Winter in Florida - Part 2

So much has happened during the past month that I don't know exactly where to begin.  The most important thing to report is that Danny had been experiencing center chest discomfort for a while.  When we were in Springdale before Christmas he had a stress test that showed his heart is healthy and his discomfort was most likely esophagus related.  That was a relief, but once we reached Lady Lake Danny began seeking a physician who could examine and dilate his esophagus.  It took a month to line up a family doctor who also referred Danny to a specialist to get this procedure done.  Once again, we are so thankful that the dilation was successful and that there was no sign of damage to the esophagus and stomach.  They did discover that he has a hiatal hernia which will continue to give him discomfort when he eats spicy foods..... so much for getting older! Anyway, we spent a lot of our first month waiting for doctor calls and visits.

We worshiped each week with a wonderful small congregation in Lady Lake.  They warmly embraced us and made us feel right at home.  We will always have fond memories of our time with these faithful Christians.  Some special names are Ron and Kathy Curt and Pat; Joe and Ellie, Wynelle, Howard and Phyllis, Gene and Betty; Alice; Imogene, Buddy and Cindy; and so many others.

Buddy and Cindy Johnson is a couple who are members there who went to church with us 40 years ago at Holmes Road church of Christ.  We became close friends and ate together on many Sunday's at "The Club" - Sam's Warehouse Club!  What fun!  They gave us a tour of  The Villages in their golf cart, and also entertained us in their home.  We reciprocated by inviting them over for dinner before their square dance activity.  They even had cake for me on my birthday.

Buddy and Cindy before they went square dancing.

Cindy and Buddy with Imogene, Cindy's mom, on our last evening
in Lady Lake.  Great meals and fun times with this sweet family.

Birthday celebration at Cindy and Buddy's

 Finally, with a clear bill of health, we began living the good life in earnest.  We met Dick and Jane Grewe, a great couple camping in our RV park from Traverse City, Michigan.  We became good friends almost immediately and jumped at the chance to travel with them to an RV Show in Tampa, and then they went with us to Don Garlits Drag Racing Museum.  Many delightful times were spent together playing Chicken Foot or Ascending and Descending Bridge, biking, and eating!  Have grown to love these new friends and miss them now!

The RV Show was held at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa

Our new friends - Dick and Jane Grewe.

Thousands of RV's to tour.

Crazy Danny with Dick resting a bit at the RV Show

Danny and Dick at Don Garlits Drag Racing Museum

Jane with me at the museum

Great Museum.

Enjoying Appetizers at Spanish Springs Town Square

Fun bike ride with Dick and Jane in The Villages

Dick and Jane took us out to eat at Toojay's on our last evening
in Lady Lake's Recreation Plantation . They are a fun couple and we
miss them a lot.

Enjoying our last evening together at the performance
on the town square of Spanish Springs in The Villages.

We drove to Kissimee to meet my cousin, Betsy, at Disney World's Animal Kingdom Resort for lunch at Sainaa Restaurant.  It was lots of fun viewing the the wild animals right outside the restaurant window.  Jane who is a friend of Betsy's also joined us.  What a delightful time we had together at lunch.  AND Jane was able to get us into Animal Kingdom as her guests for the afternoon!  Great fun!!

Betsy Brantley, my cousin,
and Jane Carpenter, who works for Disney.

Here we are enjoying the wild animals at the resort.

Lunch at Sainaa, an African themed restaurant 

Ready for some fun on this cloudy day.

Animal Kingdom Parade Even Has Micky and Minnie

A roller coaster ride that we watched but never rode.

We enjoyed the Safari ride through the park.

Amazing tree with animals carved in the trunk.

A trip without the RV was planned for the next week.  We drove to Sarasota and spent an entire day touring the John and Mable Ringing Museum.  Mr. and Mrs. Ringling collected fantastic pieces of art and built a beautiful art museum on their estate to house them.  Their mansion is right on the Gulf of Mexico and is also located on 66 acre estate.  Two buildings are filled with their circus artifacts and a miniature circus. Wonderful day!

The grounds of the art museum were gorgeous and there
were many sculptures scattered around and on top of the building.

The Art Museum held huge beautiful paintings
used to guide the weaving of tapestries.

What a treat to see the banyan trees.

Banyan trees were abundant on the estate.

The Ringling's mansion on the gulf.

We're standing on the plaza between the mansion and the gulf.

Here's Danny standing beside Lou Jacobs' Clown Car.
Lou was well over 6 feet tall and his act had him get in
and drive the car around the ring.

I was able to curl up in a replica of the tiny car.  It wasn't a pretty
sight to see me get in and out, but it was fun.

A miniature of a big top circus.

One of the circus wagons that was in the circus parade.

Danny and I spent the next day on Sanibel Island and Captiva Island.  We searched for special shells on the beach and  found a few small ones that we kept for our GRANDS.   We love to walk along the water's edge and look at the waves, birds, and people.

Warm breezes and sunny skies on Sanibel Island!

Lots of families enjoying the beach.

Total relaxation!

Shelling on the island!

Beautiful drives along the beach.

Still in love after 43 years of marriage!

Looking for manatees was our next endeavor while in south Florida - namely in Ft. Myers.  Not much luck, but we did see a few manatee backs in the water.

Danny looking for manatees

Beautiful day and beautiful scenery in Ft. Myers

The only manatee we got close to.

There's one..... see its back?

On our way back to Plantation Recreation in Lady Lake, we stopped in Tampa to take in the Florida State Fair.  What a chilly and gray day that was, but it we managed to thoroughly enjoy being there. Here are a few highlights.

Checked out the new model cars.

Midway 

Corn dogs and Curly Fries!

Our next adventure was to go to Epcot at Disney World as a guest of Jane!  Wow!  She is super nice to us!  We had a wonderful time exploring all the different countries and the fireworks at the end of the day were fantastic!  Thanks so much Jane for a wonderful experience!

Arriving  at Walt Disney World!

Minnie making eyes for Danny.

Seeing Mickey was a highlight!

Epcot Sphere.

Closing Fireworks were great!

What a dream winter vacation we had in Florida.  We saw so many wonderful things - did lots of fun activities - made some fantastic new friends.  No wonder couples return to this "paradise" every winter!  Until next time, enjoy every day of your life!