Saturday July 13th 2024

The weather was typical for a Florida summer day. It was sunny in the morning and gradually got cloudier as the afternoon progressed. From about 4PM on there were thunderstorms in the area. So far this immediate area has only gotten a few very brief light rain showers. Off in the distance to the south we were provided with a very dramatic display of dark clouds filled with lots of sky to ground lightening.

I was back on the search for gallon jugs of water this afternoon. The 2.5 gallon container of water I bought earlier in the week will run out soon. I could switch to using my Brita filter pitcher, but that doesn’t keep up in the high heat. My first stop on my search was the Publix grocery store across the highway from the RV resort. I really thought they would have plenty, but at a few cents higher per gallon than Walmart. Their shelves for water were also bare and the price would have been about fifty cents higher per gallon.

My second stop was the Walmart south of the RV resort about fifteen miles in Haines City. They had plenty of cases of half liter bottles, but the only gallon jugs were of distilled water. I still have a few half liter bottles and distilled water isn’t really for drinking. My quest continued.

On my way home from Haines City I looped to the east. This brought me to the Walmart near Disney World. The store was packed with Disney tourists getting stuff for their vacation homes or to make their park experience better. How do I know, you might ask. Many of the shoppers were wearing Disney T-shirts or other park theme park fashion statements. Even more telling I saw several people with Disney Magic Bands on their wrists used for theme park and room entrance.

The good news is this Walmart had a few gallon plastic jugs of water. There were about eight or so jugs at the back of the top shelf. I am tall enough and persistent that I got three of them into my shopping cart. The next thing I knew, I was helping other people get the rest of the jugs down into their carts. When I departed one more Walmart was without any gallon containers of water on their shelves.

I didn’t get a chance to take my usual walk around the RV resort. The late afternoon and evening rain showers kept me inside. I did step outside once long enough to scare a visiting rabbit from along the side of the cement pad at my site. The grass was long and lush in that area. I hope he came back after I went back inside. The grass could use a little rabbit mowing.

Friday July 12th 2024

With the exception of a ten minute rain shower around four in the afternoon, it was a sunny day with manageable humidity. The temperature peaked in the normal low to mid nineties range.

Today was another chores around the RV day. Most of them were simple tasks, but there were enough to fill the day particularly when I took a break between most of them. After an outside task, it was particularly helpful to spend a few minutes in the air conditioning.

I took my walk around the RV resort just before sunset. Once again it was abbreviated because of an threatening sky. It looked like another storm was moving in from the east, but it ultimately missed to the south. Another RV that I thought of as a landmark departed the park today. I had my head down as I walked into that area and was disoriented for a moment by the absence of the RV. The more things change, the more things stay the same.

The sunset to the west was interesting. The dust clouds from the Sahara are filtering the sunlight in colorful ways.

Thursday July 11th 2024

Today’s rain began before 8AM this morning. A line of thunderstorms approached from the north resulting in a heavy rain and lots of wind. The storms continued with varying intensity until about noon. The remainder of the day was overcast with very high humidity.

The morning rain reflected my morning mood. It was a very dreary morning. As the rain ended I started looking for something to bring a little excitement into my day. My decision was a trip to Disney Springs for supper and a little entertainment. I got there just before six. Traffic getting across Disney was very heavy.

Disney Springs wasn’t to crowded when I arrived, but it got busier as the evening continued. I walked around the shopping and entertainment district checking out some of the new things. It has been about a month since my last visit. Today I found a series of paintings on the walls of the buildings in one area. It seems to be a new exhibit. Some of the pictures were very interesting.

I got my supper at Cooks of Dublin and watched some of the evening entertainment. As it was getting dark the entertainment was in full swing and the crowds were getting into it. The morning rain may have been over, but the humidity of the day continued into the evening. I didn’t want to hang around for the 9PM drone show, because it requires so much standing in one place waiting. Traffic getting home was also heavy, but it was closer to what I’ve come to expect.

Wednesday July 10th 2024

Today’s temperature was right around the norm for the day in the low nineties and the sun was blocked by clouds. This would normally be a fairly nice central Florida summer day except for one thing. The humidity was around 80 percent all day. Any outside activity resulted in dripping sweat.

I found the humidity a great deterrent to all outside plans. Today began a period of days that Disney doesn’t require a reservation for annual pass holders to visit the parks. They call them “good to go days”. My original intent was to take advantage of the opportunity and visit Animal Kingdom today. The humidity combined with a slow start to the day changed those plans. This turned into a mostly indoor day and not a very blog material worthy day.

Late in the afternoon I braved the humidity for a walk around the RV park. Once my shirt was drenched in sweat, I had no problem completing the long loop that includes a visit to Lake Davenport. The park has emptied out from last week’s holiday occupancy. One area that was mostly full last week was mostly empty today. There is a lot of volatility here during the summer months. There are two big pools in this resort. The one nearest me is beside the laundry. I have an idea of swimming in the pools while my laundry cooks. The pool was closed Monday for maintenance and hasn’t reopened yet. This little issue has given me a good reason to procrastinate on the laundry some more.

Tuesday July 9th 2024

It was cloudy and threatening rain all day. The sun didn’t make an appearance at all. The rain arrived around 2:30 and continued varying from heavy to light for the next four hours. I tried to roll with the punches and get a few things done. I had partial success.

After scarfing down a couple of ham sandwiches for lunch, I headed north to Clermont. My plan was to get in a walk along the shore of Lake Minneola before the rain arrived. I got there, but so did the rain. Outdoor activity was impractical in the gentle but consistent rain that was falling. I started my return trip with the intent of stopping at Walmart for bottled water. The current level of rain was much milder than yesterday when I let the rain change my plans.

Today’s rain had different ideas. Just getting to Walmart became a challenge. The moderate rain became heavy. The heavy rain became a deluge. By the time I was approaching Walmart was down to a crawl and visibility was based on how bright the other guys tail lights happened to be. Stopping at Walmart became the smart thing to do rather than something to avoid because of the rain. I waited in the car about twenty minutes before I could reach the building without becoming completely drenched. The rain was over by the time I departed the store.

My shopping wasn’t particularly successful. My intent was to be several gallon bottles of water. My supply of half liter bottles is holding up, but they are not what I prefer to use. Walmart was out of gallon bottles last week and they were out again today. I came home with one 2.5 gallon container of water. It was the only one I found. The heat must be causing a run on water.

I got my walk around the RV resort in after the rain and before dark. My route was a little abbreviated. I wanted to stay near my RV home in case the rain returned. The rain held off and I got back to my RV home dry. A few minutes ago, as I am writing this blog entry, it started to rain again. Tomorrow is currently forecast to be dry, but ten degrees warmer than today’s mid 80s.

Monday July 8th 2024

It was a little more overcast today, which allowed the air conditioning in my RV home to keep up with the above normal heat the area is experiencing. The rain also found this area during the afternoon. It brings the upper nineties temperature down to the eighties at least as long as the rain lasts. This weather pattern is forecast to continue most of the week.

Based on the forecast I didn’t think today would be a very good outside activity day. I needed to pick up a few gallons of drinking water to help keep hydrated. During my last shopping trip to Walmart they were out of water by the gallon. I bought 40 bottles of water instead. Twenty liters of water in half liter bottles seems to go faster than the 5 plus gallon equivalent in gallon jugs.

After driving around for about an hour, I planned to stop at Walmart on my way home. Mother nature had other ideas. The sky opened up with the first shower of the afternoon just as I was approaching the store. I didn’t have the desire to get drown walking from the car to the store or the store to the car, so I’ll have to go back tomorrow. These afternoon storms dump a lot of rain really fast. Parking lots go from dry to a few inches deep in water in the blink of an eye it seems. I still managed to get soaked going the ten feet from my car to my RV home, but at least my feet stayed dry.

My daily walk around the RV park was shorten once again. The second or third round of storms was approaching the area when I set out on my walk. I loop around along one of the nearby camping loops and got inside before the wave of rain arrived. Overall there have been four rounds of rain since mid afternoon. The first one was the only heavy one. A few more are possible overnight.

Sunday July 7th 2024

I knew it was Sunday today and it was a sun day as well. There were very few clouds in the sky today. The sun beat down all day and raised the temperature into the upper nineties. The humidity was extreme, but the feels like temperature was still around 105 degrees. The rain didn’t come to drop the afternoon heat.

With the sun baking in on the roof and sides of my RV home, one roof air conditioner can only keep the inside down to the upper eighties during the peak of the day’s heat. Running the second AC unit brings the temperature down to the low eighties. To really feel cool, I get in the car and go for a drive with the dash vents blasting cold air at me. That was this afternoon’s activity.

As the sun got lower in the sky, walking outside was more comfortable. My walk around the RV resort was longer than yesterday’s abbreviated trek, but still not all the way to Lake Davenport and back. The park didn’t empty out much today. I thought there would be more turnover as the holiday week concluded, but only a few rigs departed and several new ones arrived. The TV news has indicated that this holiday week hasn’t been as busy in the Orlando area as past years. They have expressed all kinds of opinions on the reason from the weather to the economy. My guess it’s a lot of things, but mostly just the natural fluctuation of travel desires. There are lots of places to travel, so you need to go to different places every now and then.

Saturday July 6th 2024

I slept well last night to the point of oversleeping. It was overcast outside hiding the sun when I woke around 8AM. I rolled over and slept for another two hours. The sun didn’t dominate the sky until the warmest part of the day around 4:30PM. The temperature peaked in the mid nineties with the feels like in the low 100s. There was no rain today.

Mid week holidays, even when my actions didn’t acknowledge it, really get my day of the week sense all twisted. Today was Sunday in my head all day. It was only when I opened the computer to compose this blog entry that I was forced to recognize the day as Saturday. I wonder what day I’ll think it is tomorrow.

Today turned into a chores day. I let a few things pile up the last couple of days. One thing you don’t need inside an RV is piles of anything. The vacuum cleaner and a mop still need to find their way into my hands, but not today. A little bit of reading and some actual cooking for dinner filled out the day.

Stepping out of the air conditioned interior of my RV home brought a wave of humidity today. My walk around the RV resort was cut in half based on how quickly my shirt turned from dry to wet. It was about a half route today. I didn’t make it to the lake shore as I intended. Consequently all of the flower blossoms I often take pictures of were not on my route today. I still managed to get one little bunny to pose for a minute or two.

Friday July 5th 2024

This was a bit of a lost day. I didn’t sleep well last night, so I had no energy for activity today and I kept falling asleep. The weather was a repeat of the other days this week. The temperature peaked in the mid nineties with lots of humidity. The forecast threatened rain all afternoon into the evening. We only got a few random rain drops around 6PM.

I pushed my self into one walk around the RV resort later in the day. The clouds were blocking the clouds at the time, so it was a little more comfortable outside. Even so, I didn’t take as long a walk as I usually do. I found myself dragging just visiting with the rabbits. They seem to see me and run away long before I spotted them.

There are a good number of occupied sites in the resort for the long weekend. With more occupancy comes more confusing campers. One site is occupied bu a small class C motorhome and an accompanying car. The strange part is the accompanying car stays parked at the site and they use the motorhome every time they leave the park. Two guesses; The car is broken, or they want the bathroom facilities of the motorhome to be close at hand all the time.

Thursday July 4th 2024

Happy Independence Day United States of America

Today’s weather followed the same pattern as the last couple. The high temperature was in the mid nineties with lots of humidity. Once again the feels like temperature was around 105 degrees. The threat of rain started at mid day and continued all afternoon. I caught some rain to the south of my RV home early in the afternoon, but the threat over my RV home was highest around 6:30. Heavy black clouds were close by to the east and south, but no rain fell on the roof of my RV.

Traffic in this area was terrible today. Every traffic light seemed to take multiple cycles to get through. Thankfully I didn’t need gas today. Gas prices were 40 to 45 cents a gallon higher than the middle of last week. The average price per gallon seemed to be $3.59. I think the price will be back down next week after the holiday period is over.

Last night and again tonight I watched YouTube streams of the holiday fireworks from Disney World. The crowds in the parks are not something I want to deal with. I can here the fireworks if I step outside, but I need the help of a little Internet technology to actually see the shows. For fireworks coordinated with music, lights and a continuity thread you can’t beat the Disney fireworks. Big cities around the country come close with big shells and volume of pyrotechnics come close, but it is a different experience.

Tonight there are fireworks in the sky in the neighborhoods surrounding my RV home. Stepping outside it is possible to see lots of fireworks in and slightly above the tree line. All of the fireworks tents in the various parking lots must have done good business. I’m not used to legal fireworks in residential areas. Living most of my life in the densely populated northeast, setting off fireworks was generally illegal. There were always some set off.