Travels with Snowbirds 2015, Saturday January 31, Clermont FL

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The one about letting my Aunt Pat know what I have been up to.

My Dear Aunt Pat called me today. My Godmother. My mother’s sister, in her 80s and pretty spry for her age – she still goes to the gym when she is not bothered by the bronchitis she has now. She has not seen a blog from me in a few days, and she was worried about me. Nice to be loved so. So, Auntie, this one is for you.

A very lazy week here at Thousand Trails Orlando, which is really in Clermont. The weather has been cool during the day and downright cold at night. When it gets to low 40s and you are sleeping in a metal box like I am, it’s cold. But, my space heater or my propane furnace keep me nice and warm and toasty, as does Winston who spoons in when it’s really cold. The day before you Yankees had your snowstorm it was so windy here! The weatherman reported we had 55 mph gusts. That’s impressive.

We went to SeaWorld. Twice. On Wednesday, Ginnie, Kim and I toured one section of the park, visiting the dolphin show and Pets Ahoy – an absolutely amazing treat of dogs and cats and rats and pigs and birds that do some amazing things. It’s a laugh a lot, feel good show. If you buy a FunCard ticket for about $100 you get unlimited admissions thru the end of the calendar year. Kim and I have that, and Ginnie has a season pass with parking. When we get there, either Kim or give Ginnie an additional $5 which gets us preferred parking, only a few steps away from the entrance. It is sooooo worth that $5.

We were joined by Kathy and her visiting sister DeeDee on Friday. DeeDee was able to use Ginnie’s one time offer of a free admission to a guest on her annual pass good only thru 1/31. Kathy somehow talked herself into a half price ticket for disabled people. I think she showed them the scar from her recent knee replacement and she told them she was renting a scooter. This special ticket gets her a second admission for $15. Such a deal! You somehow feel good when you get a deal. I know, I know, Sea World needs some good press, and I think they are really trying. They do so much good for sea animals. They have been in existence for 50 years. To date they have rescued and helped an average of 1.5 animals per day for those 50 years, over 24,000. They care for an amazing amount of animals that cannot be released back to their habitat, including their ‘killer’ orca, Tillicum. Yes, I have seen Blackfish and I was appalled like everyone. But, I have also read the material SeaWorld has published in response, albeit perhaps too little, too late, but it is factual and not sensationalized, like Blackfish is. I am a fan of all the good the SeaWorld organization does for the oceans of the world. I am done with my rant.

Kathy rented her scooter and we were off to see the Orca show, beautiful and amazing, and visited the penguins and walruses and beluga whales. We left Kathy and DeeDee to do the performances we had seen the other day. DeeDee leaves on Sunday, a quick but fun visit for her. The rest of us will once again go to SeaWorld. Bindi Irwin (Crocodile Steve’s teenage daughter) has a road show and we are all interested to see what it is about. Stay tuned.

Ginnie and I went to bingo. We made a donation, did not even come close to winning. The capacity of the rec hall is 230 people, and there were that many people playing bingo, both men and women. In order to really participate, you need to spend $11, and many spend more than that. They play about 10 games, many with a $200 prize and the final game is $250. I would like to win something, anything.

I finally had it with TengoInternet. After 8 days of no service after I paid for it, and no reasonable date for repair from them or from campground management, I politely asked for a refund, and was pleasantly given one. We parted friends, but I was not happy; Instead, I went on line and upped my Verizon data usage plan to 10 GB (ok Tim?) per month and I can do anything I want and be happy about it and not have to worry about finding a Wi-Fi connection. I am a happy camper, and, I guess I am paying pretty much the same thing for 2 months that I would probably have to pay purchasing Wi-Fi from campgrounds. And, it’s more secure.

My funny people stories this time are about dog owners. I have had several almost catastrophes on my morning bike ride with Winston. I view this as Winston’s job. It is not a fun walk for him, it is work. He must pay attention to mommy and act as expected. I am not a fan of those awful retractable leashes. Dog owners here let their dog out the full length without paying any attention to what is going on around them. I have learned when I see this situation as I am approaching on my bike I have to announce myself: “Coming up on your left on my bicycle with a dog.” Or, “Passing on your left on my bike, please pull your leash in.” Older campers have small dogs. You know the type I mean, small yappy things that snarl and bark incessantly. Small though they may be, they are loud and obnoxious. And, their owners always walk them on long retractable leashes. So, when I announce myself, it’s like deer in the headlights. The owner turns around to see what I could possibly mean, letting the leash out even longer, and for sure that damn dog runs in front of me to get near Winston and I have to slam on the brakes to avoid catastrophe. These owners are almost always mad at ME because I almost hit their precious Fido and I think they want an apology from ME because their dog is not in control. I almost feel that they think I should not be riding my bike with my dog! This morning, a very frail old man, plaid shorts, plaid shirt, windbreaker, baseball hat, socks and sandals, was walking his 3 shitkicker dogs, and bending over to pick up poop. He saw me coming. I knew this was going to be bad. I slowed down to a crawl. Winston was straining at his leash, and I kept him at my heel moving slowly and forced him to pay attention ahead. He is wonderful. (Yes, sometimes he really does it all correctly.) Frail old man drops the leash on his cocker spaniel who comes running across the street attacking Winston at my heel. I hopped off my bike, putting my feet on the ground, shoving that dog away. This owner shuffled over, picked up the leash, turned and walked away, not saying one word to me. No apology of any type. I was speechless. Crazy old bastard. He was one of those acting like I was in the wrong because I was riding my bike with my dog. May I never get old. Please. I am going out on a limb here by making this generic statement. Old people should not be allowed to have dogs. End of rant.

Kathy made breakfast this morning. She makes from scratch oatmeal pancakes, with or without walnuts, and awesome sausage. On her Coleman griddle. We eat outside, and somehow it really makes us feel like we are camping. Thanks, Kathy.

Today, Saturday, was the second annual mini Florida Mineola High School class of 1964 reunion. 11 of us met at The Wilderness Lodge Canyon Café in Disney World. I will say that none of the attendees were particularly good friends in high school. But, we all chatted like we knew each other forever, even the spouses, which, we basically do. There is no pretentiousness at age 68. We are all holding on to our health by a thread. We all have had major family crises, deep and profound loss, or current devastating illness. Somehow, the playing field is leveled at age 68, and we feel each other’s pain. The men shared their real ‘war’ stories. Fred showed his amazing pictures of the orchids he has planted IN HIS TREES TRUNKS. Richard shared his years of railroad work that have him now carrying oxygen because of the emphysema that job gave him. Dyanne received very encouraging news after her recent chemo treatment, but she has to be careful what she eats and touches to avoid complications. Several of the women are helping to raise grandchildren. It’s not easy being old. It’s not for the faint of heart. Hugs to this special group of people. They have spunk and I love them. We made suggestions to Linda who wants to plan a cruise for our 52.5 year reunion in 2016. That could be a lot of fun. Our 2016 mini FL reunion will be the first weekend in February. I heard from many of our northeast based snowbirds that they don’t arrive in FL until 2/1. So, no excuses in 2016!!! Mark it on your calendar NOW!

We have our own class version of Flat Stanley – we have a poster of Milton Mustang, left over from our Big reunion in September. He has with classmates to several places in the east, and he left me and is on to more places in Florida. The pictures I am including show us with Milton. When Linda gave him to me, I stored him under my mattress. Yes, I have slept on top of Milton for a month now. When I took him out this morning, his corner was bent down. Nothing else to say.

I got my haircut. Camping neighbor Marilyn is a hairdresser. She has short gray hair. I just knew she would give me a great haircut, and she did. I love it. $10. I have seen a sign in the rec hall that someone does manicures for $5.

I leave here on Tuesday and head for a Loners on Wheels campout about an hour north, near Ocala. I will write from there. Auntie, you might not hear from me again for a few days.



Kat out.

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Photos

MHS64
left to right from top. Me, Linda Jacobsen, Joanne and Richard Paczkowski, Fred Quan, Barbara Sienkiewicz Shames.
Bottom, Marianne Maurer, our super waitress MT, Dyanne Awe

MHS64
Left to right. Marianne, Richard, Linda, Kat, Linda Klarman, Fred, Barbara, Dyanne. And, Milton.