More Busch Gardens and friends

Thursday, Jan. 28.



when we stopped to get our parking ticket, free, since we are pass port members. for a year. We noticed that the car ahead of us was from Indiana. We parked in the same area and it was Joe and Rachel from Hoosier Cruisers. Muncie, IN. The lady is red is Joe's sister and her husband. Off to the sky ride and over to Stanleville Theatre.


Where Tommy Dorsey Band conducted by Buddy Morrow played at 11:30. the person in the white jacket is Buddy and we were not sure he was going to get out front and to his stool. Using a cane and somewhat frail. He did not play his trombone. But the band was excellent and the singer was Nick ???? and he was also good. Maybe 5 of them might be under 50 years of age. the rest in their 60's or older. Maybe. the only one that might have dyed hair or a toupee was the singer. He hair, thick and so very black. And he looked young compared to the rest of the band. The piano and bass player also seemed young. I know, everybody is getting to be younger than me.

The sky ride gondolas. I enjoy this, but hold on tight to the rail. it is neat to see the grounds from this view.

How about the horns on these animals.

If you look closely you can see an elephant in the background. Right in front of that roof. Their enclosure is larger than I thought. They can walk around the stone wall and get onto the sand and water. There is a wall in the water so they cannot go clear across. Now, the tigers are the ones with limited ground space.

Did we tell you that Anheuser Busch sold out the park to an amusement company? and so the Clydesdale Horses are gone. Home to St. Louis, said the keeper. And that barn has now been changed into a

"pet show place" And today we saw this camel. You could pat his nose.

All things associated with Busch Beer is gone. It is now just Busch Gardens. No more free beer. or Busch products.




We stopped a the grocery on the way home. Need to check supplies before going to the rally next week. Ernie just added salt to our water softener. The water here at this park is good. We use the water softener to protect our tanks as sometimes the water is not soft. They have been working on the Rec building. May not have running water, but we can go play BINGO tonight. Whoopee!!! Talk to you later. jkc

Party Time & Bush Gardens

Sunday, January 24, 2010: Our 51st wedding anniversary. We spent the day at Busch Gardens. We had lunch at the Smoke House. We split a combo dinner. Consisting of ribs, brisket and chicken. French Fries and a drink. Plus, with our Passport Silver Card we got

a free dessert. The last show we saw that day were the Rock A Doo Wop singers. Singing and dancing to Classic favorites. a good group. That day there were several toddlers on the front row. Two of which were trying to dance to the music. Two couples had 7 children under the age of 4 with them. Multi-racial children. We wondered the circumstances, but did not ask. Just enjoyed watching the children.
Critter Castaways. Various animals do tricks to help the castaways get along on their island. Many of the animals are from shelters. A fun show to watch. Birds flying here and there. A rat, pig, porcupine, dogs and cats, duck. you name it and it was probably there.

The Garden Aviary is an interesting spot. Many pretty birds. And they will sit on your hand and to drink the special nectar that you can buy for 10 cents or a quarter. the children were fascinated and some a little timid about having birds that close. One little girl had a bird on her head and did not realize it until her daddy showed her a picture of the bird.

don't know this person.

These girls were not sure of the birds, but wanted to feed them.

this is an anteater. He was pacing around the enclosure. Odd looking.

and this rhino came out just for us. Or so it seemed. He hid behind a post for a few minutes and then came out so we could get his picture. He is orange looking as the dirt is a red dirt and they roll in the dirt. the Elephants also looked brownish from blowing the dust on their backs.

and the alligators. Being lazy in the sun. Did you know that alligators eat very little from November until April? They do not hibernate, they must have some water every day or so. Get in the water. And then in April they will start eating many things. What ever they can catch in the water. I wondered why you could get close to them when we were near the Everglades. They just lay in the sun. No, we did not get too close, but did walk by them. (a few years ago)

Rem. And her 80th surprise birthday party. She was completely surprised. We had a good time and met more RVing women. The park where they were located is all women. Men must leave by 7 pm. A beautiful park owned by the people that have lots there. Some with park models, some with "garages" for your RV and just some cement pads for those passing by. this was on Saturday the 23rd. Rem drives the RV part time. Judy, more of the time. We met them in Texas about 10 years ago. And found out that they are Hoosier Cruisers.

Sunday, while at Busch Gardens we also saw the Dance group again. We take our time at the Gardens and enjoy people watching. And usually find someone from Indiana.

Monday, I was going to wash. so nice to finally learn how to use the machine in the coach. But this day it was not working properly. It would take on water, but would not agitate. It is a front loading machine, small, but I have gotten to like it. Well, we went down to Camping World and found out that they charge $209, just to LOOK at it. Then comes deciding what is wrong, parts and labor. We said we would think about it. so in the afternoon we went over to Dick and Connie's and played some Joker. Boys 3 Girls 2.

Tuesday, I went to the laundry mat about 5 miles away. The campground laundry has been closed due to a broken pipe during the freeze two weeks ago. The rec room reopened today.

Did bring some of the clothes home to hang out on the line. Last night it got cold. (for Florida)

And we had our little heater going during the night. We close the door to the living room and the heater keeps it just warm enough.

Wednesday, we did our usual flea market run at Plant City. Found some silver this trip. Stopped and got a sandwich and then on to Parksdale. Since they are not serving parfaits we took a throw away bowl with us and split the strawberry sundae. No tangerines today, but did buy some sweet Dunlap grapefruit. Bought some sweet strawberry onions at the flea market and some tomatoes. The price has gone up on some of the fruits and veggies. Checked out a couple other places on the way home, but no luck on info for the washer. Next week we go to Brooksville for a South Eastern rally and will check with the vendors there to see what they have to say and sell. Splendide is the name of the washer/dryer combo that is in many RV's.

I really should write here every day as I get behind and do not remember all that I might say.

so for now, I have run out of steam. Hope you had a good day. jkc

Busch Gardens 2010

DOUBLE CLICK ON PICTURES FOR A LARGER VIEW. AND BACK ARROW RETURNS IT TO BLOG.

Terry Myers Orchestra and the Swing Sisters now playing at Busch Gardens. We saw them last year and they play the good old band/dance music. But they said they would play "Sing:Sing:Sing" in the 1 pm gig. Darn. the drummer is really good and I like watching and listening to him. We had a good day there, starting with the concert.




Now these chicken legs/feet were at the SweetBay grocery. How do you fix chicken legs? $1.95 a lb. or for the package. They also had goat steaks, pigs stomach, and salted pork feet. Yum! Yum! We do look at the various products in stores where ever we go, interesting items do appear.





More of the beautiful flowers. There were a lot of brown leaves from the freeze we had last week. The park employees were working all over to clean up the dead leaves on the ground.

This pictures does not really show how orange the flamingos are this year. Yesterday, Friday, there were two sandhill cranes in front of our coach. Just walking around and digging in the soft sandy soil with their beaks. We had a hard rain the night before and so it made easy digging. I got some pictures with my new phone. Will need to learn how to transfer them to the computer so I can put them on the blog. We got up early one morning in Arizona to see the cranes take off from there habitat to go feed. And missed them. So it was great to see them this close. We did see them in AZ during the day fly over our campground.

This group is "Lets Dance" featuring "Burn the Floor" 25 min. show Direct from Broadway-International Dance Superstars. Singers, Dancers, and Rock A Doo Wop Band. Fast and fun. And hard work for the dancers. Lots of costume changes for a pretty and fun show.

The "Swing Sisters" Their style is like the "Andrew Sisters" Talented and enjoyable.

The Busch Garden Train. Takes about 40 minutes to take a ride around the garden. You get to see more of the animals. sometimes up close.

Like these Giraffes. so neat to see. These animals seem to have more room to roam. The elephants and cats (tigers) seem to have a more closed in space and that makes me a little sad.

Elephants! These gentle giants. All are over 25 years old. two are in their 40's. It is interesting to be there when the keepers are there as they talk about the animals. Did you know alligators eat very little if anything from November to April?

then they eat a lot!
.

Not sure how to delete a second picture so we may just leave it in.

Dick and Connie from Roscoe, Illinois.

We met them in Galveston, TX. about 10 years ago. We catch up with each other about every year or so. They called to say they were in the area.

Wednesday we took them to the Plant City flea market and then of course to Parksdale for strawberries. They would not put on the crowns or hold the huge fake sundae. But that is ok. While there a couple came up to Dick and said "don't you live in Rosco? surprise! You never know who you will meet out on the road. then we went to Lazy Days RV Dealer for a free lunch. Chicken fajita salad and a soda. Good salad.

We drove around to see several RV parks. They may stay in the area for awhile. They called Friday to come over and play "Joker" a game like Sorry or Aggravation. Girls 1 and fellows 1. Will have to get together again to see who wins. Also went out to TGFridays for supper. Got there before the crowd. It is located near the South Florida Campus

Tuesday we drove to Zepherhills to visit with Indiana friends. Joe and Rachel know Linda and Austin. Linda and Austin are two doors down from us and have a home in Muncie

But last week when we left the Tampa Super RV show we had a problem with the car. The low water light came on. Ernie and Austin worked on the car for two days. Changed a hose, twice and still had problems. Mon. am Ernie took the car to a small repair shop and came home with a new water pump. The shop has been in business a short time. The young man and his Dad are running it. Talking with him Ernie thought him honest and reputable. Not out to take all your money. He was recommended by a neighbor. So we now know where to take any car problems.

Time to take a walk. Today, Saturday, we are to go to a surprise birthday party for a lady that will be 80. drives a big RV. Just bought a new one. Special friends.

See you later. jkc

Tampa RV show ll

The rest of the story. This is "Willy and Company" The far left is "Willy," then his "Mom" Peggy; "Granny" and

Dad, Bill. We have seen Willy many times and have had conversations with him. You know that it is Peggy doing the talking, but you find yourself looking at him. Granny is funny. they are sponsored by Freightliner Chassis Organization and in the last year they have another sponser, Abbott Farms. Willy sings and catches all that is going on in the audience. Peggy is so good you just do not realize she is the voice. And two at one time.

This is just Willy and Peggy. You can see the sponsors names. they put on a good show.

Not much else. Ernie just called his brother. He had been at Shenandoah High School today for a Rotary meeting. One of the men at his table, just happened to be one of Ernies friends from Delco. They have known each other for over 50 years.

Have a good day. jkc

Tampa Super RV Show

Fellow Hoosier Cruisers, Rick and Sandy. Their first trip to this show. It seemed larger than last year to us.

I had on my Frcightliner Club shirt and sat a few minutes with Pat at the Freightliner Trailer.
Part of the crowd at the RV show. Many people there. We wondered if many were buying. All types of campers available. We did not buy
anything. Oh, yes, I did get a 13 week subscription to the Tampa newspaper. for $12.97. Full seven day delivery. nice--I miss the paper.
Snowbird special! There were 1100 RV's there and over 350 supporting companies. (Vendors)

There are several "acts" that parade around the midway. The RV show is held at the Florida State Fair Grounds. This act also had a cowboy on stilts/ He had a lasso that he would twirl around. Her "covered wagon" is motorized. Looks like the armadillo is pulling her.

Not quite Donald Duck, but the children liked him anyway.

This group of Bagpiper's would march around and in and out of the vendor buildings.

These gals, Rem and Judy, Hoosier Cruisers friends and their latest RV. We enjoy these two and have a good time visiting with them.

We spent two days at the show. Then on Friday we went to Busch Gardens. To see Les Brown and His band of Renown. Only it is Les Brown Jr. Good music. May be old fashioned to the young people of today. But it is good dance music and easy listening. We also took the Rhino ride again. fun to watch the people and their reactions.

the Elephants were eating, we missed their trainer feeding them. One of the elephants can count.

For some reason we were tired Friday night. Slept the night with out waking once.

Saturday, well, that was another day. supposed to be a relaxing day. Then, well, tell you later.

We are fine, the car is not. Sunday I went to church. A small Methodist Church. about 2 miles away. I enjoy. We made a Wall Mart Run in the afternoon. Somehow, I messed this post up and deleted two pictures. so will close this one and Ernie will fix my mistake with another post.

see you later. jkc

this and that

Oh! My! it has been more than 10 days since I have written on the blog. Last time we had pictures of the water and ice on the strawberries. The cold did not let up, the farmers did not let up spraying water on their crops and the wells (some) have gone dry and now there are 10 sink holes in this area. One on I-4 East of I 75. Had traffic backed up for 10 miles. Well, they think there is a sink hole there, as the road had sunk a bit. They had a heavy dump truck (an old one) drive across the next lane, and it sunk a little. no hole yet, but they will not let traffic on it until they can be sure there is not a hole under the dip. One sink hole big enough to lower a tree 50 feet and another had a house in it.
The sun was out today and it did get to 59 here. Warm enough that I hung a load of clothes out to dry. I am using the coach washing machine more this year. Maybe I have finally found out how to use it. I thought it should start filling with water as soon as I shut the door. No it does not. But I have found out if I have everything done, shut the door and walk away, it will start sooner or later. Nice, not to walk over to the laundry mat to do wash.

The Tampa super RV show starts this week. We will go and see what we are missing by not buying a new RV. We are not planning on that. But it is fun to see the new models and see what the venders have to sell.

Someone left an old aluminum chair at the dumpster here at the park. I saw it and brought it home. In good shape, except for the webbing. We have one, and leave it out, but needed another one. (we do have nicer chairs with us, but these are great to leave out) so, we needed some webbing. We have some at home. To the flea market! How many chairs do you need redone? Nice bright red webbing. We have maybe $3 in the chair. As Ernie bought some washers to use when he put the screws back. We also got some rubber cane tips to put on the bottom of the legs. hey.! New chair! Nothing cheap about us!!!!!

And is it flee market or flea market????
Some flea markets I think may really have some fleas, or something. But we still go.
We made several stops today while we were out. To the Wal-Green store and got our H1N1 flu shots. Wally World, Sub Way, a different Wal-Green, I remembered the coupon for cough drops. Saved two dollars and the store was on the way home. and then a Publix Grocery store.
We bought some cranberry, walnut bread. It is delicious. We each ate a piece on the way home. Oh, yes, we stopped and got gas. And last Friday we took the RV out to go get more propane. We heat, cook and have hot water with propane. that was a drive of less than 10 miles and saved us more than $20 by not having the truck come to us.

Does this writing sound like we are frugal? Thrifty? or something? Our friends know all the fast food places that have special days and when to go. We have fun and that is what it is all about.
Enjoy life!!! See you. jkc

A day at the market

I am sure you have read about the spraying water on strawberries when the weather gets to 32 degrees. Well, here they are doing so. You can just barely see a rainbow in this picture. It was after 8 am and they spray the fields until the sun is warming. This is also done to the fruit trees. You can see the ice on the weeds and the moss hanging from the trees.

(click on the pictures and they should enlarge.) We saw several fields where they were spraying and a fruit grove where the trees had ice hanging from the branches.

Interesting

The cities have asked residents to turn off their water pumps during the night. The farmers pump over 1500 gallons / well ( 15 wells on one farm ) a minute over their fields. 8,000 acres of berries. So a lot of water being used. Did not want wells

to go dry during the night. Some berry fields have sweet onions growing at the edge of the fields. They are sweet and good.

We dressed for the day. Digging out our winter coats and my "long jons" to wear under my jeans. Most every one had on gloves and little children were wrapped in fleece blankets their parents had bought from one of the vendors.

The Flea Market!!! Mowers and generators here. it was cold this am and not the usual amount of vendors.

many Spanish speaking vendors and persons buying. Interesting to see. Do not know if they are all Mexican, Cuban or where they are from. And excuse me if I am mixed up on which Nationalities speak Spanish.

STUFF! What ever you want you can find. Almost. One vendor had Cd's for sale. With a sign, "If you do not like nudity, don't look!" And I do not remember seeing these before.

Pipes. Not the gentleman pipes with real tobacco. But water pipes and other paraphernalia that goes with the water pipes. some are quite pretty.

This couple is from Blufton, Indiana.

They have been coming down for several years. Sell dishes, pots and pans to tools, old and fairly new. How about a hog snout clipper? And you find a least one vendor that has a gadget that no one knows what it is.

and that white haired person in the blue coat is the back of me. I had red ear muffs on, but they are not showing

Fruits and vegetable vendors at various places thru out the market.

This man has hot peppers. you can buy a basket full of sweet peppers for $1.00. green, red and yellow, 3 for a dollar. Sometimes 4 for a dollar.

Here I am looking at red onions and tomatoes. Most things are one dollar.

pineapples two weeks ago were 2 for $3. A large compact head of cabbage, $1. nice and crisp.

need a vacuum cleaner? he has them. There are a few vendors selling packaged food and one had a traveling hot dog stand. Usually the only thing I buy at flea markets is fresh kettle corn. (food to eat at the moment.) Also depends on the flea market. There is usually someone on a golf cart going thru the crowds, selling drinks and snacks. I noticed that it was the vendors that usually bought from them. We did find two pieces of silver. slim pickings for silver at this market. One man did have a complete 4 piece place setting for 8. with 2 serving spoons. Nice box. Rogers

Wanted $75. We left it there. it wasn't on our list of highly collectible. Don't know if we would spend that much anyway. At least not all at once.

Home to a crock pot of soup. haven't hit the good flavor I usually have, but it was hot and ready to eat. Time to spell check and have Ernie proof read this so it can be posted. See you jkc