Daily Musings

A day on the East Coast

A day on the East Coast, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

Our vacation has begun.

We left early Saturday and had a nice drive through Vermont and New Hampshire stopping in North Conway to check out the sites before moving on. North Conway is heralded by many as a shopping mecca so we thought we would be remiss to not stop. We visited a few shops but really weren't inspired so we took a train ride instead on the Conway Scenic Railway. We rode on the Gertrude Emma, which is a first class pullman parlor and observation car built in 1898. It was an enjoyable ride although not as scenic as we had expected.

Station, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

Caboose, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

We stayed in Waterville, Maine last night in what appeared to be the last of the available hotel rooms. Our first attempt at the Best Western failed when only one smoking room was left. It cost us more to stay where we did but there was no way we could have slept in a smoky room.

After a quick trip from Waterville (about 1.5 hours), we found a nice place to stay in Bar Harbor at the Bar Harbor Grand Hotel. We took a drive around part of the park today, checked out the Visitor's Centre and stopped at a few scenic places. We had lunch at the Jordan Pond House Restaurant - an historic area that dates to the 1800's. We enjoyed the infamous popovers with our meal of yummy Seafood Chowder and Lobster Stew.

Unfortunately, the weather has not cooperated today - it has been foggy and rainy leaving the visibility at almost zero. After a big rainstorm, we ventured out on the main street of Bar Harbor to check out the shops. We are very impressed by the quality of the stores and found some nice purchases.

Tomorrow we plan to do some hiking and biking - let's hope the weather cooperates.

Life is a Parade!

Villains on Parade, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

I was looking for something red to post for flickr's Scarlet Sunday group today and came across this photo from our Florida trip. Reminded me I had dropped my posts regarding our trip. We loved the parades at each of the Disney Parks and made a point of watching each one we could.

How many parades are there you ask. Well, here is a run down:

• Disney Dreams Come True (Magic Kingdom)
• Spectro Magic (Magic Kingdom)
• Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade (Animal Kingdom)
• Block Party Bash (Hollywood Studios)

The parades are great entertainment with music, dancing and spectacular floats. I was so busy trying to get photos of everything I didn't really get to appreciate the parades but I do get to relive them through the photos.

These are a few photos that I have managed to go through out of the hundreds that I took.

Gepetto & Friends, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene)

 
You have a friend in me, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene)

 
Jungle Mickey, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene)

 
Miss Minnie, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene)

 

Smiles, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene)

 

Spectro Magic, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

Monday Blues

Monday Blues, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene) back home and catching up.

Just a few short days ago we were walking along this beautiful beach in Florida. This is taken on the beach between Melbourne and Cocoa Beach on the Atlantic side. Beaches go on for miles and miles and miles along the Florida coast and from what I could see, they are all just as beautiful as this. This is my niece , Amanda, that I was vacationing with.

Today, I am heading back to work in the deep snow and freezing cold...

I will be by tonight to catch up on blogs and such that I have missed while we were away. Thanks so much for stopping by - have a wonderful day!

Wild & Free

Free, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene) back home and catching up.

We made it home today after a grueling drive in snowy conditions all the way from Ohio and through Ontario - ugghhh. We stopped for the night in Windsor and had a wonderful visit with Dan's brother and his wife.

Even with all the fun of Disney, my most favorite part of Florida is the wildlife. I wish we could have spent more time in nature. This is from our Swamp Boat tour on Lake Kissimmee. There is nothing like observing wildlife in its natural habitat.

I am starting to go through the thousands of photos we took and sort them out. I will be posting some of the better ones over the next few weeks.

So many memories...

Pluto, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene) vacationing in Florida.

We are well on our way home now and are spending the night in northern Tennessee. We clocked about 1000 kms today and have 800 to do tomorrow to get us to Windsor where we will visit with family before trekking back to Ottawa. We didn't stop and see any sights today - just a plain driving day. I have been going through some of our photos from the trip. So much fun was had by all!

This is Amanda and Josh with Pluto. Josh absolutely adores Pluto and he was so cute with him. He started out by giving him a big hug and then showing him his harness and asking where his leash was. He then proceeded to play some games with him - saying "Do what I do!". They played patti-cake, peek-a-boo and other games together before we had to move on.

Incidentally, the weather has been very cold for this area all the way from Florida to here. They have a weather advisory in Tennesee and have shut the schools down due to the cold. For those of us that are more accustomed to cold -7ºC hardly seems reason to panic but if you aren't used to it or equipped for it, it is mighty cold.

Florida Sunset

Florida Sunset, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene) vacationing in Florida.

Parting is such sweet sorrow. My mom, sister and family have left for the airport, we are all packed and ready to go. In a short time we will be on the road heading back to reality and the harsh cold of winter. We have had a wonderful time in Florida - I can't believe it took me this long to head down to the Sunshine State since we are relatively close. I am already making plans to come back next year, run the 1/2 marathon and see the things we weren't able to get to on this trip. It will have much more nature in the agenda than this trip did.

Between Dan & I, we have taken almost 3000 photos (maybe even more) capturing wonderful memories. Of course, there are duplicates and some duds in that big batch which I will be sorting through over the next few weeks. And I am sure we still have a few more memories to capture as we travel home. We are taking a different route back - we will travel the I-75 which takes us through Georgia, North Carolina, Tennesee, Kentucky, Ohio & Michigan.

It is a good day to leave - there is a cold front moving in and they actually have a weather advisory for this area which wind chill factors and a warning to wear a hat and gloves if you MUST go out. Makes me laugh considering the weather we are travelling back to.

Thanks for stopping by!

Swamp Tour

Croc!, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene) vacationing in Florida.

What an awesome day we had out in the swamp on Lake Kissimmee today. It was a 90 minute tour on an air boat. We saw quite a number of alligators - big and small - a few turtles and hundreds of birds of all types. It was heavenly!

Here is a photo of a large male alligator.

This is the air boat we went on with our captain.

And some of the birds we saw:

A partial list of the birds:

• Great Blue Heron
• Tri-coloured Heron
• Cattle Egret
• Great Egret
• Eagle
• Snail Kite (rare)
• Whooping Crane (rare)
• Limpkin
• Belted Kingfisher
• Sandhill Crane
• Turkey Vulture
• Red Tailed hawk
• Osprey
• Shallow-Tailed Kite
• American Coot
• White Ibis
• Anhinga

Tomorrow is our last day here. We plan on spending it at Universal Studios while Lora-Lee will take Joshua and Grandma to Magic Kingdom. We will miss this place - the house, the climate, the wildlife and the parks.

Ready to Soar

Ready to Soar, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene) vacationing in Florida.

I am very excited - this is my day today in Florida! We are going on a Swamp Tour in the headwaters of the Everglades. When I booked the tour yesterday, the woman told me we are guaranteed to see wildlife. Based on what we saw just driving on the bus tour of the Kennedy Space Center yesterday I am sure we won't be disappointed.

I was happy to see the birds around Disney - this is just a gull I spotted at Disney - not that they were hard to spot, they were everywhere. But this guy posed very nicely for me.

Stop by tonight - hopefully I will have some exciting nature photos to post!

Astronauts in training

Astronauts in training, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene) vacationing in Florida.

We spent the day at Kennedy Space Center today - it was cloudy and rainy so it was a good one to spend indoors. On our bus tour around the center we saw so much wildlife - wart hogs, alligators, armadillo, herons, egrets and more. I would have loved to be able to photograph them...

This is a photo of my brother-in-law Joe and nephew Josh.

Tomorrow we are going on a swamp tour - I am really looking forward to that!

IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth

IllumiNATION, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene) vacationing in Florida.

Another magical day at the park! It was Dan's birthday so it was his choice of how we spent the day. We started out at Downtown Disney in Virgin Records megastore and then headed over to Epcot. We had a fairly relaxing day at Epcot - had lunch in Mexico, dinner in the United Kingdom and dessert in America. We watched the lights and fireworks display from Morocco.

The only rides we did today were Mission Space (an amazing flight simulator and Test Track (a car test track with lots of speed). the day ended with this amazing show (IllumiNations - Reflections of Earth) in the middle of the lake at the International Showcase. The rest of the gang spent their day at the Magic Kingdom having another magical day!

Dan & I are Disneyed out - the kids could probably go for a few more days but we will take a day away from the amusement park and take a drive to Cape Canaveral. I really want to get to a nature park at Merritt Island near Cape Canaveral but not sure if that will happen or not.

(oh and the blisters have been miserable but they are feeling much better today)