Where Oh Where Has the Warm Weather Gone

Posted on January 9, 2014January 9, 2014 by Dusty Roads

It’s freezing everywhere! Even Florida is reporting record cold. Watch the price of orange juice soar now!

I thought maybe it was time for a little daydreaming. Warm sand, balmy breezes, glorious sunshine…believe me, I’d be headed south right now if I could – but I guess that wouldn’t save me since it’s cold there too. Anyway the next best thing is thinking about the warm and remembering.

There was Arizona. It was warm when I went horseback riding in Sedona.

Florida. It was warm when I visited with the Mouse at Disney

and when I rode the airboat at Holiday Park and hob-nobbed with the alligators in Shark Valley (Everglades).

And of course, Hawaii. It was nice there too. The first trip the native Hawaiians told us how hot and humid it was but to us northerners it was beautiful.

And the 2nd trip to Oahu was just as nice, snorkeling in Hanauma Bay, exploring the Polynesian villages, and getting blown around in the trade winds.

We nearly melted away climbing Makapu’u Point! But boy what a view!

I’m starting to warm up just thinking about these trips.

D, E, F & G

Posted on September 15, 2013September 15, 2013 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

We are on a roll now. We can cover Delaware, Florida and Georgia. There’s no state starting with E so we’ll just skip right over that.

D is for Delaware

No. This teeny, tiny state ranks # 49 in size. I don’t know much about the state but when I search it on trip advisor there are just loads of attractions and things to do. A lot of it seems to revolve around the seashore, wine and food. They have a Delaware Wine Trail, a Delaware Culinary Trail, a Boardwalk Arts festival, a sandcastle competition, and for the lighthouse lover Breakwater/Harbor of refuge.

F is for Florida

YES! and YES again.

Florida is almost like my 2nd home. From Key West at the tip to South Florida (Miami/ Fort Lauderdale) on to Central Florida with Disney, Kissimmee and surrounding area the only places I haven’t spent much time is the Gulf coast and the northern section and panhandle. I seem to find myself going back there every year or so as I love the Everglades and other natural areas. I don’t need to visit Mickey and Minnie every time I go down.

There are an array of Botanical Gardens and parks, both State and National, there are lighthouses and forts, when I can tear myself away from the alligators and tropical birds.

I still want to see more of the Everglades.

There are 2 more entrances to the park that I haven’t been to. High on my list as well is Miami Zoo and a place, I think it’s called Bird Island.

Mermaids

G is for Georgia

Yes. I’ve been to Atlanta. I even went to a Halloween Party in Georgia.

I visited Stone Mountain

and followed “Homer” The Atlanta Braves Mascot around.

No, I wasn’t stalking him, I was “assisting”. 🙂 I went to the zoo and the huge Georgia Aquarium and rode a Segway. ( I even fell off!) And I watched the fountains in Olympic Park and visited the World of Coca Cola.

And I can’t forget that we had dinner at Gladys Knight’s Chicken and Waffle restaurant. That was a very full trip!

So I can check Georgia off the list.

So lets me see, what’s the tally now? 10 State in A – G and I think we’re tied up. 5 states visited and 5 still to go. Let’s see how it goes with H & I.

Photo of the Week~ Week 44

Posted on November 3, 2012November 3, 2012 by Dusty Roads

I had the pleasure of visiting a local elementary school for their Halloween Parade. My friend’s daughter, Dawn, was Princess Ariel. Dawn recently lost her front baby teeth so getting her to smile is, well, like pulling teeth. 🙂 She still makes a beautiful princess. Happy Halloween!

Epcot

Posted on March 7, 2012March 7, 2012 by Dusty Roads

My visit to the sunshine state is winding down. Tomorrow morning I’ll be winging my way back to Providence and home. It’s been a full and fun vacation filled with new experiences. But there’s still one more evening before I pack up and leave and I’ll be spending it at Disney in the Epcot Park with my good friend Joe.

It was just about sunset when we reached Epcot. My old legs and feet were complaining but Joe promised I would not be disappointed.

Epcot is different from the other parks. It’s more adult or maybe sophisticated is what I’m looking for. It’s educational.

We admired the fountains and what I like to call the Epcot Golf Ball as the twilight deepened.

We passed the Nemo exhibit which has a fun little ride where you learn about the sea.

My favorite Sea Gulls must have been motion activated because they set off a chorus of “Mine, Mine, Mine” whenever anyone passed by.

They even have a Manatee in a huge tank.

We went on a futuristic ride that was a gentle coaster through the millenia. You get to see the timeline of human advancement. It was a really good ride. In the beginning you enter some basic information about yourself into the console computer. At the end of the ride you see yourself on a huge map of the world based on the information you entered.

At Epcot you get to visit many different countries in the world. Each little section is created to replicate a small section of the country you are exploring. We were working our way to “France” for dinner because I wanted escargot.

The wait at the restaurant wasn’t too long. It was very loud inside. I kept asking our poor waiter to repeat himself. He thought it was his accent. I still say it was the noise level. But speaking of accent each waiter was really from France so their accents were authentic. Their name tags not only gave their names but also where they were from in France.

The waiter recommended a nice Merlot wine. It was very expensive even for a glass but we are in France are we not? So of course , mais oui, I will have a glass. It was exquisite! So smooth. It was like silk!

I got my escargot in a light garlic and white wine sauce for an appetizer and chicken for my main course. Everything was wonderful. We skipped dessert as Joe wanted to go to Germany for that. We strolled along the lighted streets passing from one country to another. I think we finally stopped at the Swedish kiosk for hot chocolate and a pastry. I passed even though they looked wonderful.

By then it was about 8:30. The fireworks would begin around 9pm so we began to look for seats along the waterfront. Even with a slow week, any seats were going to fill in quickly.

Before the show started the lights were lowered on the streets and huge torches around the lake were lit.

The buildings were outlined in lights as well. This alone was beautiful. Then minutes before the fireworks started the torches went dark as well.

Bam! The first volley was off and for the next 30 minutes the lake surface and sky above it were filled with lights and flashes and smoke.

At the end of the show the park closed so everyone made their way back to the tram for the ride back to the parking lot. Seems so long ago we parked the car and entered another world.

We had one more stop to make. We’d been looking all week for a couple of gifts for my friend’s children and we hadn’t been able to locate them. We were going give it one more try at Downtown Disney. It would be our last chance.

We almost missed Buzz again but as we passed the display I somehow spotted the words “talks” on the box. Joe was ahead of me but returned when I called out that I thought I had one. Now we just needed the Princess. Joe led me to rack after rack of Cinderellas, Snow Whites, Rapunzels and Ariels. It was almost overwhelming. I selected a Barbie Sized doll and crossed my fingers that it would be the right one.

We’d been in this store 3 times looking so I don’t know how we missed them before but we could now put Mission Accomplished to this search. A perfect end to a great vacation.