Wednesday February 24th 2016

The main theme  for the day was the weather. It started to rain at about 8:30 and ended about 4PM with a 2 hour break about noon. This wasn’t ordinary rain but severe thunderstorms with tornado watches and warnings in the area.
This immediate area was never under any warnings, but to the south, west and east of here had warnings.
I am located at the extreme north eastern edge of Polk county. This area is somewhat overlooked by the local TV stations. The Orlando stations do not consider Polk county as part of there broadcast area. If there is a big story, they’ll send a reporter, but it isn’t in their normal ambulance chasing routes. The Tampa stations do consider Polk county as part of their area. I receive one Tampa news channel on the over the air TV. Their interest in Polk county ends at about Lakeland which is about 30 miles southwest of here. The part of the county from Lakeland northeast is not well served.
What all of this means is that unless something is going on like a severe thunderstorm or a tornado warning, neither sets of stations seem to pay much attention. There forecasts don’t reference this area. The same goes for the National Weather service. Even though this location is closer to the Melbourne Florida weather office, all of Polk county is supported by Tampa for forecasts. Thankfully, the alerts are broadcast from both locations.
I have regular weather alert radios and three Apps on my smart phone. The Apps can alert me just like the radio when warnings are issued by the National Weather Service. Another feature of the Apps is “real time” radar. They receive the feed from the national weather service radar and can show the storms as they track across the area. One of them will even estimate when the rain will start and end. What would we do without technology?
Finally about 4PM the sun was breaking through the clouds and the various radars showed nothing on the way. I took advantage to get out of the rig. I ended up back over at Old Town. Today’s car display had a little more variety than the ones I saw last Friday. This display had cars from the 20s, 30s, 50s, 60s and later. They still seem to be mostly Fords.

This one is for sale

This Ford is from Ontario.

There were not as many people at Old Town or the amusement park next door. The weather is probably the cause. The people who were there were waiting for the entertainment to start, but that was delayed by the weather too. I didn’t hang around long as it was getting cool. The front had passed.

Tuesday February 23rd 2016

Nothing particularly adventurous happened today. I’m blaming the weather, but a do nothing day now and then is not a bad thing.
Starting last evening it has rain heavily for a few hours at a time twice. Between these rain showers it was bright sunshine this morning and again late this afternoon. Another session of heavy rain, this time associated with a cold front, is predicted for tomorrow mid day. After that a period of cooler than normal weather is predicted through the weekend.
Today’s mid day storms were blowing rain through my open windows. I had to close the windows and turn on the Air Conditioner for the first time since October in Mississippi. Does that mean I’ve already lost my northern hardiness? Many of the folks in the RVs around me have their ACs on any time the temperature gets into the mid 70s.
Before the rain started this morning I got a grocery run in and after the rain stopped I got the laundry done. During the mid day storms I just watched TV and read Internet news. So it was a productive day. Just not a fun filled day.

Monday February 22nd 2016

Although it is raining now as I write this blog entry, today was a nice sunny day with highs in the 80s. I spent most of the day on various ‘to dos’ around my RV home. Toward evening I got went over to Disney’s EPCOT.
I didn’t really go to EPCOT for its attractions. I went for fish and chips at the UK Pavilion and to watch the fireworks from over at Disney Hollywood Studios. Since I bought the annual Disney pass earlier in the year, it doesn’t cost me anything more to just drop in to eat dinner.

Flower Bed on the east side of the entry to the World Showcase

Flower Bed on the west side of the entry to the World Showcase

The crowds at EPCOT are heavier than they were last month. This is to be expected since this is another one of the school vacation weeks up north. Disney is getting EPCOT ready for the Flower & Garden festival. It starts on March 2nd. Many of the big flower beds have been planted and some of the topiaries have been put on display. All the flowers make the park look much prettier than it did in January.

Flower Bed on the east side of the entry to the World Showcase

Flower Bed on the east side of the entry to the World Showcase

Lady and the Tramp Topiary

They are busy assembling temporary buildings for some of the bigger events. All of this is hidden from view by curtains and temporary walls. Around the World Showcase many kiosks have been put in place for Flower and Garden shops or displays. Currently they all have generic signs advertising the Flower and Garden Festival. I’ll have to come back during the festival to figure out what they are all about.

The fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios are part of the Star Wars extravaganza that is Disney’s latest. When I watched them from the studios a couple of weeks ago I thought they’d be better from further away. You have the advantage of the music playing, but you are looking up through obstructions like trees. At the EPCOT International Gateway (i.e. the rear entrance) you get a good view of the fireworks over the Eiffel tower of the France Pavilion. I experimented with taking pictures of the fireworks. Some pictures came out OK, but I really need a tripod to steady the camera for the long exposure.

Sunday February 21st 2016

I went back to the Atlantic coast today. It was a warm day in the high 70s that started out very clear and gradually got cloudy as the day progressed. Even the light wind at the coast didn’t impact the comfortable nature of the day.
I spent some time watching the action on the Banana and Indian Rivers. The Indian River, closes to the mainland of the two rivers, is the main passage of the Inter-Coastal Waterway in the Titusville area. The river is several miles across in this area and most of the boat traffic is on the far side. There was one curious yacht anchored out on the mainland side. It looked like a large speed boat with a box on the back for the cabins. Judging by a man standing on the bow, it might be 60 feet long but only about 15 feet high from the water line.

Odd looking yacht anchored in the Indian River

Sail boat on the far side of the Indian River

Over on the Banana River there were a lot more recreational activities going on. The boat launching area was busy launching and retrieving smaller boats for fishing and general touring. Sail boarders were taking advantage of the steady wind to get good speed.

Sail Boarder on the Banana River

Late in the afternoon I stopped at Port Canaveral to watch the Cruise ships depart. It was a real traffic jam today. There were four cruise ships departing and one Casino ship docking. The harbor patrol was getting a lot of work keeping the small boats out of the way of the larger ones. Several shrimp boats and party fishing boats were also departing and leaving as the cruise ships maneuvered.

Three of the four cruise ships in Port Canaveral

I enjoy watching the action in the busy port. I have been to the port several times this winter. Each time something different is happening. The one constant is how smoothly the cruise ships are maneuvered away from the dock and out of the port.

Saturday February 20th 2016

I got an idea to go to Ikea in search of cabinet organizers. I have never been to one, but I’ve heard they have lots of interesting home furnishings. It turned out to be a good experience without achieving the shopping goal.

IKEA of Orlando

To get to the Orlando Ikea, I had to travel on Interstate 4 through the resort corridor. This named stretch of highway provides access Disney World, Sea World, the 2 Universal Parks and all of the International Drive tourist dives. It has more traffic volume than the road can sustain. Stop and go traffic through the area is the norm. Sure enough, my average speed for the 20 plus miles was closer to zero than the speed limit.
Once I navigated all of the twisting streets around various big stores, I found the Ikea at the back of the Millenia shopping area. The designers of southern malls seem to like putting in curved divided roads with lots of trees. Perhaps this is to keep speeds down. Up north it would make snow removal a nightmare. It sure makes navigating by sight difficult. I was right next to the big blue building before I knew where I was.
The Ikea store was laid out as a shopping journey. While you could take short cuts right to what you are looking for, it was easiest to follow the arrows on the gray floor. You start by going up an escalator to the show room area. You then weave your way through various vignettes of furniture and other home furnishings. If you seem something you like you can write down the product code and bin location of the stock. After touring the displays of the furniture in action, you proceed back to the first floor to the Market Place area. This section of the store has products for sale in a more traditional sense; shelves, counters and stacks of merchandise to purchase. At the end of this area you can search the shelves for any products you wrote down up stairs. It all comes boxed in as small a package as possible. Ikea is famous for the assemble that is required.
At the half way point in your journey through the store there is a restaurant. It served meals at reasonable prices. My guess is they don’t make money on the restaurant. The Swedish based chain included Swedish Meatballs on there restaurant menu. It wasn’t lunch time so I didn’t sample any of the offerings.
There were many people in the store. At no time during my journey through the store were there less than twenty people in view. Every group seemed to be buying something. I made the big purchase of a $5 plastic tray. Most of the twenty numbered checkout registers at the end of trail through the store were open with a line of people waiting to make their purchases.
Living in a motorhome, I don’t have much use for the bigger furniture that Ikea sells. I probably won’t be going to other Ikea stores, unless it is for lunch.

Friday February 19th 2016

I spent most of the day at home. It was a nice day in the low 70s with a brisk breeze perfect for sitting outside between tasks.
Around 4 in the afternoon I headed over to the Old Town attraction in Kissimmee. This is the same place I tried to get to on Wednesday evening. Today the added attraction at Old Town is “Muscle Cars”. People from all over the area bring their cars to be shown.

Ford Mustangs were everywhere

A Viper

One of two antique cars

All of the cars are street legal and some are the owners daily drives. By far the most common brand was a Ford Mustang. There were a good number of Chevy Camaros both old and new. A few street rods made up of parts from many makes and two or three true antique cars stood out in the collection. I guess when I think of “Muscle Car” I’m thinking of late 60s early 70s cars. There were only a couple of cars from that era.
Next door to Old Town is the Fun Spot America amusement park. It contains a few adrenalin rising rides that you won’t see me on, but it is fun to watch. One is called Vomatron complete with warnings to spectators about falling vomit. Another called Sky Coaster is basically a 300 foot high swing. Each of these rides had a few takers, but there weren’t any lines. The lines were at the go cart tracks.

Sky Coaster. Arrow points to riders ready to be released

Zoomed in view of riders ready for release

Riders on the up swing after the drop

Spectator shield at the Vomatron ride

Thursday February 18th 2016

Today was a perfect day for another bicycle ride on the General James A. Van Fleet Trail. It was a clear day with temperature in the low 70s.
The trail is 25 to 30 miles west of the RV park. I mounted the bicycle carrier and the bike onto the car and headed out a little after 10AM. I’ve started my first ride at the Green Pond Road trail head and headed north into the Green Swamp. This time I headed south from the same trail head.
This was a much different ride. The trail goes through cattle country and some residential areas. I didn’t see a lot of wild animals, but lots of cattle. There is some wet lands but in a normal winter it would probably be dry.

One of many cattle ranges.

I road south on the trail about 7 miles. I saw several great egret birds, some gofer tortoise borrows and lots and lots of cattle. There were black ones, brown ones and gray ones. There were big ones and little ones. That’s about all I know about cattle. I turned around when I got bored looking at cattle. Once again the trip back was into the wind. I really should plan my direction better. Last time the wind was from the opposite direction but so was my outbound trip.

Next time I’ll drive further to a different trail head. The fact that I need to go out and back to return to the car makes it difficult to cover long distances. I need to always keep in mind the need to have enough energy to return to the car. Maybe, I’ll bring some ear bugs along to listen to some thing on my phone to ward off the boredom of the monotonous sections of the trial.

Wednesday February 17th 2016

Today was another mid 70s day with bright sunshine and a gentle breeze. The TV meteorologists called it “perfect”. I don’t think that’s a scientific term, but it is pretty accurate. I haven’t gotten used to these TV meteorologists.
I had thought about going for another bike ride today, but I just didn’t get started this morning. Instead, I put the patio awning out and attached the sun shield to the awning. This created a pleasant place to read and watch TV. I am being very careful with the patio awning and the wind. I don’t have a good understanding of how much wind the awning can take. Over the years, I’ve seen a number of awnings damaged by strong winds. There was even one here in this park in December.

My RV Home with the awning out and the sun screen attached.

I am using spring and bungee cord based anchors for the awning. This gives it some additional stability in the wind. The forecast for the next few days does not call for strong winds so I am leaving it out and will watch it carefully. Once I learn how much wind it can withstand, I’ll be more comfortable. Luckily it is an electric awning so it doesn’t take much effort to put up or take it in.
About 6PM I headed over to the Old Town amusement area on US 192 in Kissimmee. I wanted to check out some of the old cars that are on display Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings. On the way, I heard on the radio that a major accident was blocking Interstate 4 near the area I was passing through. I don’t think it directly impacted my travels, but there was a great deal of traffic on the surface streets going away from the accident area. Still it took longer to get to Old Town than I thought it would. I waited in traffic to get into the parking area only to circle several times without finding a place to park. I’ll try again another night.
With any luck, I’ll take the bike over to the trail for another bicycle ride tomorrow.

Tuesday February 16th 2016

Today was a beautiful day with a high temperature close to 80. It didn’t start off as a beautiful day. At about 4AM my weather alert radio went off with a tornado warning for two counties including mine. A quick check of the cell phone weather radar app and the local TV channel showed the real danger to be to the east beyond my location given the direction of the storm front. I had set the weather radio alarm based on the vague reference to severe weather on the 11PM news.
My adventure for the day was an outing to the Bok Tower and Gardens in Lake Wales Florida. It is about 30 miles south of the RV park. This would be my third visit to the tower and gardens. My first visit was probably in the 1970s.

Bok Tower

Bok Tower is a 205 foot tower built on one the highest points in Florida called Iron Mountain. It was built in the late 1920s by Edward W. Bok an immigrant from the Netherlands. The tower contains a 60-bell carillon that can be heard throughout the gardens. Today there were recorded carillon music pieces at one and three in the afternoon. Live presentations are conducted at various times throughout the year.

The gardens surrounding the tower were designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead Jr. the son of the man who designed Central Park in New York. It has many paths and varieties of plants designed to have some plans in bloom at all times of year. At this time most of the blooms are varieties of Camellias.
The overall facility is under a major overhaul. A new visitors center with a cafe and gift shop has been completed. New paths and other facilities are still being completed. The tower is having some restoration work done and the carillon bells are currently covered to protect them. I might return later this winter when the carillon may be played live and other plants will be in bloom.

Monday February 15th 2016

This turned out to be a do nothing kind of day. The weather was cloudy with the temperature in the mid 70s and a brisk wind.
I didn’t have any plans for the day. In other places or other times I would have driven around looking for something to see or do. This technique often produces interesting and enjoyable results. Here in Florida, right now, I don’t enjoy fighting the traffic. If I have a destination the traffic is bearable, but driving for the sake of driving is a traffic nightmare. It’s a Florida in the winter thing.
When I first got to Florida in December the traffic was predictable. You could avoid the heavy traffic during rush hour or around the Christmas shopping locations. After Christmas, the traffic moved from the stores to the tourist areas. Again it was avoidable. The first two thirds of January were great, heavy but predictable traffic. But now it may have reached a peak density. Everybody in the north who can wants to escape the cold. Florida is a prime destination.
The vacancies in this RV park reflect the traffic build up. When I first arrived in December, most of the daily use sites were available and the long term area only about half the sites actively in use. Many sites in the long term area had units on them, but the residents hadn’t arrived from the north. In January most of the units in the long term area were occupied, but sites were still available. Now that February has arrived most of the daily use sites are filled and very few long term sites are available. I think this fairly accurately indicates where all the traffic is coming from.

Sand Hill Cranes came to visit again. This time they were vocally making their presence known.

Residents in this park come from all over the eastern half on North America. There are at least 4 of us from New Hampshire. New York, Ohio, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Maine are well represented. From Canada I’ve observed or met people from Ontario and New Brunswick. I’m sure there are other eastern states that are represented. I don’t recall seeing any license tags from west of the Mississippi except Louisiana which might be considered under the Mississippi river.
Don’t get me wrong. I like it down here traffic and all. There’s plenty of traffic in most heavily populated areas of the country.