Nancy and I got back into Orlando yesterday around noon. Our Spirit Airlines adventure to and from Detroit ended very well as we got second row seats on the flight back with lots of leg room and were the last ones on and the first ones off the plane.
We feel that we got everything accomplished that we wanted while back in Michigan. We got financial issues out of the way and did an inventory of what will need to get done to handle estate matters when we get back in May. Hopefully we have Doug in a good place to ride out the winter in the house and will need to help him move on to his next phase when we get back.
It was very eerie being in the house that contained so much love and good times and not to have Bill and Betty there to meet us. We will forever miss them and hold them dear in our hearts and memories. They were so proud of their grandchildren and talked about them all the time. We have so many memories that were made with them over so many years. We hope to remember all of the great times we had and places we went with them. God bless them both!
We hope that us living where we do will give our kids and grandkids the opportunity to stay connected with Leelanau County and its beautiful beaches, forests, hiking trails and lakes. We are feeling at home there and hope to be able to continue with this new lifestyle we have adopted.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Tuesday Morning Breif
Toady Laura and Sean and the kids left for the airport. We will be packing up and storing the camper to fly home ourselves. We will be in Michigan for six days to take care of some business and to visit with family.
MAGIC Kingdom !
Sunday we had a beautiful pool day with the temps around eighty degrees and sunshine. We ducked the thunderstorms all day and into the evening. Later after dinner we took a bus into Disney Springs (what used to be Disney Downtown), and walked around through the stores and attractions there. We got caught in the storms and had to run from place to place in between the cloudbursts.
Yesterday we had a full day at the Magic Kingdom wandering the grounds and riding the attractions and watching parades, shows and fireworks. Sean's FitBit said we walked eight miles through the park.
The kids had a ball seeing all of the characters singing and dancing and riding the roller coasters and boat rides at Space Mountain, the Haunted Mansion, the Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Dwarf's Mine among others. This place is truly amazing the way it almost makes you believe in cartoons again.
Here are some pictures from the last two days....
Yesterday we had a full day at the Magic Kingdom wandering the grounds and riding the attractions and watching parades, shows and fireworks. Sean's FitBit said we walked eight miles through the park.
The kids had a ball seeing all of the characters singing and dancing and riding the roller coasters and boat rides at Space Mountain, the Haunted Mansion, the Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Dwarf's Mine among others. This place is truly amazing the way it almost makes you believe in cartoons again.
Here are some pictures from the last two days....
At the Lego Shop at Disney Downtown... all things Lego!
The price? Only $350
Darth Laura
The ferry from Fort Wilderness to the Magic Kingdom
One of the many lodges at Disney
The Rubans at the Magic Kingdom
Main street balloon vendor
Walt started it all way back when by buying up property here on the sly.
Zapping the bad guys at Buzz Lightyear's Ranger Spin
The afternoon parade
Beauty and the Beast
Mermaid come to life
Nolan seemed to be enjoying it all!
Pretty Goofy if you ask me
Thunder Mountain Railroad
The Haunted Mansion
The light show at night was playing movies on to the castle. It was a spectacular show to end the day.
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Life is Good!
We spent the night at a Hampton Inn in Miami on Thursday and picked Laura up at the Port of Miami on Friday. Once again the traffic getting around in Miami was atrocious.
We camped two nights at Lake Louisa S.P. west of Orlando and moved to Fort Wilderness at Disney World this morning.
While at Lake Louisa we took a day trip to Melbourne Beach on the Atlantic coast and had a great beach day with the kids. Nolan and Kara played on the beach and in the waves all afternoon, and later we went for dinner at Oceanside Pizza in the village of Melbourne.
We are looking forward to two days of Disney World, with tomorrow being a full day at the Magic Kingdom.
We have been ducking a severe weather alert since 10am this morning. They are warning of a chance of strong storms, damaging winds, and possible tornado warnings. We are hoping for the best.
We camped two nights at Lake Louisa S.P. west of Orlando and moved to Fort Wilderness at Disney World this morning.
While at Lake Louisa we took a day trip to Melbourne Beach on the Atlantic coast and had a great beach day with the kids. Nolan and Kara played on the beach and in the waves all afternoon, and later we went for dinner at Oceanside Pizza in the village of Melbourne.
We are looking forward to two days of Disney World, with tomorrow being a full day at the Magic Kingdom.
We have been ducking a severe weather alert since 10am this morning. They are warning of a chance of strong storms, damaging winds, and possible tornado warnings. We are hoping for the best.
Kara and Nolan playing on Melbourne Beach. They were running around all afternoon!
Looking north along the Atlantic coast.
Sean and Laura enjoying the sunshine and warm weather. 80 degrees yesterday!
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Back in the US of A
What a great trip we had. Costa Rica was all we expected it to be and more. We traveled over nine hundred miles in the six days of traveling and visited three national parks, a volcano, and stayed in five different hotels. We drove through many of the towns and villages and spent three days along the Pacific coast. We had two guided river tours viewing birds, monkeys, sloths, crocodiles, and lizards, and hiked the rain forest at two of the parks. We hiked the hanging bridges at one park and rode an Arial tram at another park.
Our tour, the hotels and all of our meals were top notch as was our tour guide LeLe and our bus driver Barilio.
We were with thirteen other couples and got to know most of them quite well. They came from Canada, England, New York, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, California, and Florida and were all travelers and adventurers.
We learned a great deal about the ways of Costa Rica and the efforts that the government is making to promote and build tourism since it is the primary driver of their economy. Agriculture is also important there with pineapples, bananas, coffee and oranges as their main exports. Pharmaceuticals, financial outsourcing, and software development are the main industries in the country and they have a high level of education since it is a priority of their democratic government. (They abolished their army in 1949 and instead used the money to fund education. They have the highest educational level of all of Latin America).
Here are some pictures from the trip...
Our tour, the hotels and all of our meals were top notch as was our tour guide LeLe and our bus driver Barilio.
We were with thirteen other couples and got to know most of them quite well. They came from Canada, England, New York, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, California, and Florida and were all travelers and adventurers.
We learned a great deal about the ways of Costa Rica and the efforts that the government is making to promote and build tourism since it is the primary driver of their economy. Agriculture is also important there with pineapples, bananas, coffee and oranges as their main exports. Pharmaceuticals, financial outsourcing, and software development are the main industries in the country and they have a high level of education since it is a priority of their democratic government. (They abolished their army in 1949 and instead used the money to fund education. They have the highest educational level of all of Latin America).
Here are some pictures from the trip...
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Flying out of Miami
Lots has transpired since the last post on Monday afternoon. We received the terrible news Monday evening about Betty Goodfallow. Mom, Grandma, and great Gramma is gone to be with her soulmate of fifty years. We are still in a daze, but trying to move forward. We made arrangements to get back to Michigan when we return from Costa Rica and after having Laura, Sean and Kara and Nolan with us for a few days near Orlando.
The weather here has been warming up since the cold blast on Sunday. Today we were in the mid seventies and sunny. We continued exploring the park and walking and biking the trails and boardwalks. We've been to this park numerous times and are familiar with most of the area. Yesterday we rode the hammock loop with the bikes and stopped to walk the boardwalk through the Cypress swamp. The boardwalk is about a quarter of a mile long and is mostly over the water. The cypress trees are beautiful and lots of birds and other wildlife inhabit the area. Later during an after dinner walk we saw two deer in the campground.
Today we packed up the camp and pulled the fifth wheel to where we are leaving it for the week. (Jackson Creek Mobile Home rentals just outside of Sebring). We drove to Miami and are now in our hotel for the night. In the morning we will be shuttled to the airport and fly to Costa Rica for the week. We return on January 19th. I don't anticipate writing any blogs while we are gone since we are not taking the laptop with us. I will have a load of pictures to post when we return.
The weather here has been warming up since the cold blast on Sunday. Today we were in the mid seventies and sunny. We continued exploring the park and walking and biking the trails and boardwalks. We've been to this park numerous times and are familiar with most of the area. Yesterday we rode the hammock loop with the bikes and stopped to walk the boardwalk through the Cypress swamp. The boardwalk is about a quarter of a mile long and is mostly over the water. The cypress trees are beautiful and lots of birds and other wildlife inhabit the area. Later during an after dinner walk we saw two deer in the campground.
Today we packed up the camp and pulled the fifth wheel to where we are leaving it for the week. (Jackson Creek Mobile Home rentals just outside of Sebring). We drove to Miami and are now in our hotel for the night. In the morning we will be shuttled to the airport and fly to Costa Rica for the week. We return on January 19th. I don't anticipate writing any blogs while we are gone since we are not taking the laptop with us. I will have a load of pictures to post when we return.
The boardwalk at Highland Hammock
A red shouldered hawk in the cypress trees
Great Blue Heron prowling for fish
Another Great Egret
There we go, off to Costa Rica! I'll be back on the blog on the 19th since I don't anticipate
having internet access until then.
Monday, January 9, 2017
Monday at Sebring
We've been enjoying the space in the camper since we had such a cold day at camp. The temperature on Sunday morning was 37 degrees and the high only went to about 48. Last night was a bit better, in the high forties and today we reached seventy.
Our neighbor's cousin Charley came by yesterday and brought us a stack of firewood and he and I took a ride to see where we will be storing the camper later in the week. We had a nice visit with him , and did little else other than take a bike ride and a walk.
Today we took a ride to "Lake June in Winter Scrub State Park" not far from Highland Hammock with the intent of picnicking and kayaking on the lake there. The picnicking went well, but the lake was rough and breezy with a chilly wind stirring things up. We opted for a hike and later took a ride to the Lake Placid area to see the village.
Enjoying the bright sunshine today and getting ready for Costa Rica.
Our neighbor's cousin Charley came by yesterday and brought us a stack of firewood and he and I took a ride to see where we will be storing the camper later in the week. We had a nice visit with him , and did little else other than take a bike ride and a walk.
Today we took a ride to "Lake June in Winter Scrub State Park" not far from Highland Hammock with the intent of picnicking and kayaking on the lake there. The picnicking went well, but the lake was rough and breezy with a chilly wind stirring things up. We opted for a hike and later took a ride to the Lake Placid area to see the village.
Enjoying the bright sunshine today and getting ready for Costa Rica.
Lagoon at Highland Hammock S.P.
Great Egret taking a break from fishing
An Anhinga or "Snake Bird" sunning itself
The scrub forest at Lake June in Winter S.P.
Cactus was found growing in the scrub forest
A tortoise grazing on the grass
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