Hitting the Links

Friday, October 31, 2014

Today is our last day in Florida and we decided to have another chill down day.  The weather was beautiful again, just as it has been for this entire trip.  

I went up to the RCI office onsite and confirmed some new vacations (Tory's Landing in May!!) and launched a few new searches for next February.  

The girls drove over to the Lazy River and Moe and I walked over a little later. 

Lynn was totally relaxed with her iphone glued to her hand (why can't people put them down :)

Today would have been Lynn's son Allan's 43 birthday.   The tradition has always been pizza with friends on Halloween Night.   We continued that tradition at CiCi's.  

Moe and I needed to check out the MPGA courses in preparation for Songwriter's week next February.  I'm happy to report that the courses are in excellent shape, but unfortunately, Moe and I laid a beatin' on the girls!(61,62,63,64).  

Poolside

Thursday, October 30, 2014

MoJo made a great breakfast this morning.  

Then everyone sat with their electronic devices catching up on news, etc. 

Why can't they put those things down??

MoE and Joanne came over later and we took them down to the Lazy River.  

Lynn and I drove over to Summer Bay to arrange our reservations in January at the Houses of Summer Bay.  

The girl there was good enough to show Lynn one of the units.  

With its own pool and lanai.  

We're really looking forward to it. 

We drove back and joined Moe and Joanne at the Lazy River and then enjoyed a great dinner and dessert at the Ale House. 

Another great lazy day. 

Going to the Dogs

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

We headed to Daytona for a matinee of dog racing.  It was another beautiful day to sit outside.  

It was a great day and no one lost their shirt.  I still had $5 from my $20 after 15 races. 

After the races we headed down to Daytona Beach and drove the beach for about 10 miles.  Pretty quiet, but always cool.  

Evidently it was a long tiring day for some.  :)

On the Golf Course

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

We decided to just chill at the resort today.  The Sandhill cranes were hanging around. 

We made our way over to the Lazy River. The weather has been absolutely fantastic!  On top of that there are no crowds.   It was so nice to spend a day at the pool with most spots empty. 

Afterwards, Moe and I hit the golf course.  Not to play golf of course (what a stupid game!), but to fish Lake Kem.   That's one of Bud's units off in the distance.  

It didn't take long to catch a small one.  

The next one was a little better, about 13 inches.  

We caught one more and then were summoned for dinner.  We ate in for a nice change. 

After dinner we went over to Tradewinds Bar by the Lazy River to watch one of our local favourites, Tommy Treadway. 

.  

A very entertaining night and a great laid back day. 

The Gulf Side

Monday, October 27, 2014

We headed West to the Gulf.  This is MoJo's territory. We started at John's Pass where Lynn picked up a nice sun hat. 

From John's Pass we drove to see Moe's timeshare in Indian Shores.  They have done a lot of maintenance and stuff and it looks great. 

The Manager showed us through one of the units similar to the one that Lynn will be staying at with her sisters in January. 

Very spacious and comfortable and everything and stuff.  

They are across the street from the Beach and have a great view of the inland waterway right behind them. 

We left the timeshare and drove to Clearwater Beach where the girls seemed to be enjoying themselves. 

We had some great pizza at Moe's favourite pizza joint, the Post Corner Pizza. 

And then crossed the street to watch a great sunset!

Once the sun went down we headed back to Orlando, but not before making a stop at the Hard Rock Casino along the way. 

A great and memorable day and everything and stuff!!!

Downtown Disney

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Did a little shopping today.  Went down to Bass Pro (BrushHawgs) and Ron Jon's and then over to the outlet mall.  I got another pair of running shoes that I needed (LOL) and Moe got an awesome jacket.  Joanne got an awesome watch and Lynn got awesome pants and top. 

AWESOME!!

We drifted on over to Downtown Disney.  There is a massive expansion program going on and it was very broken up.  A bit disappointing, but I can't wait to see the final product. 

We didn't cover it all, but enjoyed a great dinner and music at Raglan Road. 

The girls enjoyed a sugar scrub.  

One of the downsides of the expansion is that they now have a Starbucks.  After paying $5.00 for a coffee, Joanne had to make her way around the corner to fix it herself.  Hahahahahahaa, love it!  Pales in comparison to my 59 cent senior McCafe!!

Cruise Night

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Had a good sleep-in today after all the driving the last three days.  Having coffee on the porch with Moe when this guy showed up. Ring Tail Hawk?

We went to WalMart to pick up supplies. Moe couldn't keep his hands off of this fine Pink Shit $2.97/bottle.  Let the party begin!! LOL

When we returned, MoJo's unit was ready so they made the long trek from our unit to theirs!!    

Orange Lake has always been excellent at satisfying requests.   Originally we were going to be at opposite ends of the resort (mile). 

Dinner selection is being handled similar to a FishGuts Practix where we go around the room taking turns at picking songs.  It was Moe's turn tonight and he chose Chuy's (pronounced "Cheweys")

It had a great atmosphere.   This room featured hubcaps adorning the ceiling. 

Good choice Moe!

We left Chuys and drove down to Old Town for Sarurday Night Cruise Night featuring good 50-60s music......

........and awesome cars!

Gatlinburg to Kissimmee

Friday, October 24, 2014

We got up at 3:00 am and were off by 3:30 in order to get to Orange Lake (stop #5) by 4:00 pm to get checked in before picking up Moe and Joanne at the airport.  It was a long, but uneventful drive.  

It always feels like I'm coming back home when I arrive here. 

We cleaned up and then left to pick up MoJo at 6:30 pm. And then went for dinner to where else, but Miller's Alehouse.  

A great start to a great week. 

Smokey Mountains

Thursday, October 23, 2014

We only had one full day in Gatlinburg.   The main idea of this stop was to scope out the area for future trips.  We made the most of the day.  I was shocked how busy it was for this time of year.  Gridlock in Gatlinburg.  I guess the fall colours are a serious draw here.  We drove into Great  Smokey Mountain National Park and decided to drive to the Cade Cove Loop. 

The ~20 mile drive to the loop was spectacular winding along beside a very active River. 

Pictures do not do it justice. 

This is one of the many waterfalls along the way. 

Cade's cove (a cove in this instance is a relatively flat valley between mountains) was settled in 1830 and by 1900 had about 125 famies living here.  

The Park took it over in the 1930s and many of the buildings and churches are still standing. 

This is a fabulous area and we hope to be back here again in the future.  

We exited the Park near Pigeon Forge.   Again I was taken back by how big the place was. A huge tourist town with lots to see and do.   There are about a dozen shows in the area and we went to the Country Tonight Show which was very entertaining.

Although we were only in the area for a day, I'm really glad we included it in our trip.  Definitely one of the highlights!