At Last!

I'm used to playing "catch-up!" This work thing is beginning to cut into my retirement. But the new role is fun and not all that tiring.

I've missed two bike rides but thanks to Judy I have a couple of photos to share with all of you.
Two weeks ago they headed out to Fort Wilderness and enjoyed a great lunch the Roaring Fork.

The next week they headed to Celebration. They enjoyed a lunch at the Cuban Club.

As you can see our group is growing as it does each year at this time.

I worked a split shift this past Monday and missed out on the ride but managed to enjoy lunch with our group. I heard that Bobby had a fall on the bike ride. She made it to lunch and she was doing very well. We're still missing some of our riders but they're with us in spirit.

 I think I'm going to get to ride next week.

DownTown Disney is undergoing some parking lot changes. They've taken out the parking lot from DisneyQuest to Planet Hollywood. There were a number of cranes raising various structures and now there are two large cranes left to raise the parking lot structure over the next year.
We've caught sight of a couple of the new Disney buses that "bend" in the middle. And now we are heading into the busy time of the year.

Boy, I've got to get out more so I have more stories for our blog.

We wish each and everyone of you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Another ride, another lunch... what else would you expect!

First off our group, growing in numbers, biked the West Orange Trail in Winter Garden. For some reason the ride seemed to go much quicker than normal. Either our egos got the better of us (cause only one of our group actually rode our bikes over the summer months (Jim)! OR, we couldn't wait to get to lunch at the Winter Garden Pizza Company! Either way, we made our rest stop and were quite surprised to hear the bike shop was selling the rental bikes at a great price. Jim was the most interested... although Pete hung in with him to check out the deal. We haven't heard if anyone was interested but it sure sounded like a deal. The bikes are seven speed and three years old and they're selling for $130.00.

 

 

Early on, Pete chatted with the shop employee. Most likely to see what was new.

 

 

As you can see, Jack was just a tad stiff and sore from the five mile half way point! With Judy's encouragement Jack made it back from the brink.

 

You'll all be happy to know that we all made it to lunch. Heck, ambulances or not we were determined to enjoy our lunch! Lunch was on the quiet side except for the sighs and whimpering due to our sore butts and muscles! ....Except for Jim and Judy of course, they're the only ones in shape!

 

We must've looked pretty rough when we pulled into the restaurant. We think they put our small group into the large dinning room to keep our sighs from affecting the rest of the customers! 

 

 

Well, life goes on and the urge for pizza got the best of Buzz, Darlene, Pat and I...

 we made a bee-line to......

 

 

Yummy! My Pie with red onions and green peppers! Now surely those of you who know of what I speak remember that great taste???????? 

Our HHR is aging gracefully. The odometer is a give away, but catching a unique milestone is something I never gave too much thought to.

 

But this number caught my attention.....

...not to mention the temperature!!!!

 

 

In other news, walking the dog the other day we happened to catch one of our locals catching some sun on one of our (believe it or not) cooler days.....



This fellow was completely out of the water and when I got a little too close he rose up on all fours and turned for the water. I must admit, while laying on the grass he didn't appear to be as big as he is until he turned. This guy is reaching the six foot mark!

(And yes, I held Lilly in my arms!)

Speaking of predators, one of my co-workers owns a 12 year old Yorkie. One day, in their back yard their Yorkie (Rudi, off the leash) and her husband were walking near their pool. The husband was hit by the wing of a huge hawk aiming for Rudi. Thankfully, hitting her husband caused the hawk to miss the target. Her husband said he never heard a sound as the bird dove on Rudi.

Lesson learned! Don't let small pets wander around off the leash even in the yard alone here in Florida!

 

 

 

And for the record....... there were no doggie bags for "My Pie!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "gangs" here... well, at least some of them!

Seven of us headed to Fort Wilderness for our Monday ride. We ended up just a mile or two shy of our typical ten mile ride. It turned out that Jim and Judy found out what happens when you offer "full availability" to the Disney Schedulers! They were scheduled five consecutive days for the next couple of weeks... or until they change their availability!

None of us minded their leaving early and gave us all an excuse to "bow out" of a longer ride due to being out of shape.

Reluctantly, Pete assumed the lead and did an admirable job. He tried in vain to take us by all the Halloween decorated sites only to notice just a few sites worthy of our attention. So... we took the hint from the "ghostly travelers" below and moved on.

 

The below corner site was the one site with any extensive decorations.

 

Our boat ride to the Wave was complimented by a most cordial female boat Captain.

 

Ahhh, it sure felt like old times!

Pat also joined us for lunch.

Betty, Mel, Brian and other Wave wait staff welcomed each of us with open arms and are eagerly expecting our full entourage to return so things can get back to normal.

Yes, most of us selected the Reuben!

 

 

A day or so later (Little) Buzz and Darlene (and Winston) arrived at Encore and set-up camp.

Slowly but surely, our group is returning and our next ride is much anticipated.

Ahhh, a little ride... a little pain!

Our group was small but big in spirit! Representing the proud "Palm Tree Bikers," Jack, Steve and Dave headed out this morning to give the 2013-14 biking season a rousing "first day" bike ride.
As you might expect we drove 192 east in traffic and made our way to Celebration.

We were all just a bit tentative being that we eased out of our biking routine sometime last Spring.

But, we were ready and eager for the task.

 

Yours truly opted to lead for this ride. As they say, "it's lonely at the top!"

I thought everyone would be "drafting" me with the help of my blistering pace! To tell the truth, I think they just wanted to "ease on down the road!"

 

Things have begun to change in a big way here in the "Four Corners" area along 192. Many of you will be quite surprised by the building and ground clearing taking place between Encore Lake Magic and Celebration when you return.

 

Here's some of what you can see when you return....

Remember the hospital building construction last year? Well, here it is....

 

Remember the residential construction along Celebration Blvd.?..

 

Urban sprawl!!!

 

At least more than a few "locals" are still hanging around....

 

Speaking of people escaping winter's grasp, here's a surprise for ya....

Above is Jim (in their red car), Judy, Joan and Pete arriving for lunch at the TownTavern!

Welcome back one and all.

Jim and Judy just drove in this morning and just a couple of hours later Pete and Joan hopped off their vehicle transport train and dropped in rested and ready to go. (Jim said he was well rested as well. He only had to carry a tiny suitcase for the trip south!)

Jim and Judy had their camper moved on site and will have it ready for the new season in no time.

All Pete and Joan had to do to their camper is open the door and set the awning!

 

It's official! The "Snowbirds" are coming home to roost!

 

 

 

 

They're Back!

Hi Everyone,
Yep, It's October and the chill air of the Fall is working its magic. People are beginning to head south! Last week "Just" Jack returned to his hibernating truck and camper. Steve just pulled in yesterday. Larry and Carol have been here for a few days as well. And, tomorrow, three "Palm Tree Bikers" (Jack, Steve and Dave) will head for Celebration to kick off the 2013-14 season.

Here's a heads up for travelers heading to the "Four Corners" area. 192 will undergo road construction beginning 10/21/13. We're not sure what they are doing to the highway. It could be they are widening the roadway.

We know the next two weeks will be busy with "Snowbird" traffic from the North, East and West.

We wish everyone a safe and enjoyable journey south. See you soon!

Dave and Pat

Part 6-Trip North Winding down and heading south

Our Blog has been rather quiet lately. We've only been home just over two weeks and it seems so much longer. By now, you know that Pat and I are now "owned" by a two-plus pound puppy that allows us to go to work, feed her and (attempt) to train her so we can get back a semblance of our lives. Its been many years since we've owned a pet but this pup is doing all it can to refresh our memories! I'll let her tell her story http://ladylillyoflancaster.blogspot.com/ so I can get on with our story.

Our northern visit meant Doctor's appointments. It seemed the two of us were visiting a doctor nearly every other day or two. Fortunately, all of our appointments were good and thankfully, all our tests were normal.

Once again our good friends Lee and Pam set aside their "campsite" for us to set-up camp. You may recall last year Lee and Pam became owners of a Super-Modified race car. Well, this year they were well into the "race mode" when we dropped in on them. They are working hard to adjust to the sheer time commitment of owning a race car. Weekend runs to the track, many out-of-state, and late nights preparing the car for the next race are the S.O.P.s for them. While we were there, they were testing a new motor.

This beauty puts out around 900 Horsepower!

The original engine puts out a mere 600 Horsepower!

It'll take a few more runs to "dial" in the motor and get used to its differences.

Here's how the new engine looks in the car...

Below you can see (in the rear) the old engine and the new one.

 

Pam works just as hard as Lee on making the car race ready.

Pam preps and cleans and signs-off on the trailer and race car for cleanliness before heading to the track.

Mind you, all of this attention to detail is under the watchful eyes of another "half-pint" member of their family..... "Mindy!"

Just in case you don't see the "eyes" here's a better picture for you....

Nothing gets by "Mindy!"

They literally squeeze the race car into the trailer and off they gooooooo.

The car ran well at the race. The motor ran strong but anytime you make a major change to a fine tuned race car there's an adjustment period for both the driver and crew to "dial" it in. We wish them luck as their first year of racing as owners comes to a close.

 

Topping off Lee and Pam's summer was a issue with their motorhome. Oil was being forced into their cooling system and on one trip they had to leave the motorhome for a service while on the road. They had to return home without it only to have to return to pick it up. The problem turned out to be much more complicated than originally diagnosed. On their return trip from another race their coach was overheating and once again, oil was getting into their coach's radiator. It's not a pretty site....

Above, looking at the rear of their coach, you can see the (gray) oil that was pushing out of the radiator cap and all over the rear engine "hood." They ended up trying to drive it to the Cummins Service Center in Concord, NH. It unfortunately began to overheat too much and had to be towed.

We'll find out how they made out and what the problem was and let you know later.

 

Working on their excavating business during the day and the race car by night didn't leave Lee and Pam much time for socializing. In bits and pieces, we got together to catch up with all we've been up to over the past year.

 

Pat and I had the opportunity to visit the horse barn where Ashley works part time while attending college. (Going for her Master's degree currently!) Both Pat and I were amazed with Ashley's ability to handle the horses she cares for...in addition to a feisty pigmy goat!

 

 

Ashley is truly one gifted young lady!

 

Beginning her semester at B.U. is one good reason Ashley needed to get her own transportation.

Ma and Pa (known to all of you as Angela and Bill) were kind enough to loan Ashley their car until she could get her own wheels.

Well that she did....

 

We all had to go with her to pick up her new (to her) 2002 Subaru. We wish her lots of safe and carefree driving.

 

She wasn't toooo excited!

 

Then, Bill and Angela and son Bill Jr., Pat and I enjoyed another very special time with Ashley....

we got to meet Ashley's beau, Eric.

He is a wonderful young man and passed the "family test" with flying colors.

We'd like to thank Bill and Angela's son Bill Jr. for taking our photo.

 

Pat and I headed a little further north to Sunapee, NH for a weekend with our friends George and Judy. They've renovated the kitchen of their northern home and are getting it ready as a comfortable retirement home.

The highlight for me was to do some star gazing with Georges new Celestron 8" Schmidt Cassegrain telescope. George works nights and has had little, if any, time to take in some observing. In short, we managed to do some star testing but the night sky was not very helpful so we had an early night. However, all indications are that he has one outstanding optical instrument.

 

The next day George and I set out in his MB Kompressor to Camping World to check out his son's new travel trailer....

Good luck Mike and Candice!

 

While we were there we just couldn't pass up looking at a couple of other units...

George really liked this little beauty!

 

.... and a personal favorite of mine....

 

One of the great things about the northern states in the summer is the great weather and feeding the humming birds!

 

From there we headed to the home of our cousins Maryanne and Matt. We enjoyed a terrific time with our Aunt Ruthie, and their families, Angela and Bob, Rick and Pat, Bill and Angela and their daughter Dawn, her son Cody and Ashley. Maryanne and Matt's son Matt Jr. and daughter Amy dropped in as well.

We also got to enjoy celebrating Pat's birthday....

Above, Ashley presents Pat with her very own candle to blow out!

 

We had a great time and visited with our very special Aunt Ruth.

 

We enjoyed visiting with everyone and Ashley dropped in on us for one last farewell before beginning our southern trek.

 

The time flew by and we had a planned stop over in Hamburg, PA so we could drive into Intercourse, PA early the next day... to pick up "Lilly!"

Our stop over was in the parking lot of Cabela's

 

 

 

Cabela's is a great stop over and we enjoyed an early morning light breakfast when they opened the doors and then headed out to pick up our two-plus pound pet that will change our daily routine literally overnight!

 

I'm sure "Lilly" will have much more to tell you!

 

All right all you "snowbirds," its time to start packing and planning your routes south.

It's the first day of Fall and October is days away! So, come on down!