Photo by The Joneses Here we are at ... at Epcot Center. Now, for Ralph and Gisela, it's bye-bye to Florida, as they make their way north. — — — E-mail Gisela — — — SLIDE SHOW: Fun times to close out our stay in Florida!
ARCHIVES: You wouldn't believe how beautiful Canada is! Wouldn't change a thing Who knew there was so much to see in South Dakota? Time is flying by — but at least we're having fun! I (heart) Hart Ranch, South Dakota Rallyin' in Goshen, Indiana A special day From friends to work to warmer temps, we're still having fun in Florida Traveling to Texas Finally, we're in Alaska! On the way to Canada Boise sure has changed a lot Escapees Rally in Wyoming Bittersweet trip through the southeast From Boy Scouts to ‘Stars on Ice’ Michigan is full of treasures Arriving in Florida Earning our ears Celebrating Christmas and New Year's in Florida and the Disney Parks Down in the Lowcountry Making our way through Minn., Wisc. and Ill. The holidays in Florida Our time in Lakeland has come to an end Couldn't have had a better time in Omaha! Arriving in Charleston A day with friends from Frederick 'Life is good' in Lakeland, Fla. Leaving Florida, and heading north Our final days in Kentucky Into the Keys Out of Charleston and off to Indiana Dreams come true in Vermont You never know what you'll see or who you'll meet in Alaska Leaving Indiana, but not before taking some of the state's best sites Idaho is full of natural treasures — and moon-like craters, too It's all about the theme parks From prairie country to beautiful views to grand 'ol Yellowstone Thunderstorms, flooding, tornados and a visit with the 'Duke' And so it begins ... Moving days for Greg and his family The gang's all here! Happy to be in Florida again Strawberries, and more strawberries 'The RV Capital of the World' From the beautiful Maine coastline down to southern Connecticut Training for our jobs at Disney World Chillin' out at 'Camp Monaco' Under the weather Back in Florida At long last, back in the area Lots to see in the 'Show Me' state With family and spectacular sights in Hailey, Idaho Look back, look ahead Back in the Lower 48 The cold weather is hitting Florida From Dallas to devastation Back on the road again Leaving Idaho and heading east Beautiful Alaska A memorable visit to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula Watch out for flying dinner rolls

We plan to spend a couple of days in Columbus, Georgia to visit with friends from our time in Augusta. From there we’ll visit with Ralph’s sister Grace in South Carolina and then it's onto Mooresville, N.C., where our godson Tommy will graduate from the Nascar Technical Institute (NTI).

Then it's a few days in Myrtle Beach before we head off to Omaha for our grandson Oliver’s wedding.

These past three weeks just flew by so fast. We had a lot fun getting together with some of our full-timing friends: Erma and Bill, Patty and Dennis, Dee and Denny and met new friends Kay and Don. The getting together included going to dinner, having cook-outs and enjoying Happy Hours in the late afternoon. Retired life sure is wonderful.

One very enjoyable dinner was at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City near Tampa, where we went to celebrate Denny’s birthday.

Ybor City is a Cuban community, which was founded around 1880 by a Cuban immigrant Vincent Martinez Ybor. Ybor was a cigar manufacturer and that is what Ybor City is today – a cigar manufacturing city. Ralph couldn’t resist buying a few cigars, as good as any Cuban cigar – so he said.

The Columbia is a landmark in the Tampa area. It was started by Casimiro Hernandez, a Cuban immigrant, in 1905 and is still owned by the same family. The food was delicious and so was the Sangria.

Epcot, my favorite Disney Theme Park, had its annual Garden and Flower Show. The park was absolutely beautifully decorated with topiaries of the Disney movie characters and breathtaking flower arrangements. It must take months for artists to design the layouts of the various areas. As well as a lot of work to plant the flowers and have them all blooming at the same time to create these colorful grounds.

Every evening there a fabulous light show and fireworks was held. During the day were special concerts. When we went with our kids the group "Paul Revere and the Raiders" was in concert and we thoroughly enjoyed him – the lead singer is 70 years old and did put on quite a show.

My grandchildren (Jordyn and Nick), however, couldn’t believe that we — the parents and grandparents — actually listened to "this kind of music" in our youth and enjoyed it — I guess that is what is called the generation gap.

Thanks to the passes we get for working at Disney, we also took our friends to Epcot one day and had a wonderful time. I love the Disney parks — I won’t ever get enough of Disney. We will probably work there again next winter, the Disney discounts and free passes make it worthwhile.

One day Robin, Jordyn, Nick and I went to Disney Quest, an Indoor Interactive Theme Park. Five floors of virtual fun, interactive games and hundreds of excited kids. Ralph had won free tickets for this adventure park — each month names are drawn from a list of employees who received a special mentioning by a guest or have done some kind of "Disney Magic." There was no way that Ralph would go there with all these (often screaming) kids – so I did. It really wasn’t that bad and Jordyn and Nick loved it.

Looking back at our time in Florida a few things come to mind that I have not mentioned before: