Walt Disney World Animal Kingdom

While staying here in the Orlando area we still have many friends working at Disney. So we did get to go visit the parks through their generosity. Our first stop was to Animal Kingdom. We wanted to take the safari ride early before many of the animals seek hiding places from the hot sum. It was expected to go to about 80* . We were rewarded with many sightings.

The baby crossing in front of us.

They claim this box turtle is as smart as a 3 year old. He is selecting the right colored paddled to find food behind it.

The care center for all the animals.

Check out the carvings on the tree.

Linda just can't help but make new friends.

 

We just never get tired of Disney.

Thanks for stopping by.

Walt Disney World

      One of our favorite things about Walt Disney World is visiting the Studio's and the Christmas light display.  Their are over 5 million lights. The lights dance to music. It snows every night. It is truly "magical".

 

Another favorite at this time of the year is the Candlelight Procession
.

This year we saw it twice. First with Edward James Olmos and then with Trace Atkins.

 

Friends

 We did meet up with some friends while in the Thousand trails park. And what do you do, go out to eat. There are other friends staying here or nearby that we did not get pictures of. They are also our dominos buddies.

Of special note is the balloon flower Linda is holding.

Adult red shouldered hawk

    Forgot this picture in the post while we were in the Thousand trails park. This is a red Tailed Hawk, or at least we were told from someone who said he knew what it was. He came to visit almost every day. NOTE titled changed. This is a red shouldered hawk. Judy, a bird expert sent a comment with the correct name. Judy dose bird counts for the US Forest service. We met her this passed summer.

Our site at the Florida Orlando/Clermont Thousand Trails

This is our site at the Thousand Trails park in Orlando/Clermont Florida.

The lake at the park. We took a very early walk to the lake about 1/4 mile from our site. This is the first time I saw the lake so calm.

R - J Cigar Store in North Carolina

     On our way south we had a good rest stop at R J Cigar store in North Carolina. It is about an hour and half from our overnight stop in Roanoke Rapids North Carolina. We had stopped here several times in the passed. There is a lot more in the store then cigars. But the cigar is store advertised as the bigger in the country.  The cigar part of the store is a big humidor. It is very interesting just walking around and getting an education about cigars. Its a long way from the Phillies cigars I remember growing up.  I don't believe any of them sold for more then a dollar. Check out the photo's.

Bob making a purchase

Didn't find any box for less them $25., just imagine the inventory. Must be in the millions. This is only a small section of the store.

I'll have a couple of boxes of these for stocking stuffers.

Talk about "down in the mouth", he must have been checking the prices.

Roamers Retreat RV Park Kinzer PA

                                                   Kinzer/Lancaster PA
       Roamers is under new ownership since July. The new owner is planning on making many improvements. Like cutting down some trees near turns, putting more 50 amp sites in, upgrading the  bathhouse, putting in a better Wifi system, improving the rally hall, etc. The new owner was very helpful to us. I got propane and he came down and lifted the 40 gallon tank in for me, the Wifi went down and he called to make sure  we were getting it after he rebooted it. They are now  open year round. The only bad thing is not enough freeze proof water sites. He will be working on getting more installed. Our site did not have a freeze  proof water hydrant and the water was shut off on the 11th. We knew that he was shutting it off, and filled our water tank. We hold 112 gallons so we would be good for  our planned stay.

The RV to the left is in storage, we now have the RV park to ourselves. We are the only ones here except for two work campers. You can see our neighbors in the field beyond.

The RV's you see are set up permanent, there aren't many, maybe 6 to 8. Use to be a lot more. There are a lot of sites in the woods, but we prefer the open sites.

That's us in the center, the RV's on the left are in storage

Way back in the center is our site.

Our neighbors heading home in single file.

 

What a picture, taken through our window, that's why the blue tint, that's the moon, not the sun.

 

On the road again

    Our regular blog followers know we have been in PA for over 3 months with medical issues. Well we finally are back on the road. We are heading for a warmer climate, enough of this cold weather. We came back to PA in August and are anxious   to move on. We have been poked and probed by more doctors then we had seen in the passed. But now we are on the move and don't want to sound like a couple of old folks talking about what color pill are you on etc.. We have been given our "get out of PA walking papers". So here we come,  not sure were we  will land, but we are on our way to a warner climate. State tuned.

Traveling with a second vehicle

     We sure do like driving the HHR. On the highways she averages 38-40 mpg. In town we are averaging 28-32 mpg. It is also a whole lot easier getting around in town with it, then with the big truck. Also the ride is a lot smoother. Although this truck is a lot smoother then our old truck. The truck does ride a lot smoother with the 5th wheel in tow. We find we are spending more time in one area then we did in the passed. We are doing a lot more touring with the car, traveling greater distances to tour an area.  If need be the car does offer use a little more storage. We are in contact with each other with walkie-talkies. We also both have cell phones should we get separated and out of walkie- talkie range. Linda is usually following. Many times she has helped me with lane changes in busy areas. She has also helped by going ahead and finding something we  have been looking for, like an RV park. Also when we get to an RV park we sometimes use the car to look for a site rather then drive around with the RV in tow. Another big thing is the 50,000 + miles on the car are not on the truck. Of course some of that is following the truck and RV to get to our destination. We also have the high clearance 4 wheel drive truck should we want to do some off road exploring.

    Our biggest dislike is not traveling together in the same vehicle. Linda especially dislikes this ever since we lost Blazer. She would tell him all the things I was doing wrong, now she tells me. So we may have to get her another traveling companion to talk to while traveling. But along these lines we are trying to travel shorter distances between stops. Another disadvantage is the extra cost shown in our last post.  Only once did we have to pay for an extra vehicle in an RV Park. Sometimes it is difficult to park both vehicles at our site in an RV park. But like I said above, everything is a trade off. In the passed we did own a class A motor home and towed a Jeep. But we like the livability of our 5th wheel more them the motor home we had. This is a topic that can be discussed longer then some of the debates in congress. One of the big decisions for us owing a 5th wheel is when we can't travel anymore, it is a better unit to leave on a permanent site somewhere to live in.. This is just our opinion, and there are as many opinions as there are RV's.


    Thanks for following along.

Chevy HHR 54,000 miles +, time for some maintenance

                          PA temp low 20*w/35 mph winds, gust to 45 mph.

We try to maintain all equipment on schedule set by the manufactures. So it is  time for some maintenance on our HHR. We have a little over 54,000 miles on the odometer.  #1 Time to flush the transmission and replace the fluid. #2  Time to replace 4 tires. #3  Time for an alignment  #4 time for and oil change. An unexpected item was new brakes and rotors and two filters. Wow that's a lot of maintenance all at once, but I believe in preventive maintenance.  Sure puts a big dent in our budget. The total  cost was over $1100. We have to weigh the expense of traveling with a second vehicle. Everything is a trade off. Does it pay us to travel with an extra vehicle?  We have been asked that question many times.  We will continue this topic in another post.

                     Tonight lows in the teens with 20-25 mph winds

An Amish Wedding

     While traveling through  Lancaster county we came across this large gathering of Amish buggies. See the large tent set up in the background. This was a Thursday afternoon. Of course being naturally curious we had to get a closer look. There was car parking in the field across the street. We saw folks carrying gifts. So we pulled in and asked what was taking place. They told us it was a wedding.

My buggy is the one with the grey top and the red triangle in the back.

We think we saw Levi and the crew from the TV show "The Amish Mafia" at the wedding keeping out unwanted folks like us.

Thanks for following along.

More Pictures from Lancaster County

     We truly enjoy Lancaster County. I believe if God had 8 or 9 days there would be more areas like this.  While driving around I  believe we did see the gang from the reality show "Amish Mafia". In many of the stores they are selling "t" shirts with "Amish Mafia" printed on them. Nothing is safe any more from the TV producers. So sit back and enjoy the pictures.

This is pig heaven, did you ever see a pig this big

That is a women driving the team of horses

Kids waving

Beautiful sun colored sky