Christmas Day

On Christmas Day, Rachael, Pam and I journeyed to the lovely Jensen Beach, FL home of Rob and Amy. Amy is my niece. Rob and Amy have 3 boys, Will, Andrew and Blake.

My mother, Gene, spending the winter with my sister Cathy and her hubby Ron, all traveled across the state to join us for Christmas. Pictured below are Cathy, Ron and Will.

Shown here are Gene, Blake, Rachael and Andrew:

My mother will celebrate her 97th birthday December 27!

I led the group singing Christmas carols by playing the piano. The family enjoyed it so much we even sang some songs twice! 

An interesting twist to this singing activity was using iPads for the carolers to see the lyrics, greatly aiding the singing capability of the group.

Those seated at the Christmas dinner table for a scrumptious feast included the aforementioned family members and also Rob's mother, Gail, and grandmother, Jean.

Merry Christmas everyone!

St. Johns River

Today Pam and I enjoyed our first air boat ride. We experienced a 70 minute ride on the St. Johns River. It was a perfect day for cruising the river with temperatures just above 80 degrees and partly sunny skies.  The air boats are powered by 8.1L souped-up Vortec engines, the same engine powering our pickup. 

Strangely there are cattle in the middle of the river.  Some appear to be on land (islands?) and others appear to be standing on water and others are 3 feet deep with vegetation all around them.  

The air boat operator/guide made sure we got to see several alligators up close.  The one pictured below was the biggest we saw at approximately 13' length.

We also saw a couple of Rosy (Roseate) Spoonbills.  These are beautiful, pink-colored water birds, the only pink birds native to Florida.

On the west side of the St Johns River we went into the Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area full of lovely Cypress trees standing in the water. It was very quiet and peaceful in this area.

Upon conclusion of the tour, guests are invited to hold this 3-year old alligator!

 The gift shop also had a pot-bellied pig snorting and grunting on the floor.  I think it just wanted all the tourists to leave him alone so he could sleep!

Fort Christmas and Epcot

On Wednesday December 17, Pam and I visited Fort Christmas Historical Park here in Christmas, FL. Fort Christmas was built during the Second Seminole War. Construction began on December 25, 1837, with the arrival of 2,000 U.S. Army Soldiers and Alabama volunteers. The historical narrative of the park displays are focused on the "cowboys and indians" history of the area.

Thursday we returned to the Disney parks and enjoyed Epcot with Rachael.

Epcot wasn't decorated as extensively as Hollywood Studios for the Christmas season but there were a large number of Poinsettias throughout the park.

We enjoyed Christmas music at the American Heritage Hall and later at an amphitheatre aside the big lagoon.

Hollywood and the American Girl

On Friday December 12, Rachael, Pam and I visited Disney's Hollywood Studios.  It was a fun day even though the sun never showed up and the temperatures peaked at 60 degrees.

Our favorite ride (family consensus) was the The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride. After dark they turn on 35 miles of christmas lighting on one of the streets in the park. The view is riveting and a magnet for everyone in attendance to stand in the street or try to walk the street. Now I can imagine what Times Square on New Year's Eve might be like!

The next morning we rose early to pick up Mike from the airport. After a nice breakfast we went to Rachael's apartment in Orlando.

I shared the lake behind our campground with Mike.  The lake looked spectacular on this beautiful Saturday afternoon.

Monday we sampled the goods at the American Girl Store bistro where Rachael works at the Florida Mall in Orlando near the Airport.  Rachael is a great waitress!

Where Did the Week Go?

Wow! Tomorrow (Friday) marks the end of our first week at Christmas RV Park.

Rachael, our daughter, lives in Orlando a little over 10 miles away from where we are camping. She has been by twice to visit.

Pam and I are very happy with our 5th Wheel home. 

The Christmas RV Park is very nice as are the management and guests.  Our neighbors tell us the park won't fill up until after the holidays.

One of the neighbors alerted me to a lake that is hidden behind our park. I've taken Allie for a walk each of the last 2 days around this beautiful lake.

The two track path road around the lake is also traveled by cattle.  Yesterday I saw 4 cattle on the other side of the lake and we steered (pun intended) clear of that side.  Today I didn't see them.

I do worry about snakes, wild boar and alligators walking around the lake.  I hope they are trying hard to avoid us.

Today I spotted these purple berries on my walk along the lake.  I wonder what they are.

Pam has been busy.  She put together the puzzle shown above, another one last night, also working on one in the park clubhouse and has started yet another in the trailer tonight. 

Christmas is Here

We had a leisurely morning today.  We knew we only needed to travel 200 miles today. I took Allie for a walk of the entire Ocean Pond campground this morning enjoying the heavily wooded scenery and lake views. The campground is sparsely populated.

Christmas is here, that is the town of Christmas, FL our residence for the next month. Christmas is located about halfway between Orlando and the Kennedy Space Center.

It began raining on and off upon our arrival at Christmas RV Park.  I started to hook up the electricity and it started pouring rain.  I stopped and waited inside the RV and then the rain stopped. Then I proceeded to hook up the water and it started pouring again.  It continued to rain on and off for the rest of the day.  The Weather Channel web site said there was 0% chance of rain today.  Hah!

Tomorrow we will see our daughter Rachael after she gets off work.  We have not seen her in person since August when she moved to Orlando. We did enjoy seeing her via a Skype phone call recently.

What Would You Do?

As I was filling the gas tank on our pickup at a very busy truck stop in Kentucky yesterday, a young woman approached me and asked for gas money. I assumed she wasn't really needing gas money and was simply begging so I lied and said I had no cash. 

As it turned out, she did have a car and it was parked on the opposite side of my pump. My wife and I  were taking time to fill our gas tank, walk the dog and take care of potty business.  During all of this I watched this young woman as she approached people at other pumps and presumably get turned down by them as well.  Her empty car was still parked at the pump as she continued to try and raise money.

As I drove that afternoon and evening after being approached by this woman, I began to wonder what was this woman's story.  I certainly could have chosen to be charitable, but in that quick moment when she approached me I was quick to say no and she was quick to move on. 

Would I have believed her story had she been willing to share it?  Would I have been patient enough to listen? Is it any of my business to know her story before deciding to be generous? Why wasn't I more of a Christian in the moment she approached me?

On Ocean Pond

Today we made a spontaneous decision at mid afternoon about 40 miles west of Jacksonville to try and stop for the day. This morning we left Clanton, AL at the crack of dawn (Central Time) crossed into Florida by mid-morning, and we were ready to call it a day. 

Being "smart" people, with new for us smartphones, we determined while sitting at a rest area on I-10 that we were 2 miles from a campground in the Osceola National Forest. Google must have meant 2 miles as the crow flies or for those going westbound.  We headed east and ended up driving about 15 miles, but the smartphone's Google Navigation app properly directed us here.  Our GPS, by comparison, couldn't even find this campground, so score one for smart phones. 

Those of you using smartphones for years are probably rolling your eyes.  Pardon me for boring you with technology admiration.  On another technical note, this blog is published, for your reading pleasure, from the wilderness thanks to hotspot technology.

This Ocean Pond campground is located on Ocean Pond, a good-sized lake, perhaps a bit bigger than our own Cass Lake back home. We were able to score a lake-front lot on this beautiful 78 degree Thursday afternoon.  Everyone camping here in this campground has gray hair (except us, of course!).

Corvette Country

Today we journeyed from Indiana to Alabama on I-65.  We determined that each state has progressively been warmer heading south.  Imagine that!  In Michigan it was on the 20's.  Ohio and Indiana were in the 30's. Kentucky was in the 40's, Tennessee in the 50's and Alabama was in the 60's. Perhaps we'll see the 70's in Florida tomorrow.

As we approached Bowling Green, KY we saw a few transport trucks hauling brand-new Corvettes heading north.  Each car is ensconced in its own bag-like cover. The covering for the windshield is like a antique car side-curtain plastic window.

We were able to view from I-65, GM's Bowling Green Assembly Plant where the Corvettes are built. We also passed the National Corvette Museum not far from the plant. Important note for Ford enthusiasts: Earlier today, we also passed the Louisville Assembly Plant where the Ford Escape and Lincoln MKC are built.

Tonight we are "camping" at the Clanton Walmart in Clanton, AL. It's supposed to get all the way down to 57 degrees tonight.  

And Away We Go!

Since we weren't sure we'd get away Tuesday, we ended up spending most of Tuesday morning packing. We made it to our targeted destination, Columbus, IN. We parked at a Walmart for the night.

Turns out Columbus is adjacent to Bloomington, IN, home of Indiana University.  Columbus is also home to IUPUC (Indiana University/Purdue University Columbus campus?).

When we awoke Wednesday morning, we found out it had snowed. It wasn't supposed to do that! 

Season 2 - Getaway Plans

Pam and I have been planning for weeks to leave tomorrow (December 2) and embark on our second annual "Retirement Journey".  In August we purchased a used 5th wheel RV and truck for our journeys. We plan is to stay approximately a month each at four RV parks in Florida.

Potential health concerns have complicated our departure plan. Pam learned last Wednesday that she must have a needle biopsy on a small lump in her breast.  The holiday weekend made it difficult to follow up with the doctor and schedule the biopsy.   Fortunately Pam was able to schedule a same day appointment today and was told shortly after the test that there is no concern with her breast. 

Praise the Lord!