More to Celebrate & Beyond

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Today is a day to go down in history! May 5th! Cinco de Mayo. In 1862, on May 5th, a small Mexican army defeated the French in the battle of Puebla. It was short lived because the French retook Puebla a year later. But the celebration continues and grows worldwide. Diversión y festividades!

ALERT! Another major event occurred on this day, also. Not a war....but a long battle was won after my mother gave birth to me after more than a week in the hospital “waiting” for my grand arrival. My parents didn’t return me after a year but maybe thought about it. I am an only child....need I say more? 75 years! OMG.....I’m getting as old as dirt. I am still celebrating with fun & festivities. Yippee! Thank you, everyone for all the birthday wishes you sent to me! You are the very best! Lulu is throwing out kisses!

Alert Notice #2! How we celebrated my birthday will appear in the next blog....now you really have something to look forward to.

Rejoice! He has arisen! What? Who? I know you are perplexed. Pinky...our injured lawn flamingo. Who were you thinking? This is May 5th....’member? Cory put on his surgical mask and gown and began his meticulous work bringing Pinky back to life again. Remember he had been severed in half by the windstorm? Ewwwww. The operation was successful. It required the gluing on of two wooden clothespins (split) and 2 paper clips to balance him. He looks like he has braces on his mouth and stents at his severed wound. At least he’s alive again & functioning. He’s wonderful to watch. You should see him when it‘s windy. He’s like a voo-doo witch doctor bobbing & swinging crazily around in circles! Fabulous! I wish you could see him in action. I should do a video and post it....maybe I will....just for you! Happy?

We had to bid farewell to our trusty golf cart. It has carried our quartet many miles and places all around our park for these many months. When the cool breeze filtered through our sweaty hair as we sped around, it was like heaven. Lulu squealed with delight! The place where we store it down here had another pick up and wondered if they could get ours on the same day. Sure! Now we have to hoof it. No problem for the steady walkers: Sandy & Cory but Sam & I will need to pick up our pace. I’m so glad I have no more pain in my knees.....no pain....no excuses! Walk! Walk! Move it!

Well, I’ve done it again. I wanted to make this blog a “short story” but it’s not going to happen. Make yourselves comfy cause you have another novel to get through. Please, no moaning & groaning. In the past, I posted a blog almost daily. That’s why the chatter was kept at a minimum. This year, I’m not writing daily so when I do get to it.....I seem to have a lot to say (this is not new for me). Oh, Boo-Hoo. You can deal with it, Buttercup.

Cory and I and Little Lulu went to Disney Springs the other day....so I could get my #1 best sandwich (the ultimate tuna melt) at the Earl of Sandwich. Oh, to die for! On the way there, we noted some new activity happening on the Disney grounds. Rode around the Caribbean Resort just to check it out: beautiful. Saw the construction for the upcoming Star Wars park in the distance. I think it will be opening this August. Passed another huge building under construction....have no idea what it is. Saw them trying out the new gondola transportation system that will add another additional means to get all the people around....looks wonderful! They kind of look like big, enclosed white lanterns hanging from very long and tall metal wires that they will travel on. We picked a different parking garage (The grapefruit garage) to park our car. This one is located closer to the end of the park where “The Earl” is located. It required us to walk along two large, open air walk ways to get across the busy highway. Kind of neat.

I thought Disney never closed but it does! The parks change their closing times depending on the seasons or holiday. Found the closed sign for Disney Springs.....Florida actually closes up, too, when there are too many snowbirds in it! Hah!

Once inside Disney Springs, we skipped (not really cause remember I can’t skip anymore....not like riding a bicycle....I don’t remember how to skip)towards our beckoning eatery. Wandered through the various shops to get out of the hot, sticky, humid, horrible heat. Lulu loved it! So many photo ops she could have. She couldn’t get enough. Show-off! Finally, we reached our destination. Bring it on, Cory.....”Oh, yummy, yummy, yum yum! This makes me happy....I won’t be glum! ”— my attempt in rhyming. No comments, please. Once we were filled to the brim and had seen all we wanted, we left. Stuck in bad traffic ‘cause of an accident. A car hit a van with at least 18 Mexican people in it. No one seemed injured. Hopefully, they were immigrants and just wanted to quickly move on or else this lady is going to have a real mess on her hands with 18+ of them grabbing their necks!

Still plenty of time to plan more for this busy day. We decided to go see the fireworks at Epcot Center. Sam wasn’t up to it but Sandy was. We left @ 7:30 PM. They started at 9:00 PM. Not bad getting into the park. Stopped for the FREE coke samples from the various countries. Italy’s is still putrid. France & Peru are good! Saw people along the edges of the lake once we got close. They had a Fast Pass to stand closer but Cory & I couldn’t get ours to work. We have homework to do! Found ourselves a bench somewhat close to the lake where all the fireworks happen. We had heard these were the best fireworks of all the parks. Nope....we don’t agree. They were nice but the Magic Kingdom’s is much, much better. But it was fine. Lulu hid her head anyway. We stayed behind for awhile as the ginormous throngs of people raced towards the exit. We managed to leave without any problem on a fairly timely basis.

Hold on....the night didn’t end here. As we rounded the turn to head to TP, we saw the beacons of beautiful lights of Old Town. We decided to finally check out all the many food trucks that we always pass going this way. Many, many cars parked all around. Mexican music played in the background. The place was packed with all Mexican people. The huge number of food trucks all served Mexican food. Have no idea what any of it was. Their was a live band on the outer edge of this festive area. Everyone seemed so happy! Our neighbor at TP, Melba, said she will go with us sometime and show us what to eat and what it is we are eating. Melba is originally from Puerto Rico so she will be the perfect guide. We are fortunate to have her as our neighbor. She is a lovely lady and a good friend. I wish you could meet her!

And yet, the night was still young. We didn’t eat at the food trucks but they made us hungry so the three of us crossed the street and had a late night snack at Denny’s. It was tasty and hit the spot. I think we finally got home sometime after 11:00 PM. That’s late for us, you know!

Hey..don’t give up yet. We are still on the move. Where to go and what to do next? We know! We hadn’t been to an old haunt called Gary’s Oyster Bar for over a year. Time to go back. It is located in Lake Alfred. Excellent seafood! Never disappoints. Because Gary’s doesn’t open until 4:00 PM, we began our journey by driving through Sherwood Forest (nearby RV park). It’s emptying out fast just like TP. We drove beyond the RV’s and found communities of mobile homes, cottages, double wides, etc. way in the back.....thousands of them! Some new, some old and some very old. Amazing how these roadways can take you to areas you never thought existed. Lulu loved the ride! We headed towards Lake Alfred and Lake Wales....to kill time. Mistake: we ran into one hell of a rainstorm! The windshield seemed like it had an opaque shield over it. The water on the roads gushed above the car as if we were driving through a lake. Thunder and lightening was all around us. Help! Finally, Cory just pulled into a Home Depot parking lot so we could sit it out for awhile. Soon, the storm passed over enough that we could head towards Gary’s. Not quite open yet so we waited patiently....kind of....in the car. Once inside, the eating and rejoicing began. Cory got grouper, Sam got catfish, Sandy got shrimp & I ordered steamed shrimp (Peel & Eat). Delish!! With our swollen bellies, we headed for home. Whoops! A wrong turn. We ended up on some deserted road that took us for miles and miles with nothing to see. The overgrown vegetation resembled the rain forest. We stopped in the road for a turtle to pass in front of the car....it traveled at a turtle’s pace. Yawn! Go Little Fella! Eventually, our GPS helped us to get back on the right track.....miles and miles from where we wanted. No problem....it’s just fun being together and no one had to go to the bathroom. Whew!

Before we part, I need to share with you something that has recently happened. We are not fans of Camping World. Whatever your feelings are, please note: Camping World is changing their name to Gander RV. Nothing else changes but their name. Be aware.

I’m done. I told you it wouldn’t be easy....so much to share. Please note: 38 photos so you know the routine.....scroll & scroll and go to more pages. See you soon! Rest up!

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