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!

Start the Week-end!

Gayle and I had one of those really really busy weeks. On Monday GB had a dinner with last year's quilt guild board. We had a Kdgn - 5th grade meeting after school on Tuesday, and our small group Bible study on the book of James Thursday evening. We had two practices for our Grandparents' Day program during the school day on Monday and Thursday, and Grandparents' Day on Friday. We both had Valentine's parties with our classes on Thursday afternoon. It was great to meet the students' grandparents and special friends after the program on Friday, and it was great to say adios to the kids at noon. We did have to stay and work in our rooms Friday afternoon, but we both have the coming week taken care of, so that was good.
So, how to decompress after an intense week? I had gotten us tickets to Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba, which performs year round at Downtown Disney. We went to the 6 PM show and it was and hour and a half of non-stop amazing entertainment. We laughed, clapped, shouted, said "How did they DO that?". It was funny, heart-stopping, weirdly wonderful. The physical acrobatic control of these performers is astounding. At times, I thought that the sets were like M.C. Escher's drawings come to life. Here is the web site for La Nouba; there is a video clip you can watch to at least get a taste of what we enjoyed... http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/lanouba/en/intro/intro.asp Youtube also has several videos; the one with the three little Chinese girls performing is outstanding!
So, today is a stay at home and get stuff done around the house kind of day. We had a little more frost damage with the second wave of actual freezing temps last week, but nothing that can't be trimmed and grow back. We hope to go out for breakfast on the cycle on Monday -- thank you, Mr. Presidents for a vacation day!

Two Springs and a Breakfast

We had planned a bike ride Saturday -- it was the middle day of a long weekend. We did have some in-service activities mixed in with report card work on Friday, but a day without the kids is almost like a vacation day! And we have Monday / MLK Day off as a true vacation day. Saturday was 100% sunshine, but it was a bit cool to get down the road on a motorcycle. I know that after this past week you Northern folks can talk real cold, but I've been there...and I didn't say "cold"; I said "cool". We did leave at 9 AM on the bike, with layered clothes, an extra sweatshirt, and Thermolite gauntlet style gloves. We took the short route north on I-4 for 30 minutes to get to Blue Spring State Park. Blue Spring has a spring (duh!) that pours out thousands of gallons of 72 degree water year round. Its waters go into the St. Johns River, and when air temps drop, the manatees swim upstream and hang out in Blue Spring's relatively warmer waters. Hundreds of people thought just like GB and me, and it was worth the trip. We saw more than 100 manatees in the spring waters, more than we have ever seen before! All of these giant gentle mammals in a truly amazing corner of God's creation takes your breath away. After reveling in the sights for more than an hour, we rode a half hour farther north to DeLeon Springs State Park. This park also has a freshwater spring, somewhat smaller than Blue Spring, but it has panache! It is named for Ponce DeLeon, the Spaniard who went looking for the Fountain of Youth. If this was truly what he found, it was a doubly poor choice. Ponce died when he was 47, and the waters at his namesake have the unmistakable smell of sulphur! John Audubon came to this spring 300 years later while on a Florida bird painting expedition and claimed that the sulpher smell made him ill. 200 years after Audubon, it's not that bad...I did dip my hand in the spring water to feel the temperature, which was warm compared to the air temp, but my hand doesn't look any younger today.

Actually the water was just a distraction; we went to this park for the food. The Old Sugarmill Restaurant is on the park grounds and sells a wonderful breakfast all day long. You cook your own pancakes on a griddle built into the table, and the building is a former mill with a huge waterwheel (unused) on the side of the rustic building. When we pulled up to the park entrance at noon, the sign on the ranger station said that there was a 2 hour wait to be seated at the restaurant. It was fairly accurate; we sat down at 1:50 PM! But it was worth it! We were hungry and it's always fun to pay to make your own meal right at your table. Two different kinds of pancake batter, blueberries to stuff into your pancakes, thick sliced bacon, and all the coffee you could gulp. A side benefit was that our legs were nicely warmed by the electric griddle. We took a scenic ride home through back roads west of Deland down to Sorrento - saw a large farm producing orchids - and west almost to Mt. Dora, and then south to Orlando. About 7.5 hours and 130 miles for a thoroughly enjoyable day.

A Little Jaunt

Gayle and I decided to use a day of vacation this week to visit Sanibel Island. We had not been back to the island since we moved to Orlando and thought it would be fun to practice our "Sanibel stoop" again. We checked to weather reports and decided Tuesday would work, so we left at 6 AM Tuesday on the motorcycle. Weather was cool - mid 50's - and traffic was light. We enjoyed watching the sun come up as we rode. We took I-4 down to US 17 to get as scenic a route as possible. We were on Sanibel by 11:30; went to the Lighthouse Park close to the causeway because of the high traffic on the island. It was a joy to walk the beach and find many of the familiar Gulf side shells. Many people were scouring the beach, but there still were nice specimens for the finding...if you knew how to look! The names of the shells did come back also. The lighthouse was decked out in Christmas ribbons! This was the first time we saw and drove over the new causeway; no more waiting for the drawbridge.

We had called our Ft. Myers friends Jim and Ardith Smith last week-end; thought we could visit with them before we went back to Orlando. Turns out they were up in the Pittsburgh area visiting family and didn't get back until Monday evening. Jim called us when we were in Ft. Myers and we went to their house after the beach. We had a wonderful catch-up-on-family-and-events time with them. They invited us to spend the night, which we had not planned on. Their hospitality prevailed -- and they had an extra tooth brush! We spent a delightful evening with them and slept in their cabana/guest room. We left their house about 9 AM and rode by our former house on Beechwood Trail. Apparently the owners were not interested in maintaining the bushes and landscaping we had. The neem tree is gone, as well as all of the hibiscus, angel leaf jasmine, bird of paradise (all in front of the knee wall), crinum lily, and crepe jasmine that was on either side of the garage door. The Silver Bismarck palm in the front was 8 ft or more tall. The yard needed work but the house itself looked good -- had been repainted. We could see the Weaver's bamboo in the back yard that we had planted was doing well. Ah well, different strokes for different folks...
We took Palm Beach Blvd. to LaBelle and then US 27 north to Haines City; then US 17-92 north to Orlando. It was a little breezy (for Florida) but the ride was great. Back home by 3 PM -- sore buns, but a beautiful trip.
After this, our longest bike trip to date, I came up with some Rules for Riding:
1. Dress warmer than you think you need. Wind chill is nasty and you can always take a layer of clothes off. Can't put on what you don't have.

2. Take a tooth brush and extra socks. You never know what a road trip will bring...

3. Bring an extra bottle of water. Riding dehydrates a body.

4. Riding time is longer than driving time. Biking makes the road personal, more intimate, which then takes more time.

5. Good friends are a treasure. No explanation needed!

Denver Christmas

We spent a week in Denver / Aurora with Beth and Bob over Christmas. The 12/20 plane flight was elongated by weather moving through the Atlanta area; we sat on the ground in Orlando for 45 minutes and then flew in a circle north of Orlando because of the queued planes over Atlanta. Had 3 hours between flights so that worked out well. We got into Denver an hour late - midnight! - and then waited an hour for our luggage, so we hit the sack after 2 AM Mt. time...long day!

The weather was cold, but no snow. Beth and Bob had a nice activity list for us. We saw the Colorado Ballet production of The Nutcracker, which was outstanding. We visited the Denver Zoo and saw the Christmas lights. We went to the 4 PM Christmas eve service at Colorado Community Church. On Friday we drove to Winter Park and went tubing in the afternoon and had a sleigh ride at night. Beth even gave us a "special" scenic drive in Winter Park which allowed us to meet some really nice young men with a 4-wheel drive pickup! And in between these activities, lots of good catching up with the kids which made a thoroughly delightful week.

The flight back yesterday went smoothly. The contrast in 24 hours was striking. Friday night during the sleigh ride the temp was -5 degrees. We landed in Orlando to 74 degree temps and had to open up the house because it was stuffy!

Picture Perfect

Last blog before we head out to Denver for a week with Beth and Bob...We have had a wonderful couple of weeks! Weather has been warm - lows of about 60 and highs in the upper 70's. We had a half day of school yesterday to close out 2008 and took the motorcycle to a large shopping complex about ten miles east of us for some last minute shopping (small stuff) and supper outside at a Panera Bread. Hard to believe we'll be freezing our tootsies in Denver tonight!

I took last Friday off to "supervise" the two contractors who installed our replacement Andersen sliding door in the back of our great room. My little part in that was to stain the wood transition strip they installed to cover the gap between the door and the tile, and trim a half inch off the vertical blinds so they would hang above the wood strip. While they were working inside, I put together my wooden puzzles for my fifth graders. It took me about seven hours total to make 45 puzzles, but it was worth it! I gave them to the kids on Thursday and within 20 minutes six of the kids had already figured out the puzzle and gotten the two pieces apart. The other kids were in various states of confusion and knotted-ness. I spent much of Friday morning getting puzzles untangled, which is why I gave the puzzles out on Thursday. Some things are a given...
Gayle and I had such joy with our students. Her kids were told that there were several families at TCS who were really in need this Christmas, so the third graders collected four large boxes of food and $200. My kids wrote letters to servicemen, collected $105 in pocket change for two local organizations that help needy families, and assembled bags of necessary items for homeless folks. Their parents donated $1,500 for these items - socks, washcloth, toothbrush & paste, bus pass, etc. All this in addition to the fun of exchanging small gifts with each other and great class parties. Our children were very generous to us - snacks and treats, gift cards and ornaments. My class put my gift cards on a rosemary "tree" which I have planted in the back yard. It smells great! My favorite card from one of my fifth grade girls had this hand written note: "Dear Mr. B, Thank you for teacher me. Merry Christmas. You Rock!" Good thing we have another semester to work on her sentence construction! A favorite gift from Duke and his family, who were instrumental in giving me the original Harley rental 3 years ago when Duke's sister was in my class. Check out the last picture...
Time to go vacuum the lawn before packing. Our oak trees are shedding leaves and acorns at a phenominal rate, so I need to get them up and bagged before we have little oak trees in the lawn...

Thanksgiving

So, it's a little late. I think the pictures are worth the wait, but then I'm really really prejudiced! We had a great time in DC with the kids and grandkids. Weather was a bit cool, but that's November in Maryland. I-95 was smooth with not too much traffic. Such fun to see Luke and Erin growing and progressing well. And they love being read to -- apples and trees. I gave Luke a head scarf I had; he always talks about a fire bike, so I thought it would fit. He seemed to like the scarf, and of course Erin had to try it on also. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner -- thanks, Katie & GB!

And thanks for the tile advice, Alec! We made our cut Saturday, straight and no chipping.

Birthday Week-end

We have had a grand four days! Friday night we went to the opening performance of Verdi's Il Trovatore. Wonderful music, some really impressive soloists, and incredible sets. Saturday morning, GB's birthday, we left on a long week-end jaunt on the motorcycle. We had bought a small piece of luggage that fit behind the sissy bar and on the luggage rack. GB had made cloth bag totes for the inside of the saddlebags, so we fit everything we needed into those three places and tooled down the road. We rode east to Titusville and then north on US 1. At Ormond Beach we stopped at a huge biker store, J & P Cycles, which is right next to one of the larger Harley dealerships in Florida. Didn't go there but we did get GB some new riding gloves and I got some good cold weather riding gloves with Thermolite in them. Had a few sprinkles near Daytona Beach, but the rest of the trip was dry. We cut over to A1A and followed the coast up north. We stopped at a beach about 20 miles from St. Augustine and just enjoyed the beautiful weather and surf. GB found some keyhole limpets and small barnacles on rocks that the outgoing tide had exposed. Our destination was the Augustin bed & breakfast in St. Augustine, where we stayed Saturday and Sunday nights. Our room was on the second floor on the side of the house, and we could step outside on to the balcony -- had our own 2-seater swing! We took a personal day of vacation from school on Monday so we could enjoy a longer week-end. We did a lot of walking, window shopping, enjoyed the town and the great fall weather. We visited Castillo de San Marcos, the fort that the Spanish completed in 1695, and saw the beautiful Catholic Cathedral of St. Augustine, one among many old buildings in St. Augustine. Flagler College has some incredible architecture among its buildings also. Henry Flagler, Rockefeller's boy genius, also put up two amazing hotels on the north and south sides of King Street. One is now used by the college and the other is

home to the city offices and a museum. We had a glorious ride back to Orlando; the weather was in the 40's and clear. We were glad for our warm leather jackets and chaps! Four days of school left for us this week, and Friday hardly counts. It's the annual Walkathon fund raiser at Lake Eola, and a 12:30 PM dismissal for the students. GB and I hope to be on the road by 1 PM, heading for Katie, Alec, Luke, & Erin's for Thanksgiving. The spire on the right is the Cathedral of St. Augustine, and the building on the left is the Wachovia bank.

Ahhh! Week-end!

GB had her Bernina sewing machine in the shop for the past two weeks because the light bulb burned out and we couldn't get it out. She also had the machine tuned up -- first time in the 20 years she's owned it. Got it back this week, so she's sewing up a storm this afternoon! I ran some errands this morning, potted a shoot from our Rangoon Creeper for friends from church, and am just enjoying a mild afternoon -- sunshine and temps in the mid-70's. It's so nice to have the windows and slider open! This afternoon is especially appreciated; we had a busy week and an intense Friday.
I have averaged four parent / teacher conferences for each of the past 7 school days. They have been good, rewarding times with parents but they are intense and wearing. We have been required to do a Student Learning Plan for each student this year. It's a wonderful idea for communicating what we're doing with the students to their parents, and it is great for me to hone in on what exactly I can do to best help my students. We (my co-5th grade teacher and I) put in a couple of math and one or two reading goals, and the processes we will use to achieve them. Preparing these SLP's has been a lot of work, but they seem to be much appreciated by the parents. I think next year we should add a spiritual goal also...
So Friday we were moving nicely through the day, and then GB found out that her class had to have a head check for lice. The person who is in charge of our clinic did the check on all of GB's kiddos and then sent one little girl back with a shower cap on her head to get her books and then go home. The clinician said she didn't know if GB's third grader actually had lice or dry scalp but she wanted to be careful. GB was furious! She took the shower cap off her student's head right in the hallway. Couldn't believe how insensitive, heartless, and thoughtlessly cruel this woman was to her little girl! Might as well put a dunce cap on her head and shame her on the street corner...How stupid! Yes, kids, we do use the S-word once in a while. It fits, too!
And I had an e-mail from the mom of one of my 5th grade girls. Seems the girl had her foot stomped on by one of my boys. My kids have been following the political campaign and of course they took sides. The girl thought that the Dem was a good role model and was writing a paper on him. The boy was a dyed-in-the-wool conservative and couldn't stand that thought, so he walked back to her while the class was standing in line and stomped on her foot. He's a big, strapping young man and she's a thin little whippet. So I had to work through that discipline action, talking to the students, my co-teacher, my supervisor, and the parents. I think I spent an extra two hours on that little episode alone. I left school at 5:50 PM last night and was soooo ready for the week-end. The parents have been most supportive and appreciated my compassion and willingness to turn even this into a teachable moment for godly virtues.
We're going out for supper tonight with friends -- it's Garibaldi's Mexican food tonight! And they have a Mariachi band...Woohoo!

T'Weeks

It's been a quiet week in...no, wait! That's been used before. Anyway, it has been a couple of fairly normal weeks since the last post. Two Saturdays ago Conway Community Presbyterian Church had a "Welcome to the Neighborhood" party. It was a year ago that we became a particular church in the PCA, and about six months since we had begun worship in the new church building so we decided to throw a party for the neighbors. We had a bounce house, obstacle course, table games, craft table, the story lady (that's GB reading to a couple of little girls), hot dogs & hamburgers.- biggest question was, "...and we don't have to pay anything?" It was fun to say, nope, just enjoy our thank you to the neighborhood! We had about 30 church members helping during the 4 hours we were open for business, and had many, many Conway neighbors enjoy our hospitality.
We've had cooler weather this week -- the summer is over! We had temps in the 40's a couple of mornings and I had to wear my leather chaps to keep the wind chills down. We've turned the AC off and it's just nice to be able to open up the windows and let the breeze in again.
Report cards went home this past Wednesday. It was mostly good, except for a couple of parents who hyperventilated over a C in math. Kathy W. and I have conferences with parents over the next several weeks.
We had our fall parties this past Friday. Lots of black & orange decorations and a lot of fun for the kids! The class picture is GB's 3rd grade famous characters. We enjoyed another mild night Halloween-wise in our neighborhood. We had less than a dozen kids. Waaay too much cheap candy left over! Not much of a temptation for me...very little chocolate.
I cut the lawn and trimmed the edges for the first time in over a month. Also put down some fertilizer / weed killer. Good timing -- we've had some light rain yesterday and today. Before the spritzers, I had washed to car and the bike. It's a known fact that motorcycles drive better when they're clean and shiny!

Bikes in October -- Festive!

Gayle spent today working on quilts with ten of her quilting friends. They were putting quilts together for Russell House, which provides care for atypical children. Biketoberfest was rolling in Daytona Beach this week-end, so I followed my curiosity and rode out to the coast. I stopped for a half hour at Daytona International Speedway. A bit of the parking lot was used by all the major bike manufacturers, who had demo bikes available to try out. They were also allowing you to take your demo ride around the Speedway. I didn't do that -- I'm content with my bike and I didn't want to spend the time waiting for my turn. Lots LOTS of people waiting to ride around the race track! I rode up A1A to Ormond Beach and then went up the Tomoka Park road for about 10 miles. It's a beautiful ride on a two lane road between rows and rows of Southern Live Oaks that arch over the road, like riding in a green tunnel. I stopped at the Bulow Oak, a really large Live Oak that dates back to the time of the Bulow Plantation, pre-Civil War era. I then caught I-95 back south to the huge Bruce Rossmeyer Harley showroom / J&P Cycles store...and much more! Many vendors willing to mount your new pipes or seat or you-name-it right there. Many tents set up to service bikes. And of course, food and more food. It was a short quarter mile from the Interstate to the stores, but it took me 10 minutes. I was in a long slow line of bikes, two by two, moving to a huge parking lot. There had to be a thousand bikes in the lots, with bikes coming and going all the time. I was impressed! Can you find my bike? It's there, front row, sixth bike down. This was just a small corner of the parking by J&P Cycles store.After taking in the scene for a while, I drove south to Hwy 40 and went west for about 20 miles to Barberville. In that 20 miles, there had to be about 200 to 300 bikes that went by, heading to Daytona. I stopped in Barberville at the kitchy statuary place -- they got rid of the 12 foot tall chicken! I stopped by the Big Tree Park south of Lake Mary -- good pictures of the Senator, one of the largest bald cypress trees in the world. It's 17.5 ft in diameter. Got home after 6.5 hrs and abou 175 miles. Beautiful day to ride. Fun time!

The Senator, all 50,000 board feet!

The trusty Kaw!