here either today or tomorrow. But, last night??? Naw, it was all "Little" Buzz' doing! ... and, now, the rest of the story...
Our friend Buzz (of our friends Darlene and Buzz) noticed a tiny problematic leak at his exterior water connection on the campground's water post earlier in the day. It was such a tiny leak. Buzz thought he would simply help out the campground and replace the water faucet with a nice new one from Lowe's. After all, the faucet was threaded into the PVC pipe... that's been in the Florida sun for ten or more years!
So, after visiting with their friends, Darlene and Buzz made their way back to their camper. It was a nice night, mild and quiet and 10:00 p.m. Buzz decided this was a perfect time to replace that new faucet. In the dark, Buzz dutifully took a shiny wrench out of his tool box and fit it to the metal faucet flats and gently applied pressure to the leaky faucet... and sheard off the PVC pipe below the shut-off valve!
Buzz was blasted with a high pressure stream of water that rose twice the height of their fifth-wheel travel trailer. Sans any light/flashlight, Buzz had all he could do to redirect the full force of the gushing water as the spray hit every bay or window Buzz had opened, including the windows and roof vents. Meanwhile, Darlene is in full attack mode throwing towels and even their dog, Winston (figuratively) on the rapidly invading rush of water.
All the while, Darlene and Buzz fought valiantly with nary a sound in the dark! Their neighbor, "Big" Buzz, heard the rush of water running down the street and wondered if it had rained. Checking outside "Big" Buzz was awe struck to see the plume of gushing water rising above Darlene and "Little" Buzz' camper.
While "Little" Buzz fended off the geyser, Darlene mashed down on their diesel throttle and headed toward the campground Maintenance Manager's camper. Within seconds, Adrian showed up and in the dark floundered around and found a shut-off a couple of campers down line.
Buzz was soaked! His tool box was full of water. His camper basement bay was soaked. Adrian, checked out the PVC break and deceided she could fix it right then and there. Buzz and Darlene finally got to rest after midnight. Buzz was somewhat "stirred up" and finally closed his eyes near 2:00 a.m.
Buzz has become a bit of a celebrity here at Lake Magic! And the best advice we can offer Buzz is; if he wants to tackle any job while he's here... he must NEVER start a job after sunset!!!
... and, now, you know the rest of the story!

Campground activities

We're getting into the park routine. Ice Cream Socials, bike trail rides, game nights, and some volunteering. Our days are getting busier and we're trying to keep up a routine of bike riding or walking.

This is what we do down here. As we wind up our activities here we'll have much more to write about so don't give up on our Blogs. Gnorm is getting itchy to get out and about and we're getting into our routine. Till next time!

Pat helped out for our first Saturday morning breakfast at the park.

Critters are different in FL

Just when you think it's safe to walk around, guess what we see...

Our little friend here is an Eastern Coachwhip Snake and is non-venomous, however it is over five feet long! Its marking is striking. His head is very near the color of the ground cover. The dark brown color extends about eight inches from his head and becomes light tan for the rest of its length. According to the website I searched for info, this snake is really fast. It says, "try to catch this on, if you can, it's probably faster than a Black Racer." http://www.floridabackyardsnakes.com/ (This is a terrific site to find out about the FL snake population.) Check out the "Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake." There are a few of those running around here as well! But, fear not, these critters are seldom seen. As long as you stay out of the brush and higher grass you may never see one. We only happened to see the Coachwhip Snake because he was moving along the back of the bathhouse among the darker mulch. Of course, this is all Darlene needed to see... especially since their new campsite is about 50' from the bathhouse!

We headed out for our first morning bike ride. We biked Fort Wilderness and took the boat to The Wave in the Contemporary Resort. Eight of us enjoyed cooler temps with an overcast sky as we made our way through the camping loops.

Yes, Gnorm wasn't about to be left behind! You'll just have to check out his blog to catch up with his adventures!
W're getting into the campground activites which seem to be starting earlier than last year. We had our first shuffleboard games today and Pat and her partner Larry will have their names on the campground TV this week! Yours truly had a couple of good "practice" games!
Till next time.

Back in the heat... again!

The New England temps followed us most of the way south. We began feeling the heat and humidity in southern Georgia. It got hotter in Florida.

The route south went very well. Traffic was in our favor as we met but one brief slow-down just south of D.C. Two campgrounds, one truck stop and a short final day of driving put us in our site with enough time to rush to "Sweet Tomatoes" and a walk-about in Magic Kingdom. The park is decked out in its Halloween attire.

The park was noticeably less attended by guests than we've noticed before. We took advantage of short lines at some of the attractions and headed for the Gran Pris race track.

The newly refurbished "Hall of Presidents" was open and is still a favorite for us. The video and audio has been updated and the program expanded.

Our walk down Main Street in the warm evening was a welcome treat that always manages to bring back fond memories.

Hey, it's good to be back home again!

Hi Folks,

We spent two days in Intercourse, PA, visited with our Amish friends and enjoyed some great food. Amish country is gearing up for it's busy season, the fall.
Our final day of driving is just over 400 miles and we were psyched up for the drive. The throttle was pressed just a little bit further to the floor as we worked our way home. Our 6,000 plus mile trip was over. Our Journey motor home did it's job flawlessly, never skipped a "beat" and served us well for the entire distance. I'll be giving our Journey a "treat" over the next few weeks. Fresh oil, filters, grease and even a check up at a local truck service center. Likewise, our HHR did a fine job as it dutifully "followed" along behind us the entire 6,000 plus mile trek. We drove the HHR over 800 miles and we appreciated having our "TOAD" with us.

You may recall, early on in our trip we totally forgot that we had to renew all our vehicles registrations. Thanks to the help of Laura, our Park owner and Pat's sister Angela and her husband Bill, we were able to put all the new registration stickers on our plates and paperwork in our glove boxes... of the motor home and the HHR. We waited until we returned home to put the plate stickers on the Toyota. While taking care of the registration stickers and inserting the new registration into the folder for the Toyota, I took a minute to remove old registrations/inspection papers from the folder. It was then that I began to look for the "Insurance Verification Form" that MUST be in the vehicle at all times! Being from MA, it was never required because in MA you cannot register a vehicle without insurance. However, in all other states, you are required (by law) to keep the "Insurance Verification Form" in the vehicle with the registration! So here's a "slap of the forehead" for ya! Just before leaving for FL last October, Pat renewed all three vehicles insurance. We received the "Insurance Verification Froms" and she "filed" them away... for the winter! We drove all three vehicles (and two of them nearly all the way across the country) while the forms sat in our file box at home for nearly the entire year! You can bet, that won't happen again... and we will not be forgetting to renew our vehicle registrations!!!!!

We had a great time. We got to see the major attractions we wanted to see and we've learned a great deal about the many beautiful places and people America has to offer. We're already thinking about another trip west!

Pat and I want to thank each and every one of you for following along with us. We hope you've enjoyed reading our Blogs as much as I've enjoyed writing them.

We hope to enjoy a WIT weekend campout in early October and then we begin our preparation for our journey south for the winter.

May each and everyone of you enjoy good health, many wonderful moments in the months to come... and if you like, I'll continue with our blog. Fortunately, for Gnorm, Debbie has agreed to our "Ransom Demands" and Gnorm will be taking his "Place of honor" in her garden very soon. I guess we'll just have to "abduct" another "critter!"

As you travel, always try to enjoy the view from your windshield!

Dave and Pat

P.S. If you choose to enlarge the above photo, it may take a long time to open in another window, it's a large photo made up of four pictures "stitched" together.

Hey, it's good to be back home again!