Kissimmee, Florida

January 26 - February 2, 2011

Sherwood Forest RV Resort
Kissimmee, Florida

Two really nice things happened while we were here in Kissimmee...first, we got to have a nice visit with Bev and Randy.  Found out only by chance that we were going to be in the same town at the same time.  So, they took time out of their busy schedule to fix us dinner.  We visited at their time share where they took us around to see the sites.  They have one very large pool with a current running through...you just sit on a tube and let the tube take you leisurely through the lush green vegetation. 

As much as Ken and I enjoy rving, we realized we really miss some of those "little luxuries" of those nicer resorts.  Think it might be time to plan another cruise!  Anyway, we had a wonderful visit and Bev put on quite a delicious spread for dinner!  They started for home by car a couple of days later and their last day was spent getting through the beginning of that amazing blizzard hitting not just the northeast, but a large portion of the country.  I'm happy to report that after a very tense day on the highway, they are safe and sound back on Cape Cod.

The second nice thing is the weather has finally begun to warm up (just in time for me to get on a plane for home to help Peter and Lindsay move). We had a couple of very nice days where we spent an hour or so by the pool (didn't want to get sunburned and come home all peeling!) and then out just cruising around Kissimmee. We would have the air conditioning on during the day, but still had to turn that heater on at night.  But now, finally, the windows are open at night and we still use the AC to keep us cool.  I was really wondering if I would see any warm weather this year!

We've done a lot of window shopping at malls during this trip.  We've noticed the economy has really affected these malls with many store closings.  You feel like you're in a ghost town.  But the worst was here in Orlando.  We visited the Festival Bay Mall which advertised over 40 retailers as well as 15 restaurants.  We walked through the entire mall and less than 10% of the stores were occupied and the only restaurants left were in the Food Court.  It was really depressing.  However, we then went a couple miles down the road and came upon the Millenia Mall with anchor stores like Macy's, Bloomingdales and Neiman Marcus.  The place was jumping!  Most of the stores (Coach, Ferragamo, Luis Vitton, Rolex) were way out of my price range, but there were a lot of people walking around with shopping bags.  Go figure???

We visited Old Town, just down the street from where we were staying, where they were having a Corvette show with hundreds of beautiful, restored cars!  Lots of little shops and small restaurants.  A lot of kiddie rides as well as those things that swing people on a pendulum and up in the air on a big "elastic"!!  Ken said it was where the people who couldn't afford it brought their kids, telling them it was Disney World. 

We've spent a lot of time in the Orlando area as our membership park, Thousand Trails, is here.  We're waiting to enjoy Disney World again when we can share it with our grandkids (maybe next year, Jen?)  And since Ken isn't quite ready for any golf, we're laying low for awhile.  There is something to be said for "relaxing" with nothing to do!

I wanted to include this picture.  I think the owners of this rv really take their television seriously!!