MY DISNEY

The Circle of Life continues



Where dreams come true.



Chinese water lilies



African Safari


Epcot Spaceship Earth




Animal Kingdom


India


India








African Bat with wing span of six feet.




Chinese Story Teller dated from the Ting Dynasty



japanese zen garden with Coy 12 inches long, at least.


Moroccan tile work


Mission: space. Quite a ride


View of Ft. Wilderness from the ferry


Disney World was quite a ride. Going without small children brought a whole new prospective to the theme parks.

Ft. Wilderness campground is relaxing with two pools. We did manage to spend a couple hours by one of them. There are canoes to rent for the river that runs through the campground, horseback riding, carriage rides, none of which we had time (or energy) to do. We did get to the Wilderness Lodge and explored Indian relics and totems. Dinner was appetizers in the bar (be sure you get dinner reservations early at all restaurants in Disney. There are buffalo hoof prints in the cement sidewalks leading to buffalo topiary. There are fossils in the sidewalks around the Lodge and each of the six levels explore the sediments of the levels of the Grand Canyon.

Taking our time through the countries of Epcot gave us the opportunity to see Chinese children acrobats, an old southern choir, The Beatles band, the Canadian band, lunch in morocco and dessert in France with champagne, a tour of the replica of the Chinese tomb warriors, a walk through a Japanese zen garden, Japanese drummers, and dinner in Great Britain on the waters edge watching the firework show. There is also a wine and food festival going on there with several booths for tasting the world.

Magic Kingdom was short and sweet with rides on Pirates of the Caribbean and The haunted mansion. That's all. Then off to dinner at Downtown Disney at Gloria Estafan's Cuban restaurant, Bongos.

It was the first trip to Animal Kingdom for both of us. Since we were able to avoid all roller coasters and kiddie areas, we took our time through the jungles of Asia and Africa. These areas are a zoo of jungle animals and vegetation. The afternoon was topped off with an African safari. We were detained when rhino blocked the road (animals have the right of way). A large truck used its bumper to gently move the rhino from the road. It was pretty entertaining.

We took our time which made it was a wonderful experience.

St. Joseph State Park

St. Joseph State park, Cape San Blas, Pt. St. Joe, Florida. It's not the end of the earth, but it's pretty damn close. They call it the forgotten coast, I forget why. It might have been ok if we didn't have to deal with the bugs. We fought a giant mosquito when it threatened to carry Rollo away. Steve fought a cloud of flies when he went to carry the garbage (I'm not kidding about that one). Nana stayed covered in burrs. We had to take our shoes off at the door so we wouldn't bring them into the RV. We're still picking burrs out of the carpet. The only restaurants were 30 miles away, if you could find one open. And heaven forbid it was after 8pm, nothing was open.

Other than that it was a beautiful beach. One of the prettiest in Florida. And the butterflys were migrating. They were everywhere. Maybe we'll come back one day, NOT.

A Great Time Was Had By All

We are leaving Panama City Beach this morning. Not to worry, we're going to St. Joseph State Park, just down the coast. There is a time limit on staying in state parks, so its time to move on. Our new plan (it changes all of the time) is to spend 10 days in St. Joe, then go to Daytona for another bike week. We've decided not to go too far south, gas prices you know. We're coming home after that, October 20th or about. Unless we change our minds.

What a great time I've had. The final count was 45,000 people for motorcycle week. It was a lot of fun. Everyone is extremely safe and courteous at these rallies. With one exception. A girl picked up a guy and he got on the back of her bike, at two in the morning, both drinking, no helmets, she didn't have a motorcycle license, and they hit a curve at 90 mile an hour. They both died. But to me that's just stupidity.

The atmosphere changed when the bikers left. Now its families with small children. I sat on the beach and watched the children playing in the water. I didn't sit long though, there are biting flys here that are driving everyone crazy. They are even in the campground. But as long as we are moving on our bikes, they don't bother us. So we keep moving. I even had to put gas in my bike the other day! It costs $9. You see I get 90 miles to the gallon and it only holds three gallons. Isn't that great!!!!!

Steve surprised me with a dinner cruise on the Lady Anderson. They had a buffet, a band for dancing, and beautiful views from the top deck. It was very romantic and wonderful.

Occasionally, I'll look up and see a lone dragonfly. One flew across my bike when I was stopped at a light, one flew across me at the beach, there was one at the restaurant we went to last night. This has happened many times. Each time I think about my friends back home and get a bit nostalgic.

I'm posting pictures of some of the second half of Panama City Beach. The view from our motorhome, the beach, the boat ride. Now I'm nastolgic about leaving. This is another one of those places where I could easily live.

Next stop, St. Joseph State Park in Port St. Joe. Missing all of you.