Tuesday May 21st 2024

Today’s weather was a clone of Mondays. It was sunny, and breezy. The temperature peaked in the upper eighties held back from even higher temperatures by the nice breeze. There were some very scattered showers in the area, but none fell on my location.

During my internet searching over the last few days, I discovered a community park north of here on Lake Apopkoa that sounded interesting. The pictures seemed very interesting, so I set out to explore the Dr. Bradford Memorial Park on the north side of Winter Garden.

I needed a GPS to find the park. It was in a residential neighborhood with no straight path from the main road to the park. The streets all had a 25mph or slower speed limits with speed bumps and I even saw cops with a radar gun. One last left turn after a dozen rights and lefts brought me to the empty park. There was no one in the parking lot when I arrived. While I was there a few other cars came and went.

The park was a lot smaller than I expected. Basically it is a series of path ways around drainage pools that lead into Lake Apopka. From the pictures on the internet, there are often alligators on the banks of the ponds, but today there were only birds. It was a nice little park, but I doubt that I will return anytime soon. The drive is just to complicated.

On my way back to my RV home I stopped for groceries. Unfortunately for my caloric intake I was hungry when I arrived at Walmart. The bakery goods section near the entrance to the store provided a lot of items to my shopping cart. I now have the onions that they were out of last week. This week there was no gallon jugs of water on the shelves. I currently have two gallon jugs and eight liter bottles of water on hand. I’ll have to get more before the weekend.

Monday May 20th 2024

There was just the right mix of sun, humidity and breeze today. It was a nice mid to upper eighties day in central Florida. The daily showers of the summer season haven’t begun yet.

I had hoped to get back on a more normal schedule today. My intent was to get up around 8AM and get active, but it didn’t happen. Not only did I sleep well past that hour, it was a very lethargic morning once I got out of bed. I’ll have to try again tomorrow morning.

My area of the RV resort got a little more lively today. A big trailer with a family and a young dog arrived at a site a couple down from me. The pup doesn’t have any idea what be on a leash or other lead is all about. It wants to explore and chase birds, but finds itself at the end of the leash very quickly. The frustration that follows is also entertaining. Luckily its not to vocal with its frustration.

My immediate neighbor on the other side has also returned. He was gone all last week, but it would have surprised a passerby to know that. His car was there all week and the golf cart never moved. There were no lights at night and nobody walking around, but most people wouldn’t notice that. The only real change while he was gone was his Star Link Internet antenna was not set outside. Late yesterday he made a return appearance. I am not sure how he left or how he returned. It was a couple of days into the week before I realized I hadn’t seen my neighbor in a while.

Walking around the RV resort today I didn’t find any flower blossoms to photograph. We seem to be in a break between blossoming seasons. It is surprising since the little bit of rain we go at the end of last week has managed to restore growth and green to the grass. I am going to have explore other areas to get my flower pictures.

Sunday May 19th 2024

While the forecast had a chance of severe thunderstorms in the Orlando area, this immediate area was dry without any real threat during the day. A good breeze out of the west to northwest kept conditions comfortable. The temperature peaked in the upper eighties. It was very different from Saturday’s humid mid nineties rain threatened day.

My sleep schedule has been out of sync since Friday night. It took time to decompress after the evenings adventures at the Magic Kingdom. Yesterday was a little slow, but this morning it was tough to get up. I slept an extra couple of hours. Everything today has been a couple of hours out of sync.

This was a general chores around the RV kind of day mixed with a little internet surfing between tasks. My walk around the RV park was at an odd time like everything today. This was my first walk to the Lake Davenport shoreline in a few days. I was surprised to see more changes in occupancy of the park. Several more sites were empty and a couple of other were all shut up for the summer. Even more surprising were a couple of new arrivals. There car tags indicated they would only be around for a few days.

The other surprise on today’s walk were all the bunnies. I encountered little rabbits at several places along the way. There were even a couple in my front lawn when I got back. I suspect they were taking advantage of some of the nice new grass resulting from the off and on rain the last few days.

Saturday May 18th 2024

It was a hot, humid and almost rainy day. The day started cloudy with a little rain here and there. As the day went by, the clouds thickened and the sound of thunder could be heard. There were never any real downpours, but the sky spit and cried a lot. Every time I tried to do something outside, like a walk around the RV park, the weather chased me back inside. Toward nightfall the sun made an appearance in the western sky. This weather pattern is expected to repeat tomorrow.

Last night’s blog entry was completed in hast after returning from a few hours at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. It was a fun evening. Crowds were about normal from my experience. Wait time at the popular attractions were around an hour. If you caught them right the wait was around a reasonable half an hour. I focused on attractions that I haven’t done in a while. The Carousel of Progress and the Tiki Birds show were among those attractions.

Going to the theme park at the supper hour means eating at the park. While there are full service restaurants that you can make reservations at, it requires upfront planning and isn’t the best option for a solo traveler. Instead I use the counter service restaurants. Most of them support mobile ordering. I put my order in from one side of the park and the foods ready by the time I get to the restaurant. My choice for Friday night was a grilled skewer of shrimp over rice at the Columbia Harbor House. The shrimp were good but the rice was sticky.

I got in place on Main Street for the fireworks half an hour ahead of time. With that lead time I found a space about half way down Main Street. The area in front of me, all the way to the castle, was mostly full by that time. As the start time approached, the crowd got thicker and it really got uncomfortable at times. The families that tried to find ways for their small children to see the show were a royal pain, but understandable. One dad was even trying to hold two kids on his shoulders. That didn’t work very well. He had to resort to rotating between the kids. The result was also rotating unhappy kids.

The park was open for another hour and a half after the fireworks. Getting to the rides from Main Street after the fireworks is a challenge. Most of the people watching the fireworks were heading for the exit. By the time I got to the back of the park the wait times were back up to long waits. I wandered around waiting for the crowds leaving the park to thin out before I started that was as well.

Friday May 17th 2024

I missed last nights TV weather forecast. I was surprised to hear rain on the roof this morning along with the sound of approaching thunder. When I turned the TV on I saw that a thunderstorm watch was in place as a line of showers approached from the west. It was a rainy and generally messy morning, but the sun came out as the afternoon progressed.

This evening I headed back over to Walt Disney World. My goal for the evening was to watch the Happily Ever After Fireworks at the Magic Kingdom from in front of the castle. Last time I was caught by time and the crowd watching the show from the rear of the park. Tonight I managed to get in the mass of humanity on Main Street USA. I didn’t get back to my RV home until after 11PM, so this blog is being prepared in hast. I’ll write more about my evening at the Magic Kingdom in tomorrow’s blog entry.

Thursday May 16th 2024

After three plus days of at least one rain event, today was back to dry and warm. We got less than an inch of rain over the last few days, but it did serve to allow the dry brown crackling grass to show some green. In the current forecast the chance of rain returns this weekend.

Today was a slow day activity wise. After an active evening at Disney’s Hollywood Studios yesterday, I got a slow start this morning. It was well after the noon hour before my slow paced breakfast and morning reading gave way to a semi active afternoon. Other than a drive to the other end of Lake Davenport for a short walk in the Northeast Regional Park, not much blog worthy was accomplished. The walking trails at the park are a lot closer to an urban sidewalk than a nature trail. Walking around my RV resort is more interesting.

Wednesday May 15th 2024

The sound of rain on the roof woke me up around 6:30 this morning. I was expecting rain before morning, so I only had the two bedroom windows by the bed to close before I rolled over and went back to sleep. Shortly after 8AM I again. This time the rain was even heavier and the wind was rocking the RV a little.

When I finally rolled out of bed and turned the TV on, I learned there was a tornado watch for all the counties around Orlando. It technically didn’t apply to my location at Four Corners, but I am in walking distance of three of the warned counties. The sky remained threatening as the day progressed. A brief rain shower fell in the late morning and another in the early afternoon. The forecast called for the last line of storms to pass through around 5PM.

I stopped worrying about the rain and headed to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for desert after an early dinner. Tonight for desert I had a Hot Fudge Brownie Sunday at the stand across from the theater that hosts the Beauty and the Beast show. By the time I finished my desert the sky was looking threatening. I headed into the last Beauty and the Beast show of the day to enjoy the classic performance and stay out of the rain. When I came out of the theater after another great show, the ground was wet and puddles were everywhere.

My next stop as I wandered around the theme park was at Toy Story Midway Mania. The wait for the arcade style ride was only listed at 40 minutes. The queue kept moving and it turned out to be even less of a wait. My score was better than usual, but it wasn’t even the best in my car. I need to watch a YouTube video or two on how to hit the good targets.

From Toy Story land I looped through Galaxy’s Edge. I didn’t plan to stop at either of the rides, but a 25 minute wait time for Star Wars Rise of the Resistance was too good to skip. It is usually over an hour. This was only the second time I’ve been able to ride the premier attraction in Galaxy’s Edge.

After kill some time walking around other areas of the park I headed into the massive theater seating area for the Fantasmic Night time show. I arrived half an hour before show time and my seat was way to the far side. The theater was full shortly after I arrived. It is a good show and more comfortable to watch than the other night time shows. The show has lots of live actors, projections on water screens and pyrotechnics. I just prefer the more fireworks intensive shows at he other parks.

Tuesday May 14th 2024

I woke up this morning to learn there was a tornado watch in the counties north of Orlando until 1PM. Last night I was under the impression that today was going to be a dry day. A line of thunder storms was moving in from the Gulf of Mexico and would be in this area by noon.

This was a winter style storm front with summer time temperatures. It was a potentially dangerous situation. It was humid and cloudy all morning. Near noon, massive dark clouds appeared on the western horizon along with the sound of thunder. Not long after that a lot of very strong wind rocked my RV home as the leading edge of the line of storms hit my RV home broadside. Later in the day I saw a couple of wind damaged temporary signs out on the main highway. The storm lasted about half an hour with heavy rain falling the whole time. The cloud cover thinned during the afternoon and the sun filtered through to warm the day into the low eighties.

Most of my day was focused on chores around the RV. The clutter that tends to accumulate during a long stay is starting to get noticeable. I spent some time putting things away and considering the need to vacuum and possible even wash the vinyl floor. The outcome of my consideration was “not today”. I really need to do a full “spring cleaning” before summer arrives.

My walk around the park today was about four hours after the rain ended. There were still several big puddles remaining in the lower area near the lake. The flower beds left behind by departed snowbirds have started to show signs of neglect and the rain seemed to hasten the dropping of blossoms. These flower beds have been the source of many of my flower pictures in past blogs. Today there was nothing photogenic remaining in the beds.

Monday May 13th 2024

Today was another day of waiting for the rain. The day began very cloudy and humid. A strong breeze out of the southeast kept the temperature down, but if you were out of the breeze the humidity was oppressive.

Unlike yesterday and similar days in the past month, rain actually arrived. Around 3:30 in the afternoon light rain fell on the roof of my RV home for a couple of minutes. Once again I was asking if that was all there was to it. Today there was more to come. The sound of thunder to the southwest was constant for the next hour. It was followed by a real thunderstorm. It was short but filled with heavy rain. The rain wont do a lot to help the long dry spell in the area, but it did wash the dust off my car. More rain is forecast later in the week.

Before the rain I got in a little shopping. It was mostly for groceries, but I also managed to buy a couple of shirts to replace ones that I threw away recently. Lately I’ve been buying inexpensive quality shirts that probably wont last the years of wear I got out of the ones I threw away, but finding stores with good quality shirts is a challenge.

As far as grocery shopping goes, I got everything I wanted with one exception. I didn’t buy onions. I cook with onions often, so I go through them quickly. Today I found one onion in the entire Walmart produce section. It was in the loose vegetables section. The area for bagged onions was empty of all varieties. There were plenty of potatoes just no onions. The shipment most not have come in.

The thunderstorm kept me from getting in my daily walk around the RV park. That means I am going to be surprised by departures and other changes when I get to my next walk around the park.

Sunday May 12th 2024

I allowed the TV weather prognosticators to get me all excited about the prospect of rain. The day began cloudy and proceeded to get even darker as the morning progressed. Around noon the sound of light intermittent tapping on the roof of my RV home indicated that it was trying to rain. The long awaited and needed rain seemed to be starting. A few minutes later the sounds were gone and looking outside didn’t show any sign of moisture on the concrete or roads. The expected rain storm was a bust. There is another chance tomorrow.

Most of the grass in the RV resort is now brown and dry. The few exceptions are at the long term residents sites who have taken on the task of watering the grass around their sites. These sites are little islands of green in the sea of brown. The question remains if the site residents will also take on responsibility for mowing. The park wide landscaping crew hasn’t used a mower in several weeks. They seem to be focused on trimming alone.

The drought conditions should change when the true summer weather pattern arrives. Right now the absence of rain has resulted in brush fire warnings in many areas. The current conditions don’t qualify as an actual National Weather Service drought since the weather is consistent with seasonal normal behavior. Still, the TV weather talkers are sure talking about rain with anticipation. The summer rain pattern begins toward the end of the month.

On today’s walk around the RV park I found more RVs closed up with the outside stuff tied down. A couple of sites with lots of outdoor patio stuff were now empty of the accompanying RV. The RV was off to cooler climates, but the site and sometimes the golf cart were waiting for the return. Everybody has their own schedules. I’m just continuously surprised by the ones that I thought were staying for the summer transition to gone so quickly as they do.