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.
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.
Lunch while watching me watch him.
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.
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.
Blossom of the day.
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.
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.
Dark clouds approaching from the west.
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.
This is the first Blue Jay I’ve seen in some time.
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.
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.
Angry sky as the thunderstorm moves past.
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.
Rain water covers the ground after helping to rinse the dust from my car.
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.
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.
The water level in Lake Davenport has gone down since I arrived here in early April. The water was tight to the grass line at that time.
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.
The temperature peaked in the low nineties a few degrees below Friday. Every morning there is a small chance of rain forecast in the late afternoon to early evening, but by mid day it is clear that rain is not going to happen. The drought in this area continues.
Kermit the Frog topiary
The orchids at the Mexico pavilion are always a favorite of mine.
The pictures in this blog entry are from yesterday’s visit to EPCOT. All of the flowers in bloom during the International Flower and Garden Festival make the park beautiful. It is one of the reasons the International Flower and Garden Festival is my favorite festival at my favorite Disney World park. This year they seem to have a lot of flower beds planted with more complex blossoms like flowers in the lily family. They still have plenty of beds with impatience, geraniums and similar flowers. All of them lend color to the overall environment.
Most of the day a layer of clouds kept the sun from fully warming the air. It only reached the low to mid nineties today. Late in the day the clouds started to thin and the temperature climbed the rest of the way to the days highs.
Figment
I was off to Disney’s EPCOT late this afternoon for a meal and some entertainment. The parking lot didn’t appear to be particularly full, but the crowds inside seemed to be heavy. Wait times for attractions were also long. I wandered around checking on the flowers, butterflies, topiaries, the entertainment and generally people watching. For dinner, I had a BBQ Brisket sandwich with french fries and onion rings at the Regal Eagle restaurant in the American Pavilion. The sandwich and fries were great, but the onion rings not so much.
I took plenty of pictures over the five plus hours I wandered around the park. I’ve included many here.
The sky was clear blue all day. This allowed the temperature to climb into the upper nineties. A constant breeze made it a comfortable day despite the high temperature.
Squint the bunny.
Once again my day was not very blog entry worthy. I attempted to do a few errands that involved wandering in and out of some stores. Back at my RV home I took my usual walk around the RV resort. The only surprise was a tree I hadn’t paid any attention to turned out to be a Magnolia that is now in bloom. I had a little success getting a picture or two of the blossoms.
The temperature peaked in around 95 degrees late this afternoon, but it felt much cooler than yesterday’s 90 degree high. There was a lot more wind today and the humidity was average. The trend is forecast to continue through the end of the week. Tomorrow may be the warmest day of the week pushing at the 98 degree high for the date.
The sky started the day very blue, but white and a few gray clouds arrived as the day went by.
Today turned out to be a chores around my RV home kind of day. I got a little bit of cleaning and decluttering done. The tanks also needed dumping. That little chore is quick and easy but always has a tiny bit of risk associated with it. I always check the connections and hose position before pulling the valves. Another task I need to accomplish is washing the windows. The outsides have developed a film of dirt. I keep hoping for a period of rain to tackle that task, but I’ll probably have to dig a squirt bottle out of storage to complete the task.
Walking around the RV park today, I noticed a lot more changes in the occupancy level of the park. The rate of departures seems to have slowed down, but a new pattern has developed. A lot more RVs have been closed up for the summer. Their slide rooms have been retracted. The outside patio furniture stowed away. In some cases golf carts have been covered and strategically placed to shelter from sun and wind. The sewer and water hoses at some RVs have been disconnected and stowed. These are all obvious signs of an RV in storage, but not everybody wants to be obvious. In a couple of cases neighbors are parking their cars to make unoccupied RVs seem occupied.
Rob's Rambling Road Trip 