Orlando-Kissimmee  

11/18 11/24/12

 

New friends

Great place to see

So cute how they are lined up

So beautiful

This guy was huge

Help!!!!  Gator got me.

Visiting after Thanksgiving dinner

 

Left Cocoa Beach pretty early so we could meet up with some Couch Surfers at Gatorland, in Orlando.

Found our folks and were amazed that instead of paying $24.99 per entry, we got discounts for being from out of state, seniors, a veteran so our total for both of us to get in was around $15.00. That was so nice of them. We had a ball seeing all the gators, some that were just huge. Fun getting to visit with new friends and seeing the various shows such as gator jumping and wrestling, had a little train ride. Enjoyed the birds that were everywhere and the beautiful flamingos.

Monday we just did life stuff, wash, grocery shopping, went to the library to print out some documents we needed. Post office, documents shredded. Just usual life. Cooked, TV and hot tub.

Tuesday we went on a time share 90 minute presentation (which turned out to be over 2 hrs.). This resort is amazing, has restaurants, movie theater with free Disney movies three times a day, about 14 pools and hot tubs, mini golf, paddle boats, etc., etc. The first amount the guy showed us was for a 4 bedroom unit for around $99,900 and an interest rate of 17.99%. I was so shocked, crazy. They came up with about 4 other, lower offers, we had to see guy痴 supervisor, be signed off by big supervisor all of which tried to talk us into things, but we got away. So we had a free breakfast and got $50, so it was OK since we didn't have anything else to do.

Later we played mini golf at our resort and I beat John by 3 strokes. Last time we played we tied -- we're always competitive with this game and tease each other a lot. In town there are some huge, amazing mini golf courses and we'll try to go to one of those when we're back here.

Wednesday we drove to Orlando to meet up with a new Couch Surfer, Terisa, who we met in Little Saigon for Vietnamese food. Terisa was a delight and we enjoyed meeting her and her friend. Lunch was good and I took home half of mine for dinner. Terisa invited us to her parent's house for Thanksgiving dinner. We had already planned to go to an Orphan Thanksgiving in St. Petersburg at 6:00 p.m., but that is 75 miles away and we'd be driving in the dark. So we canceled that and said yes to Terisa's invite, earlier and closer. We are looking forward to going. I'm taking some orange/cranberry bread I baked, and apple salad. We are so blessed and appreciate being able to join in on this holiday meal.

There are hundreds and hundreds of things to do here. We've been to Disneyworld before, and Disneyland many times, so we are not interested in mouseland. We will be back to this area after the Bahamas, so we will decide what to do when we get back. We try to limit expensive activities since this isn't vacation, but life. I do think we will go to Universal Studios later. They are having the Grinch as a special feature Dec. 1- Jan 1^st, and I love the Grinch. I watch that movie every year.

Friday checked out the city called Celebration, a real little city created by Disney. Nice houses, lakes, parks, school. All owners are required to decorate during certain holidays. Must be neat to drive around in the evening during Christmas. Went to a little area called Old Town, has some shops, rides, car shows on the weekends. Fun sitting in the sun and people watch, temp was 70 and we were totally content and relaxed.

Spent Saturday doing wash, packing what we are going to take to the Bahamas we have to get down to one suitcase, one carry on, not an easy task.

Sunday off to the Bahamas for 4 weeks. Up early, check out, get to the car park, get shuttle to airport. Busy, busy morning. Can't wait to see that turquoise water and white sand. Such a pretty place.