On the road again! We haven't stayed in the rig since it was up at Grand Casino in Hinckley, Minnesota during the month on August 2008, so it's a little like opening your cabin up after being away from it all winter. Due to a family medical issue, George and Mr. Bailey headed south without Katherine on Wednesday, January 7. A few cold days and nights on the road with lots of male bonding time, George was glad to finally reach Florida in only 4 days. He got to our c
amp site at Tropical Palms in Kissimmee a day early arriving on Sunday, January 11. Katherine took the easy way down on a 3-hour direct flight from Minneapolis to Orlando. She arrived after all the work of setting up was complete. Oh, what a life! We spent the first day down here getting re-acquainted with the rig, setting up things the way we like them when we're living in it and grocery shopping. I want to introduce a new member of our traveling family. Her name is Chloe and you'll see her in some of our pictures throughout ou
r trip this year. She's an adorable little doll that my sister, Karen, gave me for Christmas to bring on the trip. Here's a picture of Chloe & Bailey ready to hit the road and another one taken in front of a palm excited to be in warm weather. As you can see, Chloe and Bailey get along great! Actually, Bailey thinks she's a new play toy for him so I have to be careful not to leave her where he can get at her! After one day of setting up and r
esting, we hit the ground running and spent the next 4 days visiting Disney World. We started off with Epcot, which is our favorite and then went to the Magic Kingdom the following day. The third park we went to was Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios when we visited it about 15 years ago). George really enjoyed Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show. We both agreed that if our son, Derek, had been with us, he would have wanted to participate in all the stunt driving at this one. Of course, my favorite was the Beauty and the Beast Live On Stage performance. There's a new ride at the Studios called Toy Story Midway Mania, in which you wear 3D glasses and the ride takes you thro
ugh a maze of carnival-type shooting galleries where you shoot pies, bullets, whatever out of your gun. I was ahead of George, but then he must have gotten his second wind because he ended up with over 107,000 points to my 88,000! (Personally, I think he cheated!) Our final day at the parks was spent at Animal Kingdom. I've been there a few times, but it was a first for George. I don't think he'll ever enjoy going to the zoo back home ag
ain. It's incredible how up close and personal you can get to the animals when you take the safari ride. Since the weather's been cooler than normal - it's been in the 60's to low 70's, the animals were out and active. Again, I think my favorite part was the "Festival of the Lion King" live stage performance. All in all, the parks weren't very busy so we were able to get through them in about 6-8 hours each day. Last night, we met our close friends, Gary & Becky Rogers, and their daughter, Emily, for dinner. They used to live in Minnesota, but now live down here so I only get to see them about once a year. After dinner, we decided to go to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to see if we could see any of the animals roaming around outside the lodge. Here's a picture of the Rogers and Katherine standing in front of a authentic African head dress that weighs over 200
lbs. I can't imagine putting that on my head! We were incredibly lucky because there were lots of critters out walking around near the lodge. George is now a firm believer in Disney's saying that dreams do come true! While we were at the lodge, we were able to use some 3rd generation night vision goggles to look out and watch the animals after dark. I think he spent as much time looking up for UFO's as he did looking at the animals since these goggles are the recommended ones to use for night time UFO sightings! We spent our last day in Kissimmee (Orlando) relaxing and enjoying the wonderful weather.
amp site at Tropical Palms in Kissimmee a day early arriving on Sunday, January 11. Katherine took the easy way down on a 3-hour direct flight from Minneapolis to Orlando. She arrived after all the work of setting up was complete. Oh, what a life! We spent the first day down here getting re-acquainted with the rig, setting up things the way we like them when we're living in it and grocery shopping. I want to introduce a new member of our traveling family. Her name is Chloe and you'll see her in some of our pictures throughout ou
r trip this year. She's an adorable little doll that my sister, Karen, gave me for Christmas to bring on the trip. Here's a picture of Chloe & Bailey ready to hit the road and another one taken in front of a palm excited to be in warm weather. As you can see, Chloe and Bailey get along great! Actually, Bailey thinks she's a new play toy for him so I have to be careful not to leave her where he can get at her! After one day of setting up and r
esting, we hit the ground running and spent the next 4 days visiting Disney World. We started off with Epcot, which is our favorite and then went to the Magic Kingdom the following day. The third park we went to was Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios when we visited it about 15 years ago). George really enjoyed Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show. We both agreed that if our son, Derek, had been with us, he would have wanted to participate in all the stunt driving at this one. Of course, my favorite was the Beauty and the Beast Live On Stage performance. There's a new ride at the Studios called Toy Story Midway Mania, in which you wear 3D glasses and the ride takes you thro
ugh a maze of carnival-type shooting galleries where you shoot pies, bullets, whatever out of your gun. I was ahead of George, but then he must have gotten his second wind because he ended up with over 107,000 points to my 88,000! (Personally, I think he cheated!) Our final day at the parks was spent at Animal Kingdom. I've been there a few times, but it was a first for George. I don't think he'll ever enjoy going to the zoo back home ag
ain. It's incredible how up close and personal you can get to the animals when you take the safari ride. Since the weather's been cooler than normal - it's been in the 60's to low 70's, the animals were out and active. Again, I think my favorite part was the "Festival of the Lion King" live stage performance. All in all, the parks weren't very busy so we were able to get through them in about 6-8 hours each day. Last night, we met our close friends, Gary & Becky Rogers, and their daughter, Emily, for dinner. They used to live in Minnesota, but now live down here so I only get to see them about once a year. After dinner, we decided to go to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to see if we could see any of the animals roaming around outside the lodge. Here's a picture of the Rogers and Katherine standing in front of a authentic African head dress that weighs over 200
lbs. I can't imagine putting that on my head! We were incredibly lucky because there were lots of critters out walking around near the lodge. George is now a firm believer in Disney's saying that dreams do come true! While we were at the lodge, we were able to use some 3rd generation night vision goggles to look out and watch the animals after dark. I think he spent as much time looking up for UFO's as he did looking at the animals since these goggles are the recommended ones to use for night time UFO sightings! We spent our last day in Kissimmee (Orlando) relaxing and enjoying the wonderful weather.
