On August 9^th we left Charleston, SC and headed towards Georgia.  Right at the state line we had a blowout on the camper.  The weather was only 100 so we called Coachnet and they sent someone to fix the tire.  We waited for an hour but at least Tim did not have to change it on the highway by himself.  We pulled into the corps of engineers park and set up camp.  Really pretty campground but while there we were infested with ants.  We had to throw a lot of food away but we finally got rid of them. 

While at the campground we did some walks, had a few campfires and also Tim and Joshua went  fishing which they totally enjoyed.  I sat and read while that was happening – fishing just does not interest me.  We stayed until the 12^th and then headed west then north.

We arrived at World Famous Navy  Lake Site which is located 30 miles north of Atlanta on Lake Allatoona.  The campground sits on 52 acres with cabins, rv sites, tent sites, marina, pavilions, lodge, beach, swimming, fishing, and boat rentals.  Our site was full hookups, table, firepit and sat right across from the beach.  What a beautiful site especially at night with the lights on the water.  While here we rented a pontoon boat and Joshua was able to go water boarding.  He did so good – took about three times and he got up like a pro.  He is really a smart kid – able to do so many sports and so well.  This was the end of his visit with us.  On the 15^th of August we took him to the Atlanta Airport for his flight home.  Thank goodness we got passes to stay with him cuz his flight was delayed 2 hours.  We really enjoyed the five weeks he toured with us.   We said our goodbyes and will see him again soon.

This summer was especially good to us as we had our oldest granddaughter for 2 weeks and then our grandson for 5 weeks.  They both enjoyed it greatly and we hope to be able to do it again next year.  They are at the perfect age and so much fun.  Thanks Emily and Joshua for letting us enjoy you both so.

We returned to the campground and that Sunday Nancy and Paul came to visit us.  This is a couple whom used to live in Windsor, Ct where we had our home so we enjoyed catching up on life.  Thanks guys for visiting – we really enjoyed it and will call you when in the area again.

On the 20^th of August we left Cartersville, Georgia and headed south to Robins Air Force Base near Perry, Georgia.   This base is located 100 miles south of Atlanta and offered a beautiful campground which we enjoyed greatly.  We took a lot of walks but mostly just relaxed and read.   One day we did take a ride into Perry and found the Ocmulgee National Monument.  Here they have a reconstruction of a ceremonial building which was a meeting place for the towns political and religious leaders over 1000 years ago.  The mounds are really interesting and so different from any other parks we have visited.   They have a very interesting museum which had just reopened that weekend.  We enjoyed that greatly.

On Monday morning  August 24^th we left Robins Air Force Base and head east then north to Charleston Air Force Base.   We just love this place – enjoy camping back in the woods and enjoy hearing the birds and planes.  This will be our home for a few months as we head in different directions for vacations.  I will explain this later.

The campground on base has 23 sites right now with just electric and water but plans are to add more sites.  The cost is $12 a night which is great for the budget. 

We enjoyed our granddaughters for that week in Charleston.  On the 29^th of August we attended Julia’s, our 5 year old granddaughters, soccer practice.  She is a super player which surprised me cuz she is so girlish.  She seems to enjoy it which pleases her dad as he loves soccer.  After that we dropped our oldest granddaughter, Emily, at dance and we headed south to Hilton Head, South Carolina. 

We checked into our timeshare at Marriott’s Surf Watch which is located on the beach.  Two weeks of luxury that we both enjoy greatly.  We have a two bedroom, living room, kitchen, dining room, 2 baths , laundry room and a porch so it gives us more room than our home on wheels.  On the property they have a fitness center, bike shop, market, bocce, croquet, shuffleboard, tennis, cabanas, beach, two outdoor pools and an indoor pool.  We rented 2 beach chairs and umbrella on the beach each day and just soaked up the sun and nice warm water.  Two weeks of beautiful weather, only one day cloudy and that day we did the island winery happy hour tour.  Over Labor Day weekend our son-in-law Jerry came down with our 3 grandaughters for a fun time at the beach.  We enjoyed being with them and shared many laughs and good times. 

On Friday, September 11^th we attended Grandfriends Day at Coastal Christian Preparatory School where are 2 granddaughters attend school.   We met first to have coffee and  muffins and then went into the chapel  for a nice program.  Our hearts were bursting with pride when our granddaughter’s class sang to us.  She looked right at us as she sang and it brought tears to my eyes.  God has blessed us so with our grandchildren.  After the program we were able to visit both their classrooms and see what they do during the school day.  I was very impressed with the school and the size of the classes.  This should give them both a great education.

On the 18^th of September we celebrated Makenzie’s birthday with dinner and cake.  She was so cute cuz all she wanted was a cake with candles.  She is now a big girl at three and such a cutie pie.

On the 23^rd of September we flew to San Francisco, California to visit with our daughter Amanda, son-in-law Tim and our grandson Josh.  The following day we welcomed our 4^th granddaughter into the world.  She is a little cutie named Grace Elizabeth and weighed in at 7lbs 15ozs and 20 inches long.  Mom and dad were delighted – Josh is not to sure about all this.  We had an enjoyable week playing with the baby, visiting with them all and seeing their new home.  While there I celebrated my birthday which is nice.  We also got to see Josh play football as he plays for his high school team.  I am not just bragging when I say he is a good player.  On the 30^th of Sept we were saddened but had to tell them goodbye and we flew back to Charleston, South Carolina.

October brought us to New Jersey to take a cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean ship Explorer of the Seas.  What a beautiful ship and totally relaxing vacation.  Our daughter Susan and her family went plus our son-in-laws parents so we had a really nice time.   We had an inside cabin this time on the ninth deck and it was not bad at all.   As I told Tim we are never in our room except to sleep and shower so why pay more?  Guess the cheapness in me comes out every once in awhile.  We left Bayonne New Jersey to the site of Governors Island, our old home, and the statue of liberty.   What  a beautiful site.  We cruised to Bermuda under calm seas but cold weather.  If you have never taken a cruise this is the best vacation in the world – you pay one fee and get everything except drinks.  We did the shows, nightclubs, ice skating show, ate and ate, drank and drank – wow what a great time.  This ship had a chapel, card room, bars, golf, rock climbing wall, sports court, track, disco, spa, gym, pools, fitness center, library, shops, ice cream bar, dining rooms, theaters and nightclubs.  Great vacation.

We pulled into King’s Wharf in Bermuda and enjoyed the town of St George one day.   We walked and walked, rode a ferry, had a nice lunch outside and enjoyed the nice warm weather.  At night we hit a few bars in town which was quite enjoyable.  Another day we toured the Bermuda Maritime Museum which we all enjoyed.  All in all it was a great vacation.

We are back in Charleston with no definite plans yet.  We will not post again until we get back on the road. 

Today is Veterans Day – please thanks all our service men and women whom gave so much for us.  God bless them all.

Our Trip to New England

We left Williamsburg and headed north at 6:40 am.  Something about travel day – we are both up early and anxious to get on the road.  We stopped for lunch and gas and a few breaks during the day.  We realized that in the northeast not too many campgrounds close to the New Jersey Turnpike.  Once into Ct you do not hit any taking I-84 so we trucked along until we reached Westover Air Force Reserve Base.  This is a small reserve base but the campground is very nice.  It is surrounded by trees, very quite plus nice walking areas.  We were surprised at all the activity on this base, baseball game each night with lots of people watching plus loads of cars coming and going.  We decided to stay put for two weeks and enjoy seeing family and friends.  We did not get to see everyone on our list but did enjoy visiting with all the people we got to see.  Thanks to everyone for dinner and nice visits.  It is nice being on the road but we do enjoy seeing friends and family when we return north.

I never understood reading blogs why people do not like visiting New England – they always say the traffic but believe me that is not the reason.  In the north you have a limited time frame for campgrounds being opened so they charge much too much.  Last summer touring California and Oregon we never paid more than $30 while up here you are lucky to find anything under $40 a night.  Kind of blows the full timers budget to pay that much for our housing each night.

Joshua, our oldest grandchild, flew into Boston and will spend a few weeks with us traveling.  We were delighted to see him again even though he is on crutches.  He hurt his foot on his skateboard – at first they thought it was broken but that is not the case.  After a week or so he was able to walk on it which will make touring much easier.   He is 14 and will be with us until the 15^th of August so we will be doing things to interest him as we did with our granddaughter Emily.

We left Westover on Friday morning and headed west.  We stopped at Triple Brook Campground which is on the New Jersey/Pennsylvania border.  We got a full hookup site and enjoyed staying here.  The only complaint was the sites were not level and we were on jacks pretty high. 

While here we toured the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation area.  We toured Millbrook Village which is a re-creation of a late 19^th century rural community.  They have homes, barns, school, cemetery, general store/post office, grist mill, church, blacksmith shop, smokehouse and woodworking shop.  This was a weekend that they had people telling you about the families that lived here back in 1832.    We visited a beautiful lake, saw spectacular scenery, waterfalls and actually walked the Appalachian Trail.  We gave two nice guys a ride back to their car whom were walking the trail.  They sent us a really nice note thanking us.

On Monday morning we headed south to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  We checked into the Artillery Ridge Camping Resort where we had a full hookup site.  This was a passport America campground so our price was great.  The campground has horses, basketball, volleyball, horseshoes, game room, rec hall, store, laundry, pool and a pond to fish in.  One thing that they had was a Diorama which was the battlefield done in miniatures.  It was unbelievable.  We totally enjoyed this stop.

We took the battlefield bus tour which brings you into the battle.  You hear the cannons roar, rifles crack, drums roll and bugles blow as you tour this battleground.  This battle had more men fall than any other battle in North America.  More than 51,000 soldiers were killed here during three days in 1863.     This was the greatest battle of the Civil War.  At the visitor center we saw the Cyclorama show which is sound and light show.  It was truly amazing and the museum was really good.  It really brought history to life for us.  We toured the battlefield by car also and got out and looked at some of the monuments – very touching.

The Lincoln Train Museum had model toy trains from the 1800’s to present day.  They have layouts so you can watch the trains moving around the tracks.  It brought back memories of G. Fox in Hartford, CT at Christmas time when you would stand for hours and watch the trains go around the tracks in toy land.  You also take a ride with President Lincoln on his way to Gettysburg.  It was okay. 

We kept busy during our time in Gettysburg and enjoyed it greatly but we were all ready to head south and enjoy another area. 

Our next stop was the KOA in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.  What a nice campground this was.  We had a full hookup site, showers, laundry, store, pool, games, mini golf, crafts, bounce pillow, bands, cannon firing, movies, game room, restaurant, pancake breakfast and loads of activities.  Josh met some girls so he really enjoyed this stop.  While here I was able to get all our laundry done and enjoy some down time.

While in Harpers Ferry we visited the National Park which was very interesting.  We visited the old town and enjoyed learning about John Brown.  John Brown led his men on a raid snd seized the U>S> armory and arsenal back in 1859.  He wanted to get the weapons plus lead a slave revolt.  He was hanged on December 2^, 1859.  We got to see the restoration museum, blacksmith shop, exhibits, movie, old church, cemetery and really old buildings.  We walked across the old bridge and watched the train going across the river. 

Our next stop was Appomattox Court House in Virginia.  We stayed at a campground that had nothing but full hookups but the price was right.   We did some grocery shopping while here and went to the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. This is the site where Robert Lee surrenderred his men to Ulysses Grant and ended the Civil War in 1865.  We were able to see the tavern guest house, Clover Hill tavern, law office, store, courthouse, McLean House, slave quarters and the jail.  Again more history – this trip has been about the Civil War and has proven to be very interesting.

The Naval Weapons Station in Goose Creek, South Carolina was our next stop for a week.  While here we were able to enjoy our daughter Susan, her hubby Jerry and our darling granddaughters, Emily, Julia and Makenzie.  It was really nice to see all my grandchildren in one place – sure brought smiles to our faces.  We enjoyed the wonderful beach at Isle of Palms one day, another day at the Folly Beach County Park.  This beach had wonderful waves which we all enjoyed.

One day we went to North Charleston Wannamaker County Park to the Whirlin Waters water park.  Tim and I had never been to one before but it was such fun watching the grandchildren enjoying every minute.  We attended on Military Monday so we were able to get a discount.  The water park had a kiddie pool with slides, and sprays plus Lily Pad Lagoon which Makenzie enjoyed.  The others enjoyed Tubular Twister, Big splash Tree House, Rolling River, Riptide Run and the wave pool.  We had a really enjoyable day at the park.

One day we went to lunch with friends at the club on base and enjoyed their company greatly.  After Josh went to the skating park which he loved. 

Our last day in Charleston area our son-in-law and Joshua went paintballing and enjoyed that greatly.  That night Tim and I attended a concert at Boone Hall Plantation with the Oak Ridge Boys.  Susan and Jerry gave us the tickets and we enjoyed that greatly.  Thanks so much guys.  We met two couples whom sat next to us – one was from Fairfield County in Ct and the other from Wallingford, Ct.  Seems strange we are in Charleston South Carolina and meet people from little old CT.   They both now live in Charleston so we enjoyed talking to them.

Sunday morning we hooked up and left Goose Creek and headed west into Georgia.  We stopped for diesel at the last exit in South Carolina and as we got back onto the highway we had a blow out.  Yikes.  We sat along the side of the highway for two hours waiting for road service to arrive.  The temps got to about 100+ so we were delighted to get on the road again.  We arrived at Raysville Corp of Engineers Park and got settled into a nice campsite.  This will be a quite stop – nothing planned except reading, fishing and maybe a walk or two.  We will be here until Wednesday when we head above Atlanta, Georgia.  Until later

Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown, Virginia

Our next stop was Williamsburg, Virginia.  We stayed at the Naval Cheatham Annex campground which is located on the York River.  We had a full hookup site with table, showers, playground, basketball, and laundry.  We also overlooked the golf course which made it a very enjoyable stop.

We toured Colonial Williamsburg which offers an 18^th century living history experience.  This colonial town has over 500 buildings and sits on 301 acres.  We toured the Governor’s Palace, 1776 capitol, blacksmith shop, printing office, magazine, courthouse, a farm, jail and homes.  If you have never been here this is truly and educational place which anyone would enjoy.  We had lunch at the Shields Tavern which was really nice.  The food was really good and we all enjoyed our day.  Emily, our 10 year old granddaughter,  got a bonnet that they wore back then and she looked just darling.  She enjoyed this stop greatly.

Jamestown settlement was our next stop.  This is a living history museum of 17^th century Virginia.  We saw a film, got to see more than 500 artifacts from the English, African and Powhatan Indian cultures.   We got to see a Powhatan Indian Village that showed houses, storage areas, ceremonial circle, which gave us a taste of how they lived.  Emily got to grind corn which she found to be pretty cool.  They had 3 replica ships that you were able to climb aboard and see how they lived coming across the ocean.  It was all hands on which makes it much more enjoyable for everyone.  We also were able to see canoes made from tree trunks, a 1610 fort and had lunch in the café.  Tim and I had been to Jamestown before but had not done the settlement.  It was worth the cost and we all learned a lot.

We also did Historic Jamestown which is part of the National Park Service.  We were able to see the site of America’s first permanent English settlement.  You are able to see the 1607 James Fort excavation, the place where John Smith and Pocahontas were, see how life was in 1607 when 104 colonists arrive.  This brought back everything we had learned in school so many years ago.  The park service has done a wonderful job making you feel like you were there.

One day we toured Yorktown Victory Center where the American Revolution comes to life.  We watched a film about the siege of Yorktown, saw a continental army encampment, visited a 1780 farm and visited the museum.  We all enjoyed this stop.  Our next stop was Yorktown Battlefield which is where the final major clash of the American Revolution took place.  We saw a film, viewed tents and artifacts from the siege and saw the battlefield. 

We really enjoyed our visit to Williamsburg and a great history place.  Highly recommend this as a vacation spot for anyone.

After two weeks of vacation with grandpop and grandmom we took Emily back home.  She enjoyed her visit with us and wanted to know if she could do it again next year.  Guess that means she had a good time.  Thanks Emily for sharing those two weeks with us.  We were able to see things thru her eyes, she made us laugh and also made us feel young.  Being with young ones keeps you very busy and on your toes at all times.  She was able to meet a lot of kids and we hope enjoyed all the history.

Until next time

THE MONTH OF JUNE

We stayed at Jacksonville Air Station for the weekend and just relaxed.  On Monday the 8^th of June we headed north to the Goose Creek Naval Base in South Carolina.  We spent the week visiting with our granddaughters and also visited the doctor.  Time for new prescriptions for our daily pills – we both got wonderful blood pressure readings so the walking and exercise are paying off. 

On the 13^th we attended our oldest granddaughters dance recital.  They performed Alice in Wonderland and did an excellent job.  Emily did a   solo “This Business of Love” and did a wonderful job.  She really has become quite a good dancer.  She is on the competition team and really enjoys dancing.

On Monday June 15^th Tim, Emily, our oldest granddaughter, and myself  headed north and stopped at Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Camp Resort.  The campground had a swimming pool and game room which Emily and I enjoyed.  We also did a nice walk around enjoying the outside air.  We only spent one night here as we were anxious to get to Washington Dc.

Our next stop was Andrews Air Force Base which is very close to the city.  This is also the base that the President flies out of when taking Air Force One.  I so wanted him to go away that week to be able to see Air Force One in the sky.  No such luck.  The base was pretty nice though – big commissary, exchange, bowling alley, laundry, golf, restaurants and a pretty good campground.  The campground had a rec hall with a pool table and Emily was able to meet a boy that taught her how to play.  She enjoyed being at this campground as when we were not touring she had someone to play with.

Our time in DC was busy busy.  We used the Metro to take us most places – no hassle with parking or getting lost.  We were able to tour the National Museum of American History.  We really enjoyed “America on the Move” and the First Ladies exhibits.  Emily and I did one of the simulator rides also but I was not too thrilled with that.  It cost $7 each and lasted about 2 minutes after standing in line for 30 minutes.  The ride was called the Bermuda Triangle Adventure in 3D.  Our next stop was the National Museum of Natural History.  This is where we decided that Emily did not care for museums.  We did get to see the 45.52 carat Hope Diamond which was unbelievable.  We did enjoy seeing the hall of mammals.  They had over 274 specimens and done in a really cool way.  We had a very nice day – really tired when we got back home.

One day we did the National Museum of the American Indian.  We all enjoyed the film “Who We Are” in their state of the art theater.  Our next stop was the National Air and Space Museum.  Here we got to see the show “Black Holes”, a close look at airplane, rockets and missiles, stepped into a cockpit and onto the quarterdeck of the USS Smithsonian.  We all enjoyed this museum the most.

We then walked to the Capitol and marveled at how beautiful this building is.  Our next stop was the United States Botanic Gardens which has been open to the public since 1850.  They have over 60,000 plants with different areas for desert plants, Hawaiian plans, primeval plants, jungle, medical etc.  It was beautifully done and we really enjoyed that.

Mount Vernon was also on our agenda one day and we spent all day enjoying this beautiful estate.  We enjoyed the film first in the new orientation center.  We also enjoyed the Education Center.  The mansion itself is beautiful and well worth a tour.  We then walked the grounds and enjoyed seeing Washington’s tomb, gardens, pioneer farm site and of course the beautiful Potomac River.  We had a beautiful lunch at The Mount Vernon Inn which had all the colonial charm you could ask for.  The gift shops were pretty nice with beautiful chinaware and needlework.

The one thing Emily really wanted to do was go to “Ford’s Theatre.”  We were able to do this and the National Park Guide gave a wonderful talk about the night that Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth.  We also visited the Petersen House where he actually died the next day. 

The Old Post Office has a tower tour where you can see quite a bit of the city.  The view was beautiful and gave you a different perspective of the city.

Onto the White House which we only could observe from the street as our senator never sent us our tickets.  We did get a view and Emily and most people around us said they saw the first dog on the lawn.  My old eyes did not see that though.  Just looking at this beautiful home is worth the trip.  We got quite a lot of pictures also.

We then visited the Lincoln Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and the Washington Monument .  They are all beautiful and give you a real feel for the freedom that we all enjoy here in this beautiful country.  All things are free also which makes this a wonderful vacation destination.

Another dad we hit the National Zoo and got to see the panda bears.  They are so darn cute.  We also got to see elephants, bears, cats, leopards, monkeys, apes, reptiles, seals, sea lions, lions, and tigers.  We really enjoyed our day here and walked and walked. 

Our stay in Washington came to a close and we headed south.  Our destination this time is Williamsburg, Virginia.  Stayed tuned for another great trip.

On May 22^nd we departed MacDill Air Force Base and headed on I-4 towards Orlando.  We checked into the Marriott Grande Vista Vacation Club around noon.  We were delighted that they had a place for us to park our camper right on property for the two weeks we would be spending here.  We unhooked and checked into the condo.  We have a nice one bedroom, bath, kitchen, dining area, living room and an enclosed screened porch overlooking the golf course.  The grounds are just beautiful and being on the golf course very quite at night.  This resort is just beautiful with so many activities.  Of course we did not get to enjoy much as we were at Sea World, Disney and Universal most days.  If you ever want a place to just enjoy the resort this is the place.  They have about 5 pools, lake with boats, laundry, grills, beach, store, ice cream parlor, restaurants, pizza hut, tennis courts, basketball court, clubhouse, golf course, golf institute, fitness center, spa, bar and all types of activities.  Some of the activities are:  water aerobics, culinary competition, golf clinic, fitness walks, lessons, sand art creations, yoga, build your own battery powered race car, teen mystery night, create your own soft animal etc.  If you are bored here something is wrong with you.

We got everything into the condo and the skies opened up with down pouring rain.  One thing I can say about Florida, when it rains it rains – thunder and lighting each time.  Around 5 our daughter Susan, son-in-law Jerry and our darling granddaughters Emily, Julia and Makenzie arrived.  It was great seeing them again and this will be a fun place to enjoy each other.  Around 6 we walked over to the Copa Loca Bar and Grill on Marriott property.  We sat outside looking at the pool which made our granddaughters drool over.  Our dinner was pretty good – we then started walking back to the condo.  The girls and I got as far as the ice cream parlor and that is what they wanted.  I said let’s wait for mom and dad so we waited.  Soon grandpa came along and he tried calling – no answer so he made the decision to buy ice cream.  Good choice as it was wonderful.  They all enjoyed it greatly.  Back to the condo and off to bed around 11. 

Saturday morning we were up early and we all headed for Sea World.  Tim and I had never been before so we really enjoyed ourselves.  A new ride called the Manta is the best of the sea and sky.  It is a flying roller coaster and soars you headfirst.  Jerry and I were the only ones to ride this and I must say I really did not enjoy it.  I closed my eyes as I did not like being face down – much scarier than any roller coaster I have ever been on.  This is a brand new ride that just opened in May here at Sea World.  All of us did the show Believe which is a killer whale show.  This was truly amazing to see these huge whales and the trainers working so closely together for a wonderful show.  We enjoyed seeing all the fish and beautiful plant life underwater.  We also enjoyed the roller coaster and the kiddy rides.  I even enjoyed a ride on the merry-go-round on my own sea animal which the girls thought was pretty silly of grandmom.  It started to pour but we were lucky to be under a covering and did not get to wet.  One thing we did was buy a dinner plan and for $30 we were able to eat and drink all day.  Pretty good deal and the food was not bad.  All in all it was a wonderful day.

Sunday we headed to Animal Kingdom for the day.  We did the Killimanjaro Safari, Wildlife Express Train, It is tough to be a bug, and the new Expedition Everest which is a roller coaster ride thru the Himalayas.  The girls all had their faces painted and they all looked adorable.  The cutest thing was watching Makenzie having hers done – they told her to close her eyes and she never opened them and held on to my hand the whole time.  Disney is a fun place even as an adult but so much more enjoyable when you see it thru a child’s eyes.  Again we got rained on.  We got so wet that we had to go back to the condo before going to dinner and change our clothes (everything even underwear) and dry our hair.  We went to Landry’s Seafood Restaurant and surely enjoyed this place.  The food was outstanding and we enjoyed ourselves all day.

Monday was our little Julia’s 5^th birthday so off to Magic Kingdom.  She got to buy a pretty dress, have her hair done, makeup and looked just like a princess.  We had fun that day doing all the rides – and then off to the Floridian Hotel for dinner with the characters.  It was a wonderful day and we all enjoyed ourselves.

Tuesday we took the day off and went to the pool at the resort.  The water was just beautiful and the girls really enjoyed the water.  Makenzie had a ball – we went from pool to pool – even the baby pool with grandmom in tow.  At night we went out to dinner and really enjoyed a down day.

Wednesday we went to MGM and again we got rained on.  We got to see the American Idol Experience which the girls just loved.  I must say they are good entertainers so I enjoyed it also.  I finally did the Rock n’ Roll Coaster – my first time on this ride.  It was wonderful.  Another fun day – nothing could be better than watching young ones enjoy the parks. 

Thursday we went back to Magic Kingdom and Tim decided to take the day off and just relax.  I had a fun day doing all the rides with the kids.  Sure got my exercise this week but all this restaurant food is killing my weight loss.

Friday we went to Epcot and again the rain followed.  My favorite rides were Test Track and Soarin.  We had a beautiful lunch at a nice restaurant in Italy.  At the end of the day we said goodbye to the Shallo family as they headed home.  This was a wonderful week and we were delighted to share it with them.  Thanks guys for letting us tag along. 

After our kids left we took it easy most of the following week.  We did go back to Epcot one day and did the Test Track and Soarin again.  Wow what rides but again it rained on us.  Sick of the rain.

We did Universal Studios one day and really enjoyed that.  Tim and I had never been before so everything was new.  We really enjoyed Terminator 2, The Simpsons Ride and Revenge of the Mummy. 

Another day we hit Islands of Adventure and decided we did not like that park.  A lot of roller coasters that looked too scary for me and I love coasters.  We did a few rides and left after 2 hours at the park.  In some ways I think we were getting tired – two weeks of doing amusement parks is alittle much for old folks.  Next time we will do only a few days so we enjoy it much more.

On the 4^th of June Tim celebrated his 66^th birthday.  We went back to Landrys Restaurant and both had seafood dinners.  I also ordered cheesecake for him to celebrate.  Happy Birthday hon.

On June 5^th we said goodbye to Marriott and Orlando and headed east.  We stopped at Jacksonville Naval Base and decided to just sit and relax for a few days. 

Until next time