Florida..so far

Orlando, well, actually, Kissimmee, Fl

Greetings from Mickey Mouse! Yes, we are in the land of Disney..or at least near it. Orlando is consumed with Disney!

Our trip started back on Saturday morning at o'dark thiry---rising at 3:00 a.m. to ge to the airport in time to catch our 6:45 a.m. flight to Atlanta to connect to our flight to Orlando. Jack, Sue, Al and I all grumbled about getting up so early. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time...only to find out our flight had been delayed an hour....so we had hurried for nothing. FInally got on the plane and arrived in Atlanta an hour late...leaving us with less than 30 minutes to catch our connecting flight; which, of course, was on another concourse. But I had anticipated this and had ordered a wheelchair for Al...thank goodness. He actually got to our next gate before we did!! At any rate we were the last 4 to board the plane. But then we were delayed due to a minor mechanical problem, so we were late leaving Atlanta by 45 minutes...another hurry up to wait ordeal. Arriving in Orlando to very stormy weather, we went to get our luggage. Well, half of it arrived, the other half was among the missing. Of course, why, would anything be right on that day???? We decided to wait for the next flight from Atlanta to get in which was 45 minutes. So we went and got the rental car and then went back to wait for the luggage. An hour and half later, we had luggage. Off to find the timeshare...which we found and litterally dumped our luggage and went in search of food. It had been about 12 hours since we had last seen food, with the exception of peanuts, pretzels, etc. After feeding our selves we went to the store for some basic necessities, i.e., coffee, bread, etc. IT started to really rain and thunder and lightning when we left the store. Florida? Right?

Sunday
We awoke to pouring rain! And I do mean, pouring. It rained, rained and rained some more. About noon friends Randy and Judy Rahbar arrived from Indian Harbour Beach and a few minutes later their son Randy Jr., wife Liz and son Curtis (7)arrived. Curtis

Randy Jr. is a twin and a few minutes later twin Tara, husband Frank and son Nathan (2) arrived.
Frank, Nathan, Tara

Now we have known the Rahbars forever....since the twins were 2 years old and we were all in Lancaster together! We all had a great visit...and I tell you those kids are great kids...Nathan is so cute and Curtis is so well mannered and so smart! He knows so much about the planets! He really impressed us. Oh, and did I tell you it was raining??? Rained all day and night. And I do mean RAIN! THUNDER! LIGHTNING!

Rahbars: l-r, Tara, Nathan, Frank, Liz, Curtis, Randy Jr. Randy Sr. Judy

Monday arrived with just overcast skies. Jack decided to go to the gym and Suzi and I decided to hit the outlet mall that wasn't too far away. Al chose to rest and read. Randy and Judy came over later in the afternoon and we all went to a faboulous Lebanese restaurant that Randy and Judy had been to. All I can say is that it was great. I think Jack and Suzi were a little hesitant about it, but they both said they enjoyed it. And I had a shawarma...for those of you who know what a shawarma is, this one was good...almost as good as the ones you get in Riyadh! YUM

Yesterday, Tuesday, we drove over to the Kennedy Space Center for a tour. We had a great time and learned so much. OF course, some of this was "going back in time" for us who have worked on the space program at some point in time in our past lives. Did you know that the Shuttle program is over in 2010? And that they are replacing it with a program called Orion. It is targeted for operations to the International Space Station and will start around 2015. Things we learn!!! At any rate the tours of the launch pads, the landing strip, (even though we have seen the shuttle land dozens of times at Lancaster) and just being there where it all happens was so facinating for us. Just to think what we (Americans) have accomplished in the space race over the past 50 years is amazing.

After a great day there we drove down the beach a bit to where Judy and Randy live. They have a beautiful condo right on the ocean. It is so nice to sit out on their veranda and just listen to the surf. We finally decided it was time to eat, so we wandered over to a little place not far from their house on Hwy A1A called "Bunky's"...what great seafood they have! I ate my share of raw oysters (yum, yum, yum) and they were probably the best I have ever had! They are from Appleachicola, Florida and they are small, and very, very tender. We finally waddled out of their and headed home.

Today, Wednesday, we went to the required timeshare sell presentation. What we won't do for 100 bucks! At any rate, we didn't buy, as if we needed another timeshare! And they did try their best to sell us one....or a dozen. I have to laugh at the sales people....we have been to so many of these over the years we could practically give the sales pitch and we have the routine down pat....first the sales person, then the "heavy" who tries to come in and give you a "deal" and then the closer, who starts to give you your "freebie", only has one more "deal" up his sleeve! ARG! We escaped with our lives and pocketbooks intact however. Tonight the Rahbars are coming over here again so we can venture out for dinner.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring....so stay tuned!