Ray and Char's Trip Through Retirement: April 2008

April 30,2008

Our neighbors have been busy for the last few days. Richard and Vera are heading to New York today. Bill and Ellie will leave tomorrow for Pennsylvania. Everyone is packing, rearranging and going over checklists preparing for their trips. They did take time out for dinner on Monday.

After dinner, we gathered at our place and had some ice cream, cookies and Heresy’s Kisses to celebrate Richard’s Birthday.

We will miss Richard, Vera and Brandie. Depending on the fuel prices, we may meet up again this summer. We both have plans to go west to The Mall of America, the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore.

We wish everyone a great summer.

April 27, 2008

This weekend we went to Jetty Park at Cape Canaveral with Mike. We watched the Disney magic go out to sea and saw lots of people fishing. The temperature was great and we had a nice breeze coming ashore. We found a good restaurant for pizza Friday night and grilled out on Saturday night.

We watched the sun come up each day.

We saw a Canadian Navy ship coming into the Naval Base.

There were lots of people enjoying the beach.

The Disney Magic heading out to sea.

The raccoons are still living in the neighborhood.

We watched the new Ocean Rescue Lifeguard recruits getting ready for their final exam.

We weren’t the only ones watching the recruits.

Nature’s local clean up crew was out every morning.

On the way back home to Kissimmee, we learned the love bug season is starting. It took us about a half hour to clean them off the front of the RV. Char vacuumed the sand from the inside while I worked on the outside. We had a great weekend and the RV came through well on our first road trip.

April 24, 2008

Today we enjoyed another great day at the Epcot Flower Festival. The flowers were beautiful and the weather was perfect for a stroll around World Showcase. The ice cream was wonderful at France and at Germany the chocolate was just what the doctor ordered for Vera’s sore back (I think Richard liked it also). I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the day.

A work of art sculptured in sand.

The hedge at France was flawless.

Even the roof above the bakery at the Norway Pavilion was extraordinary.

Does the photographer like yellow?

April 20,2008

On Friday, Richard, Vera, Char and I went to Downtown Disney to people watch and shop a little. We were disappointed that the ice cream shop was closed for remodeling. Oh well, we will live without but not as happily. We did find a few things to purchase and took time for a picture or two.

Look at the great smiles.

A picture with some friends.

Also on Friday, our neighbor Ron (the rib master) entered the hospital. He is having a problem with his kidneys. We stopped to see him today. He is doing better but only time will tell. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Ron & Anna

Today, Mike cleaned the top of his 5th wheel. Just as he was finishing, it started to rain. The rain didn’t last long so later he worked on removing black streaks and general cleaning on the sides.

Owning a RV takes lots of work.

April 16, 2008

We have been busy getting our RV ready to travel and we are almost ready for the road. We have taken a little time out for fun and food. About a week ago our neighbors, Ron and Anna invited us over to their place for a rib fest. Wow! They really know how to cook great ribs.

This is our neighbor Bob Roy and Ron in the background working at the grill.

Here Anna is bringing out the food.

This is our next-door neighbor Bill Martin thinking about desert.

Here Ron is making sure everyone got enough to eat.

L to R: Barb Roy, Richard is behind Ron, Char, Lyndell Martin and Vera.

Today a group of us went to Crabby Bill’s Restaurant for dinner. This is a very nice seafood restaurant with good food and service not far from our RV Park. Here are a couple of pictures:

A group photo before we went in.
L to R: Vera & Richard, Char, Lyndell & Bill Martin, Bob & Barb Roy, Ellie & Bill Mostert, Ron & Anna Hall.

Here we are ready to order.

We had a very good dinner with lots of laughter and story telling. It was fun to listen to all the stories about life as a fireman (Bill Martin) and some of the gadgets and creations that Bill Mostert did while fixing things or working around his home. It was a good time and everyone had a story to share about his or her experiences in life.

Later in the evening everyone went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream.

The Master has everyone’s attention again with his tales.

Bill is a great story teller.

We have made a lot of good friends here at Ponderosa RV Park. Unfortunately, we didn’t spend as much time here as we planned this year. Thank you, Lazy Days. We look forward to being here and seeing everyone again next Fall.

April 5, 2008

Hi! I’m Vera’s sister Christel. My husband Doug and I came to visit for a week. We finally met Ray and Char after hearing about them from Vera & Richard and reading about their adventures during their retirement on this blog.

We’ve just had our first encounter with Disney World. We spent a day at Epcot and visited the many buildings represented by different countries. We enjoyed a great lunch of wurst, German potato salad, pork roast and many other German favorites at the Oktoberfest in Germany. Doug enjoyed a man-sized beer. Vera and I enjoyed doing the polka and a waltz. We enjoyed the afternoon just strolling around and going on some of the rides. The evening ended with a Florida rain shower right when the fireworks were about to start.

The next day we went to Magic Kingdom. We enjoyed a few rides and watching the people. By mid-afternoon we had another Florida rain shower that just wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. I had a hard time just getting my poncho on the right way. We escaped by not getting too wet. This evening we had an enjoyable dinner and will relax by playing dominoes.

Here are some pictures of our adventures.