Florida 2002 Week Three

Sunday, December 29, 2002

We had a really busy day today, getting up at normal times.  Donna fixed a good breakfast of patty sausage and Grand Biscuits.  We left Mt. Olive about 9am, only about 20-22 miles to the exit on World Parkway to Disney World.  We drove by World of Sports, realized we needed gas, so over to Kissimmee and $169.9 per gallon.

We drove around 'Old Town Kissimmee', but of course all the shops were closed, since it was Sunday morning.  Then back to Disney Area and to Fort Wilderness campground.  We were able to get a little information at the desk, but no permission to drive around the campground.  So.. guess what!  We followed a golf cart through the gate when no one was watching.  The campground was really a disappointment.  Very narrow roads, tight and narrow sites all jammed in close together, no parking room at the sites, and really very junky.

For $75 per night, they can keep it. 

From there we went to the Wilderness Lodge for lunch, which was really neat with entertaining wait staff and good, but not cheap food.  A hamburger and fries were $10.95, but hey..  we're on vacation!!

We then drove around a few of the other resorts, and ran upon the Richard Petty Driving Experience, a 1.5 mile Tri-oval Nascar type track.  This was a bunch of fun.  We watched some folks take a ride with a driver, then watched about 16-20 guys drive their 8 laps following an instructor.  Their top speed was about 125 mph.  A 3 lap rider with a driver cost $89, while the school with 1 hour of instruction and an 8 lap drive cost $349.

From there we drove over to 'Downtown Disney', an entertainment / shopping / restaurant complex.  We walked around a while, then ate at Planet Hollywood, which was fairly expensive, but very good. 

Back to coach and Donna won the Phase 10 game 10-10 on points.

Monday, December 30, 2002

We hung around Mt. Olive Shores North for a while this morning and talked to Lew some more, and also talked to a Real Estate Agent about some of the lots and houses for sale.  No decision yet on if we are really interested or not.

We left about 11am, then spotted a Bluebird / Prevost dealer in Lakeland, stopped and browsed in some of the coaches.  No harming in dreaming!! 

Driving on to Dade City, we stopped at a Lowe's for a break, where Donna found a couple more Christmas bargains.  We arrived in Homosassa Springs about 3, found the campground, and got parked.  This is an older park, not a bit fancy, pretty crowded, but real bad.

We drove by a stat park where injured Manatee are re-habilitated, took a quick walk around, and are going back in the morning. We had dinner at a really neat restaurant on the river.

Donna won Phase 10 again. 10-9 

Tuesday, December 31, 2002

We were both up at 7 this morning and went to the Springs headquarters for the Buffet breakfast, Only $5.95 and really good.  We sat on the deck, and watched the turtles, like we don't have plenty at home.

Then, rather than take the boat or tram ride to the park, we drove over.  It opened at 9, and we were first in line, but the Manatee program was not until 10:30.  We roamed around the park, saw lots of manatee in the open waters, with lots of folks swimming around with them.  Later the program was extremely interesting.

We left Homosassa about 11:30, headed north, then east. Past Perry, we got into a really bad thunderstorm, and then a buzzer starting going off.  Real narrow road, with no shoulder, and no place to pull over.  Donna was driving, and after checking all the gauges, we decided to continue until we could get stopped.  We called James Triana at Foretravel, and he explained that it was probably just a switch contact that had gotten wet causing the buzzer to report a problem.

A little further down the road, we stayed in a rest area for the night.

I won the Phase 10 game 10-9

Wednesday, January 1, 2003

After a short nap early last night, I got up about 11pm and watched ABC - New York Time Square ringing in the New Year.

We got up this morning, and I am feeling lousy, with problems with sinus, a cough, and that sort of thing.  We left the overnight stop about 8am, continuing on scenic 98.  Lots of driving along the beaches, some really run down areas, some very new and expensive.  We stopped at a Wal-Mart in Panama City for groceries.  I took a short nap while Donna did the shopping.

We drove on for a while, finding a really nice development right before we got to Sea Side.  We had visited Sea Side back in the late 80's, but it seemed be a little run down.  We stopped on the shoulder, but the highway and shoulder were very narrow, so we felt uncomfortable parking and walking around.

Donna drove most of the afternoon as I tried to recuperate, we stopped at the Alabama Welcome Center and took a short rest and nap.  Then on to Biloxi, staying at Parker's Landing.  We may stay here a couple of nights.

I won the Phase 10 game tonight 10-6.  Man, tonight was my lucky night!

Thursday, January 2, 2003

Again, today was another normal get up time.  We had a couple of 'nuked' sausage biscuits and we were ready to leave by about 8:30.  We needed to pay for another night, but since the office didn't open until 9, we drove around the park for a while, and checked out their new section located on the water.

We left the park and drove to Gulfport, then south on 49 to Scenic 90, then driving back east along the coast for 20 miles or so.  Returning to Biloxi, we went to Boomtown casino. No profit, only minor contribution to the casino well being.

We then went to the Outlet Mall, for a couple of gifts, then to Barnes & Noble for a few items.  Long line at Starbucks, so we went to Cracker Barrel for Blackberry Cobbler.

Then home for dinner and Phase 10

Game 1 - Donna won 10-9

Game 2 - Donna won 10-9

Friday, January 3, 2003