We are leaving Florida Wednesday April 1st which is probably a mistake. We don't have far to go, less than four hours, but route 95 will probably be a mess since the people like us who rent by the month will all be hitting the road that day to head north. Today we took down the visor, the lights and put up the awning. We cleaned the grill and the motor home tire covers, along with many other little things we needed to do to get ready to leave. The only thing we have to do is lubricate the hydraulic jacks and check the tire pressure in the motorhome tires.
After stopping in Richmond Hill, GA for a couple of nights we will hit Myrtle Beach for a week. Then we head over to Greenville, SC to see our oldest son and then head home to Warsaw with a night or two stay on the way between Greenville and Warsaw depending on how we feel.
We are coming back to Florida to the same park next year which is a first for us in the four years we have been retired. The town outside the park is so so but your not far from Orlando which is around 35 minutes away. We spend most of our time in the park and only go into town to buy groceries or eat out now and then. This place has so many advantages over other places we have been so we are coming back to our same lot since we like all of our neighbors in the site we are in.
Today I watched a $750,000 motorhome burn for about a half an hour. Apparently the electric toilet shorted out and caused a fire. The fire damage was limited to the bathroom but the smoke probably effected the entire motorhome. A cat inside the motorhome survived the fire by getting under the coach. The owners were out of town for the day. They fulltime in this so I am not sure where they will stay while the motorhome is being repaired. This particular couple has a great 1957 Corvette and a 1949 MG that are awesome cars. They store these two cars in garages away from the motorhome so they weren't damaged.
A journal written about life, retirement and our journey throughout the United States in a 5th wheel, along with our two Shih Tzus, Tanner and Syndey. Written not for notoriety but for our sons, family and friends, so they know where we are at any given time. And particularly for ourselves. Finally, we get to slow down and smell the roses and we don't want to forget any of it. You are welcome to join us as we go 'Down the Road a Piece'.
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Tuesday March 10th 2015 - Did Epcot today
Epcot is having a Flower and Garden Festival from March 4th to May 17 so Huli and I decided to spend the day taking in all Epcot had to offer. We pretty much timed it perfectly by arriving about five minutes before the gates opened. We then headed to what they call Future World West which is on the right after entering the park entrance. We went to The Sea, The Land, Imagination, and the Butter Fly exhibits after entering the park.
We then proceeded further into the park crossing the bridge to what is called the World Showcase. This part of the park is broken down into exhibits that are sorted by country. These exhibits are arranged in a circle around a large lake. Each country has buildings that replicate what you would find in that particular country and restaurants that serve food that is authentic to each country. In fact, we learned today that each manager of the restaurants come from that country and the staff comes from that country also. For example our waitress at the Italian Restaurant we ate lunch at was from Naples, Italy. The countries represented at the World Showcase include Canada, The United Kingdom, France, Morocco, Japan, America, Italy, Germany, China, Norway, and Mexico. After visiting each country and visiting the exhibits they had to offer and eating lunch at an Italian restaurant and having the best Margarita I have ever had from Mexico we went back across the bridge to Future World East.
At Future World East we went to a space ship exhibit that took you on a mission to Mars. This was one big, big, mistake. They loaded you into a space ship where there were four people with each having their own set of controls in this very little room. They put a harness down over your head which is locked onto your chest. I only brought mine down enough to allow the thing to lock but I could get out of it if I had to. After being locked in they shut the doors and then there was a delay in launching the space ship and they said they were having some technical difficulties and I then started to get claustrophobic feelings. I kept talking to myself, in my mind I played several holes of golf over again that I played a couple of days ago but that didn't work. I then relived taking Tanner to the vet to have him put down. I remembered him being on the table before his injection and me talking to him. Finally just before I was ready to rip my harness off and go through the locked door next to me (I looked it over pretty good and know it couldn't hold me if I wanted out) they launched that sucker and then I was fine. The whole space ride only lasted about ten minutes or so but that ride couldn't end soon enough for me. Just before entering the ride after about a twenty minute wait in line they warned you about being in a tight enclosed space. Huli asked me if I wanted to leave but I told her no I would suck it up and get through it. Won't ride that thing ever, ever, again.
We also went to a driver simulation exhibit put on by Chevy but this exhibit was down due to "technical difficulties". We were told this was a good one to see. Oh well this will give us something to see the next time we come here.
We spent seven hours at the park and didn't see everything. A couple of the best exhibits the Driver Simulation and the American Display were closed due to technical difficulties. These two were suppose to be the best two exhibits to see. We are planning on bringing the motorhome back for a week and parking it inside the Disney RV Park and then getting a package to all of the parks so we can spend the week seeing things again.
Below are some pictures we took today of our visit to the park. For those curious of what things cost here are some facts. First of all we have heard stories from people about how expensive things are so we were expecting things to be expensive and were somewhat surprised things didn't cost more. You be the judge.
Entry to the park for the two of us was $206.62
Pork BBQ sandwich snack and water at the American Smoke House for Jack $10.00
Lunch - medium pizza and one Bud Light Beer and tip $49.00
Two Lime Margaritas $21.62 These were a bargain. Best I ever had.
Magnet for the frig $7.50
Tolls to get to and from Epcot on the roads they call the Orlando turnpike $22.00
Baby sitter to have Sydney taken out three times while we were gone $30
What a deal. Less than $350 not counting what we spent at Costco on the way home. I expected to drop $500 on the day. Remember everything in my mind is in $ and cents. No matter how much money I have this is how I think and process things and I can't turn it off. Don't get me wrong I don't have any problem spending money but I still think about it. I project it and then analyze it comparing it to what my earlier mental projections were to see how close I came. I don't even consciously do this it just happens. I know I am weird and wired differently.
Here are the pictures.
We then proceeded further into the park crossing the bridge to what is called the World Showcase. This part of the park is broken down into exhibits that are sorted by country. These exhibits are arranged in a circle around a large lake. Each country has buildings that replicate what you would find in that particular country and restaurants that serve food that is authentic to each country. In fact, we learned today that each manager of the restaurants come from that country and the staff comes from that country also. For example our waitress at the Italian Restaurant we ate lunch at was from Naples, Italy. The countries represented at the World Showcase include Canada, The United Kingdom, France, Morocco, Japan, America, Italy, Germany, China, Norway, and Mexico. After visiting each country and visiting the exhibits they had to offer and eating lunch at an Italian restaurant and having the best Margarita I have ever had from Mexico we went back across the bridge to Future World East.
At Future World East we went to a space ship exhibit that took you on a mission to Mars. This was one big, big, mistake. They loaded you into a space ship where there were four people with each having their own set of controls in this very little room. They put a harness down over your head which is locked onto your chest. I only brought mine down enough to allow the thing to lock but I could get out of it if I had to. After being locked in they shut the doors and then there was a delay in launching the space ship and they said they were having some technical difficulties and I then started to get claustrophobic feelings. I kept talking to myself, in my mind I played several holes of golf over again that I played a couple of days ago but that didn't work. I then relived taking Tanner to the vet to have him put down. I remembered him being on the table before his injection and me talking to him. Finally just before I was ready to rip my harness off and go through the locked door next to me (I looked it over pretty good and know it couldn't hold me if I wanted out) they launched that sucker and then I was fine. The whole space ride only lasted about ten minutes or so but that ride couldn't end soon enough for me. Just before entering the ride after about a twenty minute wait in line they warned you about being in a tight enclosed space. Huli asked me if I wanted to leave but I told her no I would suck it up and get through it. Won't ride that thing ever, ever, again.
We also went to a driver simulation exhibit put on by Chevy but this exhibit was down due to "technical difficulties". We were told this was a good one to see. Oh well this will give us something to see the next time we come here.
We spent seven hours at the park and didn't see everything. A couple of the best exhibits the Driver Simulation and the American Display were closed due to technical difficulties. These two were suppose to be the best two exhibits to see. We are planning on bringing the motorhome back for a week and parking it inside the Disney RV Park and then getting a package to all of the parks so we can spend the week seeing things again.
Below are some pictures we took today of our visit to the park. For those curious of what things cost here are some facts. First of all we have heard stories from people about how expensive things are so we were expecting things to be expensive and were somewhat surprised things didn't cost more. You be the judge.
Entry to the park for the two of us was $206.62
Pork BBQ sandwich snack and water at the American Smoke House for Jack $10.00
Lunch - medium pizza and one Bud Light Beer and tip $49.00
Two Lime Margaritas $21.62 These were a bargain. Best I ever had.
Magnet for the frig $7.50
Tolls to get to and from Epcot on the roads they call the Orlando turnpike $22.00
Baby sitter to have Sydney taken out three times while we were gone $30
What a deal. Less than $350 not counting what we spent at Costco on the way home. I expected to drop $500 on the day. Remember everything in my mind is in $ and cents. No matter how much money I have this is how I think and process things and I can't turn it off. Don't get me wrong I don't have any problem spending money but I still think about it. I project it and then analyze it comparing it to what my earlier mental projections were to see how close I came. I don't even consciously do this it just happens. I know I am weird and wired differently.
Here are the pictures.
