That's All Folks

It is with a heavy heart we ready ourselves to leave Apache Jctn. The weather here today was about 85F, what a nice sunny day with a bit of a breeze. Both Marg & I spent time in the pool. It's a real social environment, everyone is pretty chatty. Keeps their minds off the sagging old bods in the tank, LOL. Someone always says, All the Canadians stand up! Not sure what that is all about, probably to show the yanks we are important. Anyway it was mostly Canucks and everyone dreading the weather back home. Everyone shared a horror story. I thought we were pretty far away, but one couple is from Fairview. Quite a few people leaving tomorrow. Some of these seniors have to go back to work - what is that anyway? Apparently traffic gets pretty congested at some of the major highway intersections. Will let you know as we are going west thru Quartsite, a 4 way stop that is notorious. Would you people at home please work on the weather thing. We want to come home in shorts...

Apache Jctn Friday

Well another hot one, it was about 80F today, but there was a nice breeze. We are close to the end of this winter break, so all you Albertans get some better weather up there! Went to the big Mesa flea market for the last time - (;>). Trouts came over for happy hour and we went to dinner with them. Dave was in his usual humorous form, so the visit was fun. Tomorrow we will be packing up to leave on Sunday AM. I think we will drive west to Blythe, California and then north thru Las Vegas and on to I-15. Depending on when we get away I expect we will make either Laughlin or Mesquite for what may be our last nite in the RV. Expect we should be back in Alberta by Thursday. That would be the day we need warm weather for, so you-all have 5 days to work on it. LOL

Phoenix LRT

The LRT runs from Mesa, thru Tempe to Phoenix right down the middle of the streets. Cool, eh! Thought we should add more pics.

Margs new friend

What a great day, the temp was 85F and hot enough I had to stop for a beer. Parking was easy & the people friendly in old town Scottsdale. Marg even made a new friend in one the shops, I think his name was Chief InUrPoket.

Scottsdale

What an interesting day, drove up to Scottsdale and wandered around in the old town. This was a short drive from Apache Jctn, about 25 min. we did it without the GPS, our hunter/gatherer instinct is serving us well. Had lunch in the Rusty Spur, it was great & the entertainer was very entertaining, LOL! The entire area had a similar look and the quaint little shops were fun as well. Managed to get a few more things that we never knew we needed & don't need any longer. Traffic gets pretty heavy close to Phoenix, it's the 6th largest city in the US & has some of the busiest roads in the nation. Something to think about as we contemplate leaving on Sunday and need to drive right thru the busiest part of the city from east to west, arghhhh.

Tuesday, Feb 24th, is this normal?

Wow another hot one, it was 85F today. I made a mistake about yesterday, it was 91, for you metric types the is about 31C. Had some problems with the GPS from tinkering, but got it working just fine after a few hours of tinkering. Sometimes I wonder if I am destined to have any of the electronic technology tools, LOL! Perhaps it's just the sheltered life I led at the City with all the great people looking after the techi thing. Had to go load the pay-as-u-go phone, another techi thing. That's why I like Radio Shack, they just assume you don't know how to do it, works for me. That meant a trip to Mesa & the store was right by Marshalls [just like Winners], so Marg did her thing trying to help out Obama's economic recovery plan. He spoke to the nation tonite & I think he mentioned her, LOL. After shopping Marg spent quite a bit of time in the pool, not sure how long she was in as I fell asleep while reading my book. The pressures on us snowbirds! Then a nice steak BBQ and Marg went to bingo where she cleaned up on the last game. Only a few more days here as we leave on Sunday, so got to get it all in by then. I've been doing some research on the best way thru Phoenix, it's the 6th largest city in the US. The best info seems to be go between 10 -3 as the rush hours fill all the roads.

Travel Day

Well all good things come to an end and so it goes with the Floridians. What a great holiday we had with Katie, Char & Phil. We put out the garbage last night, but some of the bags were on the driveway and the racoons got into it. So much for their charming character, they really can be a pest when they do that. We all drove to the Orlando airport and the Smith's flight left just after lunch, around 1:45. They had about a 3 hour layover in New York. We flew out about 4:30 for Phoenix and got in at 7:30 PM local time after gaining 2 hours. It was a long flight in a 737, the guy in our row was hitting on the flight attendant & she was giving him free drinks. Perhaps that made it seem longer LOL. The weather was pretty good in Orlando, it got up to 75F, but in Apache Jctn it was 88F today. When we got out of the airport it was still real nice. Curtis from our park picked us up and drove us back to the RV park. Char was complaining that they had to travel in long pants, while Marg & I travelled in shorts. Eat your hearts out, LOL! From the look of the forecast, shorts look like the garb for this week.

Such a hot day

Grandma & Katie cooled down in the fountain. Later on all of the Smiths stood in one of the misting shelters where they spray a fine water mist on you to cool off. Were they all wet? LOL

Lunch??

There is no doubt about the meal when a chippie is in the offing!

Epcot - the final day

What a gorgeous day, it was about 78F and we spent the day in the Epcot Disney park. All but grandpa had been there last week, so knew a lot more about the rides. Went on some neat rides and saw numerous pavilions. Did a Kim Possible search and Katie was successful in solving all the clues. They give you a cell phone and it gives you visual & audio clues at different places in the park that you follow in sequence. Pretty cool. A nice way to end the Disney adventure. The only misadventure was she tripped while looking at the communicator and skinned her knees, but she was a brave little investigator and was able to finish. Stopped at the Italian pavilion for gelato, they do make the best ice cream.

Yes Lyzi & Anna we had a buffet tonite, it was great.

ok... just one more of the Biggest Gator we saw,

more piccys from today... close up of our Gator..

Gators anyone?

No the gators are not just a sports team. This bad boy was in a canal along the highway, it was wild [at bottom of the pic on the land]. There were at least 6 or 8 more in this immediate area, but this looked like the big guy. He left the shore & swam to us with Katie running for the car, he stopped about 25 feet away and then just stared at us. I think he saw supper. Katie was still holding on to her $5 from the tooth fairy, the gator wasn't getting that - LOL!

Ron Jon's

Went to the store operated by this famous surfer & picked up some souveniers. You can imagine us in here, both Dave & Phil got souvenier shirts. Picture of Phil with a Woody [car I mean], clean up your act readers. LOL

Cocoa Beach

Went to the beach today, this one is just south of Cape Canaveral and not quite so busy/commercial as the last one. Great day for collecting shells, Katie & Grandma picked up a bag full. The waves were rolling in pretty good, this is a more popular surfing area. This was about an hours drive from the house.

Rain Forest Cafe

Lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe, a real experience, especially when the storms occur.

Magic Kingdom II

Not quite as warm today, I think about 68F. Spent the day at the Magic Kingdom, Katie tricked grandpa on to the Thunder Mountain ride and he was the loudest of all the screamers. She also partnered with grandpa on the Buzz Lightyear space ride where we had to save the solar system. Had lots of fun. Stayed into the evening and the lights were spectacular. Went to the Mosters laugh show and they featured people from the audience. Charlene was picked and was featured on the live video talking with the monster, she was hilarious and got lots of laughs with the crowd.

Parking at the Magic Kingdom

No comments from the peanut gallery, but this was our parking location today, LOL

Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man...

Shop til you Drop

Today was a bit cloudy.... so we had a slow start to the day. We went shopping... started with taking Phil to the Biggest Harley Davidson dealer in Orlando... it was HUGE. He loved it, got some new boots for his Motorcycle... and we took some photos around the shop, they had a shack outside of the first ever Harley Garage... where they built the first bike. We had lunch at Taco Bell... Katies favourite... she ate 3 taco's .. incredible. Then hit some really cool shops... Neiman Marcus, Macy's, Saks 5th Ave... Marg found a nice purse in Neiman Marcus... it was half price for $1,800. Needless to say we didn't fill the boot with bags.... but we did come back with a few nice things... Then headed back to our house for a long swim.... its great having a pool. Dave is curently in the air flying towards us... his plane lands at 12:35 ... so Phil and Charlene are going to the airport to pick him up while Marg stays back with Katie as she is in bed. Everyone is really looking forward to his return. Stay tuned for Dave's return to writing the blog tomorrow...

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous...

Winter Park

Another fine Florida morning, looking for a Disney alternative we headed to Winter Park, an older district of Orlando which grew up as a winter home resort but now has a permanent population of 28,000. We had a walk along Park Ave to take in the shops and a fine Italian lunch. Afterwards we took a boat trip around three of the local lakes which are connected by canals. The boat took us along the shore line and we saw lots of birdlife and some amazing homes. The guide on the boat had lots of gossip about the various owners of these mansions including Tom Hanks who lived on the lake for a few months whilst filming in the area. The boat company had three full boats running tours 7 times per day at ten bucks per seat. They have been running these trips since 1938 so I guess the biggest house was his. Our hearts were with you all in Manning. God Bless.

Princesses galore

its a small world after all...

More Magical Kingdom fun...

Grandma spotted a motorhome like the old one.

The Magical Kingdom

A long day in the Magical Kingdom. What a place... there is no way to do that park in one day... we barely touched it today. It was a fabulous day and was full of lessons... Katie is actually incredibly brave and loves rollercoasters... she could have done circles around the Big Thunder Mountain... her favourite ride still... she loved it to bits when she was three and loves it still. We got soaked on the Splash Mountain... and I do mean soaked.. we left the park 9 hours later and poor Grandma was still a bit wet. Katie didn't mind the water but hated the 50 foot drop. Highlights of the day were meeting all the Princesses... Katie finally had a moment to meet her fav princess... Aurora. We managed to lunch on something that wasn't burgers in the park... good old fish and chips. (no mushy peas though) got ourselves on loads of rides... saw the parade on Main Street.. and finished off with Chinese Food in a box like in the movies (Grandma's ambition) and were all far too tired to swim... tomorrow is another day.... Dave had been having problems with his eye before returning to Canada... and when he saw the Doc today was diagnosed with having a floater in his eye... poor guy.

We had a quieter pace today... It was in the high 70's with a nice breeze... a perfect day. Katie found a place that had Pirate golf, and so that became the focus of our day. It was great fun, and Charlene even got a hole in one.. We went out for a nice lunch, had some retail therapy, (found Grandpa a new pair of Geezer Glasses to replace his lost ones) Katie had a shopaholic day... bags and shoes... and we came home for dinner and another pool night.. Tomorrow the plan is to hit the Magic Kingdom of Disney... so we are all pleased that Grandma has the magic Disney touch to get us all the Fast passes now... watch this space.......

a Pirates life for me...

Pirate Golf

Epcot Day

An early start today, taking Dave to airport... because he was heading home, he didn't have to pack much... but he took our hearts with him. After breakfast in the airport and saying our goodbyes we managed to find our way without the Navigator to Disney Epcot. We had a ball as you can see from the photo. We tried as hard as we could for eight hours but didn't manage half of what was on offer. The highlights of the day were 'Soaring' although Katie might argue that the Kim Possible interactive treasure hunt missions were just as good. Eventually we gave in to our aching feet, and headed straight back to the house for a quiet dinner in and some Swimming Pool Night time Olympics. The Canadians won, despite some creative marking by Katie.

Disney Disney Disney