Connor & Jillian Have Arrived!

Jason, Connor & Jillian arrived around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. We were so happy to see them! We gave them their Christmas presents and I had made them a card that read on the front:
"Connor & Jillian...now that you are in Florida, what are you going to do?" Their response was, "We are going to Kennedy Space Center and the Atlantic Ocean". Then they opened the card and inside it said, "You're going to:" (below which I had printed pictures of the entrance to Walt Disney World Resort & the entrance to Magic Kingdom). They were so excited they could hardly contain themselves. We spent from 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. yesterday at Magic Kingdom. They had so much fun and it was worth every penny just to watch them. I only took 531 pictures yesterday, so it was hard to pick just a couple to post here. Today we went to Daytona Beach so the kids could swim in the ocean and to the Daytona 500 Experience at Daytona International Speedway. Tomorrow and Monday we will be going to the Kennedy Space Center and to Merritt Island and Canaveral National Seashore. Tuesday morning they will leave for Michigan and we will be heading across the state to Spring Hill, FL for 3 months.

We had a nice Christmas dinner at Bob's cousins. It was pretty laid back and just didn't seem the same without the grandkids around. It's always been so much fun watching them at Christmastime. That's alright...once they arrived here Thursday we had all the Christmas we needed!

On a serious note, my Dad fell in the bedroom Christmas night and broke his shoulder blade. He was in the hospital and today they moved him to a rehab facility for a couple of months. It's a miracle with all the times he has fallen that this was the first time he's broken a bone. Unfortunately the shoulder blade is a bad one that they can't set in a cast or anything and he can't use his walker now. It's going to be very hard on him to not be at home, but they can get him the therapy he needs to get healed.

Rocket Launch from Cape Canaveral AFB

Here's a picture of the rocket launch we watched on Thursday. It was a bit of a disappointment after the one we saw a couple of weeks ago, but still pretty cool.

Yesterday we went to Winter Haven to visit with Bob's cousin, Marlene. We had a great time and she invited us for Christmas dinner. She has to work that day at Disney World, but her nephew will start dinner and we'll bring the rest. So, we're looking forward to another nice visit with her.

Today we made a practice run to Disney World and we were glad we did. Now we know what route we are NOT going to take next Friday!

Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge

We spent most of today at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore. We saw many interesting birds (including eagles), alligators and manatees. The first picture is a Roseate Spoonbill and the other I haven't identified yet (double-click on picture for a larger view).

We heard on the news last night that the shuttle launch is now scheduled for January 10th at 2:30 a.m., so we may get to see a night launch which will be awesome. There's another scheduled for February 14th and we plan to see that one, too. We saw a rocket launch the other day, but didn't have time to photograph it. There's another scheduled for December 20th and I will be ready with my camera this time.

Reid & Debbie left early this morning for Texas. :-( We'll be all alone until Jason, Connor & Jillian arrive. I'm sure we won't have any problem finding something to keep us busy. The weather has been unbelievably perfect. It's a little too warm for Bob some days, but we're not complaining.

Kennedy Space Center

We are still waiting for the launch of the Atlantis Space Shuttle. Latest word today is that it will be at least January 2nd. We are leaving here on January 1st, but will be close enough to drive back over here for the launch. Unfortunately, Morrie & Dixie left here Friday and Reid & Debbie are leaving this week for Texas. We spent all day Tuesday at Kennedy Space Center with Reid & Debbie. We will be going back today or tomorrow to finish the tour. Bob & I upgraded to annual passes so we can go back again with Jason, Connor & Jillian. Connor will love that place! I took 255 pictures that day. We were able to see Atlantis on the launch pad and right after we were there they stopped all bus tours in that area, so we got really lucky on that one. We saw eagles, alligators and wild pigs while there. We are going to try again to go to Merritt Island for the nature preserve and Canaveral National Seashore. It was closed off with armed guards last week because of the pending launch. It should be reopened now. The weather has been fantastic...sunny and in the high 70's and low 80's every day. Every day we wake up to "just another day in paradise!" The pictures above are of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and Atlantis on the launch pad. The VAB is so large that the stripes on the flag are 8' wide and each star is 6' across. They are still replacing some of the tiles on the building that were blown off in a hurricane. We can see the launch pad and the VAB from our campground.

Titusville, Florida

We arrived at Manatee Hammock RV Park in Titusville, FL early yesterday afternoon. This campground is gorgeous (well-shaded with a canopy of palm trees) and right across the river from the Kennedy Space Center. We can see the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC from our campsite. We will be in perfect position for the shuttle launch on Thursday afternoon. Reid & Debbie are due here this afternoon, Richard & Joanne from West Palm Beach will be here in a couple of days and Morrie & Dixie will be here on Wednesday. We will be having a launch party!

Georgia On My Mind

We left Florence, SC this morning and are now in Woodbine, GA for an overnight stop. Tomorrow we will be in Titusville, FL for the month of December. We did a little sightseeing this afternoon and went to St. Simons Island. We got some awesome pictures of the lighthouse there and a beautiful sunset. It was in the low 70's today and sunny. Did I mention that "THIS IS THE LIFE"???

Florence, SC

We are in Florence, SC for 10 days. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Lynn & Doris'. Their son, Chad, and his family came down from North Carolina and Deanna & her son, Tyler, were there. We had not seen Chad in about 18 years and it was so great to visit with him and his family. Doris made a wonderful dinner with deep-fried turkey, spiral-sliced ham and all the trimmings. We are staying in a campground that is less than 2 miles from Lynn & Doris. We are going to NC on Sunday to see Chad & Leah's beautiful new home and we will be going to Myrtle Beach one day next week. This picture is of Chad, his little princess - Keira Lynn, and Lynn. Hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving.

Jason confirmed yesterday that he is coming down to Florida with the kids on December 26th, so we are thrilled about that. We will be taking them to see Mickey!!! That is absolutely the best Christmas present we could have received.

Chattanooga, TN

We arrived in Chattanooga, TN this afternoon. The picture at left is of the sunrise this morning before we left Natchez Trace State Park. We decided to leave Natchez Trace a day early and take our time going to Florence, SC. Bob wanted to get through Atlanta on Sunday, so we will go to a park in Greensboro, GA tomorrow for 2 nights. We are right on the GA state line tonight...in fact we crossed over into GA and back into TN just before we got here. We went to Lowe's this evening and the closest one was in GA. I just realized that Georgia's sales tax is much lower than Tennessee's, so I'm glad we went to the one in GA! This park is OK, but we are so spoiled after two weeks at Natchez Trace that it's going to take a special place to compete. (And this park costs almost twice what we paid at NTSP). We had beautiful weather for travelling today and Bob made it over Monteagle without any white-knuckles. :-) It was actually very beautiful, especially with all the fall colors. We decided to postpone going to the Tennessee Aquarium until our return from Florida in early April. We will spend 2-3 days in Chattanooga at that time and be able to enjoy the aquarium and IMAX theater much more. There is plenty to see and do in this area, so we are looking forward to visiting again in the Spring.

Natchez Trace State Park

We are still at Natchez Trace State Park. This park is so beautiful and spacious and we are truly enjoying our time here. Debbie & I have been switching off cooking dinner every other day and it has worked quite well. Larry will be going home today. He has to be back to work on Monday, but come May he will be joining the full-timers ranks. Reid & Debbie are leaving Friday to go to his mom's for Thanksgiving. We will meet up with them again the beginning of December in Titusville, FL for the space shuttle launch. We will be here until next Sunday, the 18th. When we leave here we have decided to spend a couple of days in Chattanooga, TN. The Tennessee Aquarium & IMAX Theater are there and are supposed to be quite spectacular. We will check out the local scene and then head to Florence, SC for 10 days before going to Florida. I'm posting a picture of Reid, Debbie, Bob & Larry around the campfire. It has been a little chillier here than we anticipated, but still much nicer than that arctic tundra called "Michigan"!

Natchez Trace State Park, Wildersville, TN

We arrived at Natchez Trace State Park early yesterday afternoon. We met up with our friend Larry and his grandson in Memphis and caravaned here with Reid & Debbie. It was only about a 2-hour trip...much better than the marathon drive on Thursday! This park is absolutely gorgeous and has large, full-hook up sites for only $16.00/night. It just doesn't get any better than that! We were here in April for our 1st Everest Owners Rally and we couldn't wait to return. Unfortunately, all the lakefront sites were taken when we arrived, but we do have a view of the lake. Of course, right now we could have our pick of lakefront sites. We tried out our new Coleman portable fireplace last night. The firepits they have here are right under the awning, so our portable one allows us to locate it wherever we want and it worked great. I will try to get some pictures and post them later today. We'll be here for 2 weeks and then start working our way toward South Carolina for Thanksgiving with the Campbell's. Did I mention that "this is the life"??? :-)

P. S. Jason called last night and said that he & the kids might join us in Titusville, FL the day after Christmas for a few days, so that was wonderful news! I guess we might be going to visit the big mouse!

The Grand Casino

We went to the Grand Casino yesterday with Reid & Debbie. We would have been LOSERS, but Bob's knack for finding money kicked in. He found $40.00 on the floor in front of a slot machine and then he found a $200.00 cash-out slip that someone dropped. So, we came out of there winners, but not enough to fill our fuel tanks...that's for sure! Maybe we'll have better luck today. Ms. Debbie won $546.25 on a video poker machine. She played that same machine for hours and just couldn't lose. We won't discuss Reid's day at the casino.

Tunica, MS

We arrived in Tunica, MS at 9:45 p.m. (Eastern time) last night. We left Waldenwoods Resort at 5:45 a.m., so it was a very long travel day. I had a feeling that once we started rolling, Bob would drive straight through. I don't understand why he was in such a rush...it's not like we have to be back to go to work any time soon or anything. :-) He knew that Reid & Debbie were already here at the Grand Casino RV Park and he was anxious to get here. This is a nice park with large pull-through sites. The shuttle picks us up at our site to go to any of the casinos in the area. Hopefully, we'll win enough to pay for some diesel fuel. We had great weather all day yesterday. It was a little cooler here than we hoped, but it's supposed to get into the 70's today. It sure seemed weird to drive through Memphis and not stop. That is a first for us! We are here until Sunday when we will meet up with another friend from the Everest Owners Club and head to Natchez Trace State Park in TN for 2 weeks. This is the life! I'll post some pictures soon.

Heading South

We are leaving Waldenwoods Resort (our home park) in Hartland, MI on November 1st. The snow is coming, so it's time to raise the levelers, pull in the slide-outs, hook-up the 5th wheel and head south. We will travel to The Grand Casino in Tunica, MS to meet up with our friends, Reid & Debbie. We plan to leave Tunica on the 4th and head to Natchez Trace State Park in TN with Reid & Debbie for 2 weeks. Our friend, Larry, from Memphis and his grandson will meet us at Natchez Trace for a week. When we leave Natchez Trace we will then begin heading east to visit our friends, Lynn & Doris, in SC for Thanksgiving. After that, we will begin heading to Florida. We have reservations in Titusville, FL for the entire month of December. There is a space shuttle launch scheduled for December 6th and our location should be excellent for viewing the launch. Reid & Debbie will join us in Titusville for the launch. We will travel to Spring Hill, FL for the months of Jan-Feb-Mar and then will begin slowly working our way back to Michigan, arriving the 1st week of May.