2011 Mardi Gras @ Solivita

......and I start Belly Dancing classes next week.

Sunny and 82 degrees

Solivita, is a gated 55 and over community. Right now there are about 2500 homes ranging from townhomes, duplexes and smaller units like ours to extravagant, high end homes, and they are still building. 

Towne Center is where all business offices are located, a fitness center, indoor and ourdoor pools, two restaurants, the golf clubhouse, a ballroom for big events and classrooms for workshops and entertainment.

On Mondays and Fridays there is a Farmers Market

And golf courses

The Palms is the other club house on the property complete with fitness center, pickle ball courts (I'll tell more about that later), pool and hot tubs.  We love the hot tubs!

We love the fact that there is lots of open space, plenty of water, and an abundance of blue sky.

I sometimes feel like I am on a cruise, sans the sit down impressive meals every day. What a life!!

167 Acadia Dr, Kissimmee,FL

Dream Big.....sometimes I still can't believe we are here.  Our home in Florida will be a work in progress but after months of painting, cleaning and furnishing, it feels like home. We have begun to have friends over and are focusing now on enjoying our time here and making the most of all that Solivita has to offer. The area is simply beautiful and we feel so incredibly blessed that we have the opportunity to be here.

ALASKA

Let's go back a little bit.  In July, we were fortunate enough to take an extended vacation to Alaska.  Starting with a Celebrity Cruise out of Vancouver we sailed for a week, visiting Ketchican, Juneau, Icy Straits Point and Skagway.  Beautiful country, amazing glaciers, wild countryside not like anything I have seen before. 

 In Icy Straits Point John rode the worlds’ longest zip line which went from over 3000 ft to sea level on a mile long ride in about 90 seconds!  The ship approached Hubbard Ice Field, looks small but the height of the ice is the length of a football field.  Below is a photo of Mendenhall Glacier. In Skagway we rode the steam engine railroad to the top of the mountain pass and enjoyed the spectacular views along the way.  

We disembarked and continued our trip on land with our friends, Rocky and Marrion, driving through Seward.  There we had a spectacular day on a tour boat through the Kenai National Wildlife Preserve, viewing abundant sea wildlife including humpback whales, puffins, a pod of orcas and sea otters.  It was an awesome day and became the highlight of our trip.  We saw and learned about sea life and glacier calving like never before.

Next we traveled to Homer where we came up close and personal with a large moose that was foraging through a neighborhood and who briefly posed for us. We ate local seafood on the Homer Spit, a low lying narrow strip that runs a few miles out into the bay. In Wasilla we took a sled dog ride and stayed in a beautiful Bed and Breakfast on the same lake that Sarah Palin lives on.

From there we drove to Denali where we spent the next 3 days.  In Denali we took a bus tour to Mirror Lake [a day long trip] where we saw Moose, caribou, bears, fox, marmot, wolves and Dahl sheep up close and personal. The scenery there was spectacular from the snows on Mt McKinley and surrounding peaks to the green, red, and golden hues in the varying landscapes.  

In Talkeetna  we stayed in an old Roadhouse and took a air tour of Mt McKinley.  Denali, as it is calaled by the locals, is as spectacular as they say it is and our pilot was incredible.

 The Roadhouse was, well an old roadhouse.  The beds were squeaky and bowed and the washroom and showers were down the hall, in view of the dining room!  But it was such a unique little inn it was one of the highlights of our trip.

It was an incredible trip with exceptional weather, good food, great times with friends and high adventure!

Turkeys and alligators and cranes, Oh my!

The wildlife in Solivita is a constant source of entertainment here.  Who knew??  And because of that I have started taking my camera with me whenever we go out.  The first surprise was a mama alligator in the pond at the entrance to our section with 15, count them 15 babies.  These 18" babies aren't going to be little for long.  We keep them at a distance.

However, it is not unusual to see a Sandhill crane outisde of out back porch.  They are beautiful and often put on a show as they dance and flirt with each other.  It is amazing how close you can get to these birds and they are completely unphased by cars, bicycles or golf carts.  They own the place, such a stately beautiful bird with a great big voice. 

The wild turkeys don't want us around at all.  I think they know that Thanksgiving is coming and we have heard that they really gather in Solivita around the holidays to escape the hunters. Several times we have seem them along the roadside, with the males sporting their beautiful plumage.  So far that picture has eluded me.

I am missing photos of the wild boar and deer.  They move so fast I can't get the shot and I really don't care to get close to a boar anyway. 

 And did I tell you about the deer that bolted across the road as we were walking Bud several days before Christmas.  I am sure that he had a red nose.  More photos to follow.......

Becoming 60

Becoming 60…..I recently realized that we do truly become like children as we grow older.  When you are little it is a big deal to celebrate a birthday, six is more wonderful than five and so on.   As we age, again we are talking about the numbers and the significance of those numbers.

Well I decided that this birthday was going to be special, I had survived for 60 years and I was going to celebrate as many times as I could.  And I did!  First was a dinner at the Grove Park Inn, celebrating not only my birthday but my “semi-retirement” which included a tour of the Gingerbread house competition.  Next was a family celebration during Thanksgiving, including carrot cake.  I love celebrating birthdays with my children!! 

Then we made the trip to Florida.  December 3rd arrived and as planned we were going out with Sandy and Jim.  They were "taking us out to celebrate".  A side trip to one of the club houses at Solivita revealed a room filled with friends who had traveled from Orlando and Tampa for a surprise party.  I had no clue... John really got me.  It was just wonderful to visit with friends that I had thought had no idea were aware of our big adventure.  The food was wonderful, carrot cake again (my favorie), framed photos of childhood pictures and birthday songs.  Spectacular!!

On December 5^th a seafood dinner out followed by a side trip to Celebration where they closed off one of the downtown streets and were cascading soap bubbles into the street, looked like snow to me.  Felt like Ashville only warmer.

So far 60 years old feels great, I am in great health and blessed to be on this adventure with John.  An elder friend of mine, years ago told me that her 60’s were her favorite years. She was a widow by that time, however her children were grown and the work was all done, just life to be lived and enjoyed.  Louise was in her 70’s by the time I met her and I am hoping to love my 60’s just as much as she did.

Reinventing Christmas

When we made the decision to winter in Florida John promised me that we would immerse ourselves in the sights and sounds of the holidays as only Orlando can provide, and he kept his promise and more.  As John knows, the holidays were going to be a challenge for me because I am not accustomed to being so far away from my family, but especially at holiday time.  And I just love the holidays and family and all that goes with it.

Well the festivities began with Christmas at Winter Park performed by the Winter Park Corale.  This was actually my favorite evening because it recreated one of our early dates, as we were just getting to know one another.    We topped it off with peppermint ice cream, just like we did 12 years ago.  Simply wonderful!!!  December was filled with musical performances, Methodist, Catholic and Episcopalian, each as wonderful as the last.  Ron, Diane and Faye joined us for several performances and loved them just as much as we did. 

We explored Solivita, watched a Golf Cart Christmas parade complete with Belly Dancers followed by a show put on by the community (just like being on a cruise), enjoyed the Christmas decorating competition sponsored by the community, and  went through a local drive through Nativity.  The Tuba Christmas Concert in Winter Park was their 48^th annual performance and was reminiscent of our early days together in Orlando followed by seafood at Bostons.   

Christmas day, after a holiday breakfast ,  we got ourselves together and drove over the Canaveral Nation seashore.  It was simply beautiful day, only the convertible could have made it more wonderful.  This area was new to me but a favorite of Johns and now I know why.  The day was warm with a slight breeze, the sky was a bright blue with blue, green water and light waves. A short walk was enough to give us the taste of the beach that we wanted.  Back in the car, we decided to drive to the end of the road to find the least populated beach.  As we walked the boardwalk, asked a woman to take our picture and enjoyed the views, John realized that we had discovered the nude beach, soooooo this became the “Christmas that Nana and Papa went to a nude beach”.  Oh my!!!!!!

Merry Christmas in Florida