Monday April 24th 2023

The big change today was the weather. For the first time in months the forecast rainy day rang true. There have been days with a storm or two, but they never really measured up to the forecast. Today was different. The day began cloudy and very humid. The first strong shower arrived around 10:30 in the morning. That was well before the forecast start of the rain. Mother Nature didn’t want to confuse the weather forecasters so she held off on the bulk of the rain until about 2:30PM. A severe thunderstorm watch for the area was in place from 2PM until 8PM. Some heavy storms dropped water on my RV home fairly consistently into the evening. More is in the forecast all week.

Before the rain really got going in the afternoon, I made a run to Walmart for groceries. The Walmarts in this area are a little different. They cater to the tourists that visit this area every day. A big area at the front of the store is dedicated to Disney merchandise. It is mostly tee shirts, sweatshirts and other clothing with characters, celebratory words and other festive stuff. You might see one or two in a Walmart in other parts of the country, but here there is a few hundred square feet dedicated to them. In the food part of the store there is a bigger selection of candy, snack foods and heat and serve type items.

The clientele is also different. In the past I’ve seen foreign visitors wandering around the store in tourist mode trying to understand how everything works. Today I just saw a few people stocking up for their stay in the area with lots of snacks and breakfast foods. I overheard a discussion about what each member of the travel party would eat and how many meals they needed to be prepared for. The Walmart I shopped at is surrounded by rental properties.

I attempted to get in a walk around the RV park this afternoon, but the rain got in the way. The first five minute or so was fine, but then a few drops of rain started to fall. By the time I got back to my RV home it was coming down hard. About three minutes after I got inside the rain stopped, but I wasn’t about to try again.