Week-end Fun

We went to the Bay Hill Invitational on Saturday. Weather was partly cloudy and rather windy for Orlando, but it did get warm! We sat by the par three 7th green and watched all 31 pairs in the field go by. One double bogey, 6 bogies, and 6 birdies! Tiger Woods parred the hole...huge gallery following him. We watched the end of the day on the 18th fairway, about 150 yards from the green. Saw the last 10 pairs go by. Tiger stuck his second shot in the grass along the water and couldn't find it. Had a half-dozen people, including a cameraman, looking for the ball. He ended with a spectacular putt for a bogie 5...amazing player!

We had a bonus just after 2 PM -- a sonic boom from the re-entering space shuttle rattled the trees! We saw the contrail of the shuttle heading east. That was special, seeing the launch and the re-entry.

And we actually had some rain Sunday! Just a quarter inch, but much needed. Central Florida is waaay behind the annual average and really dry. We've had some brush fires already...

Think Pink!

Gayle's third graders were involved in a great project this week-end. A mom in the other 3rd grade class, Angela Petrucelly, died of cancer several weeks ago. Her daughter, Victoria, was in Gayle's kindergarten class 3 years ago. Victoria and her friend Jesse, who IS in Gayle's class this year, decided several months ago that they wanted to sell pink lemonade to help raise awareness for breast cancer to help her mom. After mom died, it turned into a fund & awareness raiser for cancer and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center here in Orlando. They picked this week-end because Jesse lives across from the Henry Leu Gardens and the Leu Gardens has its annual plant sale. They knew that many, many people would be in the area! So both classes of 3rd graders and a great many others got involved. Weather was great! TV stations came, the head of the Cancer Center stopped by, Chik-fil-A donated lemonade and lunch for the kids, people were generous, and the kids raised a whole lot of money. Victoria had said that she hoped they would make "$50." Waaay beyond that! Way to go, kids!

Victoria is on the left in the pink hat; her good friend Jesse is on the right.



Teachers & parents a-plenty!

Lunch, Launch, & Auction

We took Friday afternoon and all day Monday off from school to enjoy a visit with Uncle Hank & Aunt Marideen Holtrop. They were in Central Florida for 2 weeks at a condo with some friends, and we caught the back end of their trip before they went back to Michigan. We showed them around school and downtown Orlando, and had lunch across from Lake Eola at some outside tables of a restaurant. Weather was perfect -- low 80's and low humidity.

On Saturday night Gayle and I attended The Christ School annual Mane Event dinner & auction. The theme was Night of Stars and the challenge for attendees was to dress like a movie star. I forgot to get a picture of my lovely Gayle - she really got into the dressing up - borrowed a designer dress from a neighbor across the street, found a great pair of fancy high heels to wear, and simply looked like a million bucks! The best I could do after the fact was to get a picture of her shoes...Her 3rd grade quilt was the highlight of the evening; it went for $2,700, the highest bid item of the night! Gayle and the head of the auction held it up on the stage during the bidding. Two of the 3rd grade dads went after it like bulldogs; I think the bidding went on for 10 minutes! I was really proud of her work and the benefit she brought to our school.
On Sunday we enjoyed sharing Conway Community Presbyterian Church with the relatives. After an early supper - grilled chicken, broccoli, & sweet potato fries - we drove 45 minutes east to a small boat launching ramp / park on Hwy 50 at the St. John's River for the evening launch of the shuttle. This area is in the middle of a huge grassland where the river meanders, giving over a mile of clear viewing toward the coast. Sunset was about 7:35; the launch was right on time at 7:43. We had a great view for 20 miles away! And after a few minutes we could hear the rumble of the rocket engines! The sunlight on the exhaust trail was spectacular, and because the shuttle went toward the north we saw the complete arch of the exhaust trail.

We waited at the ramp parking lot for about a half hour and then watched the International Space Station track from NW to NE about 30 degrees up in the northern sky for about 3 minutes. If you go to the nasa.gov web site, you can find your way to the ISS sightings page and key in your specific location. Sightings are always up to an hour before sunrise or an hour after sunset. Sometimes the trees or clouds get in the way of sightings, but once you've seen it you'll go back for more. It reminds me of the time mom got us boys up to see the ECHO satellite one late summer evening...

We took Uncle Hank & Aunt Marideen to the Henry Leu Gardens this morning -- what a bargain! Free on Monday mornings. We shared the park with a LOT of young moms; it was story hour and then they pushed the babies around the park. Another beautiful day, sunshine and low 80's, a real chamber of commerce special. Lots of camelias and citrus in bloom, but the roses were done and trimmed back. Many different kinds of amarylis in bloom, which sort of made up for the lack of roses.

We're taking the relatives to the airport mid-afternoon. They should be back in West Michigan at 8:30 tonight. A great week-end! So good to see the relatives again!

Early Spring

Saturday was one of those early spring days that just wink and beckon you to enjoy. Sunshine, temps in the low 80's, and lots of people on the roads enjoying the good weather. Actually lots of motorcycles on the roads -- it was the beginning of Daytona Bike Week. Gayle and I rode out to see some of the hoo-haa and enjoy the day together. We took I-4 east and got in to Daytona around 9:30 AM. I had counted about 50 bikes on the road and when we got in to the city stopped the count. There had to be thousands (tens of thousands?) of motorcycles on the roads, parked along the roads, stopped at restaurants, and gassing up at the corner stations. We guessed that the median age of the crowd was about 50. The good weather surely drew many of the locals out on their bikes, but we saw license plates from all over -- Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Connecticut... You get the idea. There didn't seem to be much of a recession going on yesterday! And most of the bikes use premium gas.

We first stopped for about an hour at the Daytona International Speedway. The north parking lot was filled with displays by the major motorcycle manufacturers and you could take test rides around the Speedway on the latest models...we didn't. We then rode down Main Street, lined solid already at 10:30 AM with parked motorcycles and people walking around savoring the moment. The moment seemed to be heavily flavored with leather, head scarves, and tattoos. Gayle thought briefly about a tat but then decided not. Hah!
After the Main Street excursion we went north on A1A past Ormond Beach and then circled back on the Ormond loop. It's a 20 mile jaunt along the Halifax River that takes you along the Atlantic and then back through a two lane Live Oak canopied road that is simply a joy to ride through. Several state parks are along this route and the land is mostly wild yet.

We then went up US 1 to where the road intersects I-95; there is a huge collection of motorcycle oriented businesses there, anchored by a large Harley Davidson showroom and J & P Cycles merchandise showroom. Plus vendors galore, there especially for the Bike Week crowd. We walked the shops, ate some lunch, did some people watching. I think that for some, the biker thing is sort of an alter ego and the way they dress (or so) shows what altar they are kneeling before. Interesting, very interesting. There did not seem to be a recession on at that place. And they had something for everyone...and everyone's pet.

We took a scenic route home toward Orlando. We did hop on the tollway once into greater Orlando -- it's a much quicker route home, and on a warm day sitting at a traffic light and moving slowly with many other vehicles just didn't appeal to us. About 7 hours and 190 miles, and glad to be safely home again.

Today a front went through -- a tiny bit of rain and the temps dropped from 69 to 51 degrees in about 30 minutes. The sun is shining again but it's the mid-50's, breezy, and will be cold for the next two nights, with temps in the 40 degree range. I know -- that's nothing to you Northerners, and you'd take 40 for a high! I'm not complaining, but I do wish I had bought that neck gaiter I saw on the rack yesterday. The morning ride will be chilly tomorrow!