So Billy and Kristin arrived on Wednesday afternoon. After snacks and drinks at the moho we went to Margaritaville for dinner and found John Frinzi playing. It was great seeing John again, although a cold front had come through and that Florida boy was bundled up to a comical degree on that stage.
The weather got better the next day and for the rest of the weekend, and while it wasn't float-in-water warm, the sun kept shining and all we needed were light hoodies in the morning and evening.
On Thursday we got an early start and spent the day at Universal. We made a beeline for the Harry Potter experience and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. It is set up as several streets exactly like the books/movies.
There are magic wand shops, owls, little stands where butterbeer is sold and of course...Hogwarts in all its glory. Absolutely amazing. Which brings us to the Harry Potter Experience ride...hoo boy. Now, I'm not a roller coaster fan, or a fan of any kind of ride much wilder than a merry-go-round. Kristin wisely opted out of this one but I really wanted to go for the whole experience so I dutifully waited in line with the boys and got the whole experience. I will say that once it was over and I stopped shaking, I was glad that I had done it. But would I do it again, knowing what it's like? That would be a hell no! It's actually an incredible ride - it puts the rider in a game of Quidditch, flying through the air, spinning, dipping, rising and dropping, going incredibly fast...sensory overload in a way that I've never experienced before. I barely survived it. Of course, both guys loved it. So anyone thinking about it, be forewarned. But if you like really wild rides you won't be disappointed.
After recovering from that we spent the rest of the day pretty much doing everything Universal offers, which is a lot. Kristin and I stayed off the rest of the wild rides but the guys did them all. We finished the day with a not-so-traditional "Friendsgiving" dinner at Bob Marley's restaurant which was fabulous.
Friday was Epcot, which everyone knows is Kristin's happy place. She was twirling around with joy from the minute we got there and she was a great tour guide. We made the round of all the countries and a few of the rides and stayed till the night was over to see the fireworks show, which was the best I've ever seen. After a great dinner in Morocco with a belly dancer as entertainment, it was time to leave...really, Kristin!
Saturday was a chill-out day. We learned that a musician known as Captain Josh would be playing at the poolside patio at our RV park so we decided to head over there in the afternoon. Turns out Captain Josh is from Key West, has played at Meeting of the Minds and will be at Music on the Bay in February so we quickly realized that he was one of ours. Although we'd never seen him before, we all became new fans. He did a great show, with some trop-rock but all kinds of music and he threw out music trivia questions throughout the afternoon. A couple of times he offered up CDs as prizes and yep, we came home with two of them, thanks to Bill the Trivia Master! It was a great day.
Sunday, sadly the Bears lost and Billy and Kristin had to leave. It was a great weekend and we were all sad to see it end. Until next time!
We left Orlando on Tuesday morning, for the two day drive to Red Bay AL. The Tiffin plant is located in Red Bay, Tiffin being the maker of our motorhome. Red Bay is sort of the Mecca of all Tiffin owners - eventually we all make a pilgrimage here. Tiffin as a company has an excellent reputation, and back when we decided to look for a motorhome, Tiffin was our choice. Since RVs are much like boats - things go wrong with them - we had acquired a laundry list of issues to be addressed and Red Bay is the best place to get them all taken care of. Since we bought our moho gently used, we also want to have them check to see that all recalls and maintenance issues had been taken care of.
We arrived yesterday and are at Camp Red Bay. It's a pretty basic, no frills campground but we do have full hook-ups. The downside is that the service is first-come, first-served with no appointments. So upon arriving, we checked in and then met with a tech to go over all the things we wanted done and/or checked. We will probably be here at least 2 weeks before everything gets done. The bigger downside is that the weather is about to turn foul here - we will be seeing 40s and possibly even overnight 30s in the next few days. And this is one time that we can't make good on our plan to head south whenever we have to put socks on, so bummer. Hopefully next week will be better. In any case, we're stuck here for a while so we'll just have to find something fun to do in the area while we're waiting. In any case, we'll be flying to Seattle to spend Christmas with the family and then Atlanta to visit my brother and nephew so if we end up having to leave the moho here for a while it's a good time to do that.
We are looking forward to January, when we'll be able to head back to someplace warm!
The weather got better the next day and for the rest of the weekend, and while it wasn't float-in-water warm, the sun kept shining and all we needed were light hoodies in the morning and evening.
On Thursday we got an early start and spent the day at Universal. We made a beeline for the Harry Potter experience and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. It is set up as several streets exactly like the books/movies.
There are magic wand shops, owls, little stands where butterbeer is sold and of course...Hogwarts in all its glory. Absolutely amazing. Which brings us to the Harry Potter Experience ride...hoo boy. Now, I'm not a roller coaster fan, or a fan of any kind of ride much wilder than a merry-go-round. Kristin wisely opted out of this one but I really wanted to go for the whole experience so I dutifully waited in line with the boys and got the whole experience. I will say that once it was over and I stopped shaking, I was glad that I had done it. But would I do it again, knowing what it's like? That would be a hell no! It's actually an incredible ride - it puts the rider in a game of Quidditch, flying through the air, spinning, dipping, rising and dropping, going incredibly fast...sensory overload in a way that I've never experienced before. I barely survived it. Of course, both guys loved it. So anyone thinking about it, be forewarned. But if you like really wild rides you won't be disappointed.After recovering from that we spent the rest of the day pretty much doing everything Universal offers, which is a lot. Kristin and I stayed off the rest of the wild rides but the guys did them all. We finished the day with a not-so-traditional "Friendsgiving" dinner at Bob Marley's restaurant which was fabulous.
Friday was Epcot, which everyone knows is Kristin's happy place. She was twirling around with joy from the minute we got there and she was a great tour guide. We made the round of all the countries and a few of the rides and stayed till the night was over to see the fireworks show, which was the best I've ever seen. After a great dinner in Morocco with a belly dancer as entertainment, it was time to leave...really, Kristin!
Saturday was a chill-out day. We learned that a musician known as Captain Josh would be playing at the poolside patio at our RV park so we decided to head over there in the afternoon. Turns out Captain Josh is from Key West, has played at Meeting of the Minds and will be at Music on the Bay in February so we quickly realized that he was one of ours. Although we'd never seen him before, we all became new fans. He did a great show, with some trop-rock but all kinds of music and he threw out music trivia questions throughout the afternoon. A couple of times he offered up CDs as prizes and yep, we came home with two of them, thanks to Bill the Trivia Master! It was a great day.
Sunday, sadly the Bears lost and Billy and Kristin had to leave. It was a great weekend and we were all sad to see it end. Until next time!
We left Orlando on Tuesday morning, for the two day drive to Red Bay AL. The Tiffin plant is located in Red Bay, Tiffin being the maker of our motorhome. Red Bay is sort of the Mecca of all Tiffin owners - eventually we all make a pilgrimage here. Tiffin as a company has an excellent reputation, and back when we decided to look for a motorhome, Tiffin was our choice. Since RVs are much like boats - things go wrong with them - we had acquired a laundry list of issues to be addressed and Red Bay is the best place to get them all taken care of. Since we bought our moho gently used, we also want to have them check to see that all recalls and maintenance issues had been taken care of.
We arrived yesterday and are at Camp Red Bay. It's a pretty basic, no frills campground but we do have full hook-ups. The downside is that the service is first-come, first-served with no appointments. So upon arriving, we checked in and then met with a tech to go over all the things we wanted done and/or checked. We will probably be here at least 2 weeks before everything gets done. The bigger downside is that the weather is about to turn foul here - we will be seeing 40s and possibly even overnight 30s in the next few days. And this is one time that we can't make good on our plan to head south whenever we have to put socks on, so bummer. Hopefully next week will be better. In any case, we're stuck here for a while so we'll just have to find something fun to do in the area while we're waiting. In any case, we'll be flying to Seattle to spend Christmas with the family and then Atlanta to visit my brother and nephew so if we end up having to leave the moho here for a while it's a good time to do that.
We are looking forward to January, when we'll be able to head back to someplace warm!
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