Friday May 31st 2024

Yesterday’s breeze turned into a real wind today. The result was an even more comfortable day than Thursday. Wednesday was the warmest day of the week. The temperature and feels like temperature has gone down a few degrees everyday. Today’s high was in the low nineties.

I got caught up in a motorhome maintenance / repair task today. I’ve been having trouble with the signal to my TVs. The satellite is fine, but the signal from the Over the Air TV antenna and campgrounds cable has been a problem. Somewhere there is a loose connection or perhaps a heat related issue. Today I had no signal at all so it was time to start digging into the issue.

I removed a panel in the TV cabinet to get access to the area behind the signal booster cable switch outlet. I found a mass of cables in a real twisted mess all leading to a massive 1 to 8 splitter. My first step was checking all the connections for tightness. It would have been nice if it was that simple. The next step was checking the wiring and power to the booster switch. This seems to be a very modified device using pigtails for the coaxial connections rather than the typical connectors. Visually and electrically it looked fine. I jumped the cable TV coaxial cable around the booster switch and had some success. The issue seems to be with the electronics or connections in the booster switch.

When I started searching for a replacement part on the internet, I learned that this is probably a modified part or a special OEM unit. I couldn’t find any examples with coaxial connections on pigtails. The use of pigtails rather than connectors on the circuit board seems arbitrary. I’ve ordered one with regular connectors and will try to make it work. If necessary, I can probably dig out a soldering iron and repeat the modifications on the old one.

Thursday May 30th 2024

The official high for the day was a degree or two below Wednesday at 96 degrees. It really didn’t feel any different. If you were in the breeze, it was comfortable. The humidity remains low for Florida and the current trend calls for the temperature to be a degree or two cooler each day through the end of the weekend.

Today was lawn mowing day in the RV Resort. With the dry conditions in this area over the last couple of months, there isn’t much grass to mow. The last time the landscape company was here was two or three weeks ago. At that time, I don’t think they even unloaded their big lawn mowers. They just used the string trimmers. Today they used the lawn mowers, but only selectively.

Many of the long term residents have been watering the grass on their sites. Their grass looked lush and tall compared to the rest of the park. Lately, we’ve been getting enough rain that the bulk of the grass is a little greener, but still thin and not very tall. The landscape company seemed to take care of the tall grass with the lawn mowers today, including the grass on the sites getting watered. The rest of us seemed to get the string trimmer treatment. Walking around later in the day, I spotted a lot of places they could have put more effort into. The one time I saw them mow everything, back in early April, there were four or five lawn mowers and about a dozen people. Today I think there were two mowers and maybe three or four people. So what’s the reason for the difference, cost or drought.

Wednesday May 29th 2024

The daily temperature continues to peak in the upper nineties. Today there was a little less humidity and an inconsistent wind. At times it was uncomfortable outside.

I got yesterday’s errands completed today. Chief among those tasks was grocery shopping. Wednesday afternoons seem to be the wrong time to visit Walmart in this area. It was very busy and the checkout line was very slow. Watching the other patrons in the checkout line can result in a lot of fun speculation. What are they going to cook? How often do they grocery shop? How many people are they feeding? Invariably the folks with the most junk food have the biggest body mass. I am sure my purchases tell other shoppers things as well.

This evening I made another attempt to see the new drone show at Disney Springs. I got there at 6PM. This mid week day wasn’t as crowded as Sunday night, but it still seemed to be more crowded than I’m used to experiencing. I had already eaten at home, so tonight it was just desert at Ghirardelli’s. My Hot Fudge Sunday was very good.

I got in line for the 9PM drown show about 8PM as they started to allow people to fill in the walkway along the lake. Once again I waited about an hour in the second row of people standing along the guardrail. The show was delayed about ten minutes because of wind. I thought I was in for another failed attempt to watch the show, but it finally started.

Watching the show on YouTube was impressive, but in person it is even better. The scale of the figures in the sky and their 3D nature doesn’t convey in video. The same applies to the pictures I took. They don’t do the show justice.

The crowds getting out of the viewing area and then the parking garage were bad. I state down and watched one of the bands for three quarters of an hour to give the car traffic in the garage some time to thin out. Still, it turned out to be very slow getting home.

Tuesday May 28th 2024

The weather forecast for today didn’t have a high expectation of rain, but it came. Rain is the norm rather than the exception during warm weather in Florida. At midday, as I was getting ready to leave my RV home for some errands, a big black cloud appeared on the south western horizon. I didn’t want to drive in a downpour so I delayed my departure. The big black cloud went by to the south putting on an interesting lightening show with some good rumbles thrown in. We barely got enough rain in this area to wet the ground.

The rain delay allowed me time to prepare and eat lunch. I wasn’t in any real hurry to get to the errands I had allowed the weather to put on hold. About the time I decided to get back in the game, another rain storm surprised me. There were no huge black clouds with this one just lots of rain. For about half an hour a steady beat of rain fell on the roof followed by another hour of occasional spurts of precipitation. I got the message and decided to stay at home today. The errands can wait for Wednesday.

I was saved from doing another of today’s chores by maintenance. The laundry facility at the resort was closed for maintenance today. The resort staff sends out text messages keeping everyone informed about such issues. When I walked by towards evening, after the sun returned, the area was deserted. There were no maintenance people or users in the area, but the all clear text message hasn’t arrived yet.

Elsewhere in the park more of the weekend residents departed this morning. The tent trailer with the additional awnings for sun protection departed this morning. I wonder if it will be back again before I leave. Other RVs here and there around the park also departed this morning. There still seems to be more RVs here than there were a week plus ago. I attribute the increase to the fact that school is out for the summer.

Monday May 27th 2024

Weather wise today seemed to be a clone of the last few. The temperature peaked in the upper 90s. When the wind was blowing it was comfortable outside. If it wasn’t blowing it was downright uncomfortable.

Not many of the weekend residents in the RV resort departed today. Just like most of the weekenders arrived a day or two before the actual weekend, I suspect they will be leaving a day or two after the holiday weekend. I still have many more neighbors than I did a week ago.

Traveling around the area today, I didn’t encounter as much traffic as I expected. Granted, I didn’t go into the theme park area, but the traffic wasn’t as bad as on an ordinary week day. I crossed over Interstate 4 in a normal backup area and traffic was flowing smoothly. From reports on the local TV channels this weekend has been particularly popular for tourism in the area. I guess it just wasn’t from travel by car. There were also reports of many canceled outbound flights because of the weather issues in the northern states, so travel isn’t fun for some people this weekend.

Walking around the RV resort this evening, it became clear I was an invader at a rabbit convention. Everywhere I turned I found new groups of bunnies. Most of the time they just froze and watched me, but some of the groups scattered as soon as they saw me. The volume of rabbits would tend to indicate they don’t have any natural predictors in the area.

Sunday May 26th 2024

The temperature increased another couple of degrees today and the humidity also climbed. The result was a less comfortable day outside. Inside, my air conditioner got turned on earlier in the day.

Late in the afternoon I set out for Disney Springs. A new nigh time aerial drone show premiered on Friday night. I have seen YouTube videos of the show and I wanted to see it. This is a holiday weekend and the new show is a draw, so I knew I was going to have crowds and traffic to deal with.

I got to Disney Springs at 5:30PM and found a parking space at the top of the Orange parking garage. There was a line of traffic getting into the garage. When I made it into the shopping and entertainment district it was as busy as I have ever seen it. Getting a table to eat my Fish & Chips at Cooks of Dublin was my next challenge. I finally got a high top table just as my food arrived. Since the first drone show started at 9PM, I had plenty of time to eat and wander around Disney Springs.

Just before 8PM I got in line for the preferred viewing area. They let us start to filter in at 8PM. I was in the second row standing behind the rail along the lake. The show is out over the lake. At 8:30 three test drones went up. I assume they were judging the wind or other weather conditions. At 8:45 the three drones went up again. I was getting a little concerned. At the 9PM start time they made an announcement about a delay. The three test drones went up again. At 9:06PM they called off the show. We had all stood around practically shoulder to shoulder for nothing.

The second show at 10:45 was still scheduled, but if the cancellation was for wind, it seemed to be getting worst. If it was a mechanical issue, who knows how long it would take to find and fix the issue. Communications weren’t very good and crowd management had us funneled all over the Disney Springs area. I waited until 10PM to let the traffic leaving the parking garage ease up a bit. Eventually, I join the line of cars heading out of the garage. I try to see the show another time. There are two shows a night scheduled through September.

Saturday May 25th 2024

Today’s temperature reached the top of the nineties. The wind arrived late in the afternoon to help cool things down for the overnight hours. However, it really was an air conditioner kind of day. I went out about 11AM leaving the windows open and fans blowing in my RV home. When I returned, about three hours later, the thermometer for the inside of my RV home read 104 degrees. What little wind there was was blowing toward the side of the RV without many windows. With the door open, the temperature would have stayed a little lower, but the reality was I need the AC on. After closing all the windows and turning on the AC the inside temperature soon became comfortable.

Late in the morning I went in search of a relaxing wooded area to hike. A few years ago I found a state wildlife area between Haines City and Lake Wales. It wasn’t particularly exciting, but had a couple of trails and a swampy marsh area. This year I couldn’t find it on google maps. I decided to try and find it by driving around in the area a bit. I am pretty sure I found the right area, but today there were a lot of new home developments in the area. Old orange groves were all bulldozed into building lots and wide open space. My search was a failure. I’ll do a little more research before giving up the search.

A few more weekend or short term residents arrived today. One is a Class C motorhome that was camped in the same area a few weeks ago. It is a confusing setup. They don’t have another car, motorcycle or other auxiliary form of transportation. I would assume that means they will be taking the motorhome out as transportation. Last time they didn’t and I don’t think I every saw anyone out walking. This time I haven’t seen anyone since they backed into the site. My curiosity is peaked.

Fridy May 24th 2024

The weather pattern remain in place. Today high may have been a degree or two above Thursday peaking in the upper mid nineties, but the breeze that was missing yesterday was back today. Overall it felt a little better outside with the breeze.

This was another day with a few simple errands to fill the time. I needed laundry detergent to wash the accumulation of dirty clothes. A trip to Walmart resolved that issue along with the missing items from Tuesday’s shopping trip. I now have a few gallon jugs of water for drinking. It is going to be a hot weekend, so lots of fluids are in my future.

On my walk around the park today I was surprised to see that not all of the weekend arrivals are Florida locals. There quite a few travelers as well. They don’t have the same explanation that Florida people have. Most of the school systems in Florida ended today. I think the northern school systems have a few more weeks to go. There are more kids here this weekend.

Thursday May 23rd 2024

The breeze was missing today. The overall outdoor comfort level was down as a result. The temperature once again peaked in the low nineties, but it felt warmer.

In addition to the overall flower blossom pictures from EPCOT’s International Flower and Garden Festival that I published in yesterday’s blog entry, I took many pictures of the butterflies. There has been a lot of activity in the butterfly tent at this years festival. I think there was more activity this year than most. I didn’t have as much success taking pictures yesterday. My Canon Elf 360HS is not as my cell phone camera but has a better optical zoom lens. Less than a third of the dozens of pictures I attempted came out well. Here are a few of them.

Walking around the campground today I saw a lot of sites filling up for the weekend. It will be interesting to see how many more RVs show up for the weekend tomorrow. I suspect this is a popular park for weekend visits to the theme parks. I have recognized some return visitors from earlier in my stay here. Distinctive RVs aren’t on the same sites, but are in the same area. It is hard to miss an older tent trailer with extra tarps tied over the roof to shelter from the sun. They don’t seem to have an air conditioner so they need the tarps.

Wednesday May 22nd 2024

The weather continues to follow a similar pattern from day to day this week. The main difference is each day is a few degrees warmer. Today the temperature peaked in the low nineties.

I used the day to make one last visit to the International Flower and Garden Festival at Disney’s EPCOT. It started in February and ends this weekend. The festival is a little more than a month shorter this year than last. I suspect they save an enormous amount of money by not having to refresh the flowers in all the garden beds and topiaries. The varieties of flowers used as fillers and background were different between my visit in February and my visit in April and May. I noticed today that some of the blossoms that were bright and vibrant in April were just greenery today. If the festival were continuing, they would have changed those plants out for something currently in bloom.

My visit today was focused on the Flower and Garden Festival. I didn’t ride any attractions. Other than walking around and taking pictures of flowers and topiaries, I watched a few of the popup style shows. In particular the Voices of Liberty at the American Adventure pavilion and an acrobatic act called Forces of Nature by AntiGravity in the World Celebration Gardens. The acrobatic act was new and different, but not necessarily enough for a repeat performance.

Overall the crowd was heavy, but not extreme for the middle of the day. There were a lot of groups identifiable by matching or similar tee shirts. They do a great job blocking the walkways drinking fountains. I gave up and bought a water bottle so I didn’t have to stop at a fountain as often. You can also get a cup of water for free at most of the counter service restaurants. I was home by the late afternoon hours when the heat is at its maximum.