?It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas?


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North America » United States » Florida » Kissimmee
December 19th 2021
Published: December 20th 2021
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Merry, Merry Christmas everyone. We wish you all the joy this season may bring. Being here in Florida makes you use your imagination a bit more to get in the spirit of Christmas. With no snow and cold weather, no hot chocolate and burning chestnuts (yes, ours burned…not just roasted), we have to seek and soak up all the Christmas decorations we can find! Some places really have stupendous displays. So much work putting them all up and then turning around and taking them down. We were whipped just hanging a few lights and a couple Dollar Store trimmings. We praise these dedicated folks for sharing their enthusiasm and festive spirit. We find ourselves wandering through endless stores to hear the melodious Christmas music over their intercom. Sometimes we sing along….??fa-la-la-la-la??. We stare all day and night at Lulu in her holiday garb. She always makes us feel so jolly and bright. Ho-Ho-Ho. ?????

We are going to take you on a golf cart ride with us to see some of the terrific Christmas decorations in our park. Load up, everyone….there’s plenty of room on the roof, too. The displays are so impressive and they definitely put us in the Spirit of Christmas. Altogether now: Oooooooooo, Ahhhhhhhhhh, Ooooooooooo, Ahhhhhhhhhhh. We found a living display, too. Dedee and her pup, Murphy, were in the middle of their adorable decorations. Merry Christmas ??

Every Christmas season, I write my annual Christmas letter. Guess what? Surprise……I’m not going to write it anymore. Bah, humbug! Wait….maybe I can hear applause, too. It’s time to keep moving into this changing, technical world we now live in. Our Christmas card and holiday wishes will arrive via Facebook and our blog. Santa refused to deliver our Christmas document with your presents so this is Plan B. We didn’t ask if he was even delivering any gifts to you….we didn’t want him to tell us you were on the naughty list. We hope Plan B works okay and that you get the message that we are thinking of all of you during this wonderful holiday time.

Merry, Merry Christmas and a Happy, Happy New Year.

A few weeks back, we found ourselves in a very colorful and festive restaurant with several of our friends. We were invited to join them at a terrific Mexican restaurant called El Tapatio. It has such a warm and cultural atmosphere; you would think you were in Mexico. HOLA! This fun evening, they had a talented musician playing Christmas Carrols on a huge xylophone. Christmas decorations were throughout. We were in the spirit, for sure. Some of our spirts included margaritas and sangria. Olé. I said it felt like being at a Mexican Christmas party. Cory and I don’t normally select Mexican food as our comida de elección. But, with the assistance of our friends, we had a very tasty meal. We both got quesadillas. I enjoyed my Mexican rice and Cory had French fries. It was a delightful evening with terrific friends. Tiempos felices!

Cory is continuing with his physical therapy into mid January. He is just about where they want his knee to be with full ROM. I usually accompany him to the hospital when he goes to PT…..unless it is an early morning one….then he’s on his own. I wish I could tell you I need my beauty sleep but it’s just that I’m too lazy to get up that early! Please note my honesty. You can easily tell that Lulu gets her beauty sleep….what a gorgeous gal she is! I wish you could see her right now…..she is beaming in her glamour glory! My time ended at the Fitness Center so I just wait in the hospital lobby for him. This beautiful Christmas tree is in the center of the lobby. I sit in awe of some of things and people I see who pass by. Amazing….that’s all I can say! Some of the stuff, it takes me awhile to unsee it!

One evening, a neighboring campground, Sherwood Forest, had a golf cart parade through Old Town (the nearby locale with gift shops, restaurants, bars and more). It drew thousands of people because the parade was being followed by their weekly Cruise Nite of classic cars. Not wanting to get in the mega traffic jam, Cory parked our car in the parking lot of a nearby Red Lobster restaurant. Sam, Sandy and the two of us had front row seating for the Christmassy golf cart parade that had to pass by us to get to Old Town. There were 46 gayly illuminated carts. We felt the spirt! Ho-Ho-Ho! ??

Sandy took Sam to the gigantic Webster flea market. He is always on the hunt for parts to use in his unique cannon creations. The other day, Sam got so excited making his newest project, he lost his head! Yup! Truly lost it! His head was gone…..he was the headless scooter man! Ha, Ha….actually, it started to rain and Sam sought cover under the slideout of their RV. He was just trying to stay a HEAD of the storm (pun). I couldn’t resist taking this photo of him.

Sam got under a part of his RV while, on another day, a friend got on top of their RV. Ray climbed up onto their roof to patch a small leak near their shower sunroof. That’s a long way up! Helloooooooo, up there! A perfect ad for Flex Seal spray. Almost like he was in competition with Santa Claus landing on rooftops.

Remember the delightful story of the giant, folklore lumberjack, Paul Bunyan, and his Blue Ox, Babe? As I sat sipping my coffee under our canopy, I witnessed a similar phenomenon going past our site. Whoa! What does my little eye spy? This smiling lumberjack wasn’t riding a big, blue ox; he was driving a trusty golf cart. On the back of his cart, was a ginormous load of lumber……just like a real life logging truck! Whoa! Who is this mystery lumberjack logger? I called out. His logging vehicle came to a halting stop. My eyes focused. This lumberman was Dave! He had been on his morning excursion around the park when he came upon a mountain of wood pallets. He asked the local workmen if they had a need for them….”Nope — you can take them if you want.” Gleefully, Mighty Dave piled his stockpile of wood as high as he could onto his trusty wheeled steed. Off he headed to his personal lumberyard at his RV site. Dave is a multi talented individual. His résumé is ten pages long. He is a helper to everyone. He is such a good person. We are blessed to have him as a friend. Most every evening, he and his lovely wife, Linda, welcome one and all to their RV site to gather around his popular, warm and cheery campfire. “Friends Gather Here”! A time to laugh, drink and be merry. His latest acquisition of pallets will help to keep his fire burning and their friends gathering. ?? I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK

I sleep all night and I work all day

He's a lumberjack and he's OK

He sleeps all night and he works all day

I cut down trees, I eat my lunch

I go to the lavatory

On Wednesdays I go shopping and have buttered scones for tea??…..sorry only lumberjack song I could find.

Feeling the need to get more in the spirit of Christmas, Sam, Sandy, Cory and I loaded ourselves into our trusty black sleigh and skidded over to Disney Springs. Our hopes were to stroll through their Christmas Tree Trail which we had done in the past. It consisted of one gorgeous, themed Christmas tree after another. It was breathtaking. But, alas….changes have been made because of Covid. This year, the beautiful trees were placed sporadically throughout the Disney Springs grounds. That’s okay. But first things first! To ensure we had plenty of energy to wander all around this festive park, we ate at the Earl of Sandwich. Can you guess my choice? Yes…of course….my most favorite sandwich of all: their tuna melt! The best ever! It did not disappoint! We commented that for a Saturday, it didn’t seem terribly crowded. As we started our walking tour, more and more people showed up. By the time we were walking out, masses of folks were marching shoulder to shoulder into Disney Springs. Sandy said we could have sold our parking spot…..none were available for the throngs of cars coming in bumper to bumper. We had timed our visit well.

Continuing to suck up the beauty of the holiday night lights, Cory drove our sleigh to the village of Celebration. Seemed like all the cars who couldn’t park at Disney Springs had the same idea as us. We were in bumper to bumper traffic here….allowed for easy viewing of all the beautifully decorated houses, anyway. Cory tried to get us to Jeeter Street where every house is extremely decorated to the hilt and beyond. Santa would be proud. The spirit of Christmas oozes out into the streets. The street was closed off. The crowd was so thick it looked like New Orleans during Mardi Gras. We could only catch a fleeting glimpse. Better than nothing I guess. The Main Street of Celebration was closed off, also. Cory circled the area like we were in a wagon train. Only by pure luck, he found a parking spot close to the festivities…..a Christmas miracle. Fancy horse drawn carriages carried folks around the streets. I still feel bad and sad for the horses….always will. We made our way over to the enormous crowd which filled the Main Street. A gigantic, gorgeous Christmas tree stood high in the center. At one end, there had been musical entertainment…..Christmas carols were still playing throughout. Next was a skating rink. Here in Florida, the ice was made from a Teflon like material. Most would-be skaters needed an assistant-bar to stay upright……ice skating is not the forte down here….skate boarding is more the sport of choice. As we were heading out….Look up everyone!!! It’s snowing! Yes, here we were experiencing falling snow upon our heads. The excitement of the crowd was awesome. We laughed along with them even though we knew this fake snow from real snow…..they weren’t kidding us! It was fun and Christmassy.

We are looking forward to a Holiday event here at our park next Wednesday. The management will be providing meat, rolls and drinks while each of us will bring a dish to pass for a bountiful Christmas meal to be enjoyed together. Also on the agenda is a golf cart parade. We shall participate even though our decorations are rather skimpy in comparison to others. They have really gone full Christmas mode! We are more like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree while the others are like the magnificent Rockefeller Center Christmas tree…..picture the contrast?

We wish Peace, Goodwill and Happiness for you at Christmas and always. ?Enjoy the 32 photos on two pages!


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20th December 2021

Enjoyed the blog this morning. I know the weather is very warm in Florida. Out temp this morning was 13 degrees. No snow! Have a very Merry Christmas?
21st December 2021

Brrrrrr
I hope the winter up North is not a doozy for all of you. We have become so spoiled with summer weather all year round. Merry Christmas Janice.

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