Joan on the Road...of Life

We were fixin' to leave Kissimmee but woke to find we would be headed into serious stormy weather...great for a song but not for driving and setting up camp. So we stayed another day :( and decided to make the most of it. We had lunch at Joanie's Diner where everyone knew everyone except us but we were made welcome. It's on Main St. in a nicely restored historic downtown.

We had a BLT, Patty Melt and homemade veggie soup for $9...diner pricing. Miss Joanie died a month ago at age 60 from cancer. Guess the black wreath on the door should have been a clue!

We then headed in search of a Goodwill store to replenish our books. For our long stay in Kissimmee I managed to get a library card but now we're back to searching. We found the second store on the list where they had a really good sale so $5 and 25 books later we headed home. That should keep us going for awhile.

Today it is 87 degrees here so for the first time we've turned on the AC. I think we're getting out of Dodge just in time!

Posted by Joan at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You know what that sounds like...a truck backing up. This morning we awoke to that noise at 6:30 right outside our window. Seems the campground is reconstructing some sites so yesterday they took down a huge tree and today started the grading.

The crazy thing is that here we are in a really lovely site and we have heard beep, beep, beep every day from 7 - 5!! 200' to the east we have a rental condo property with a little lake being developed. They have chopped and burned trees (a great passtime in Floriday), graded the dirt, pumped out the pond to expand it and now are leveling off sites.

500' to the west is Highway 192 where they have a widening project going on. That brings us noise, clanking of dump trucks (have you ever heard the back bang down as they dump the dirt and move forward?!) and the smell of paving fumes. And every time we go out the traffic is stalled or the lanes have been moved.

So right now, on three sides, we are noise polluted. We could close up the coach, turn on the air and ignore it but the weather is so great that we don't want to do that.

One of the minuses of our life style is that we never know what we are getting into. One night in middle Illinois we were awakened by a freight train that sounded like it was going to run us over. We came in to the campground, parked and never saw the track hidden behind the fence and trees. We only stayed there one night!

One of the joys of our life style is that we never know what we are getting into...and on Saturday (we hope) we'll head for the unknown again!

Posted by Joan at 06:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We took a day trip to the Space Center because I hoped to see the shuttle Discovery on the launch pad...that's it behind me. The closest you get is a viewing pad that's right on the ocean about 3/4 mile from launch pad 39. Discovery is scheduled to launch May 22nd.

The astronauts come in from Houston a week before and do some training that includes emergency egress from the shuttle where they jump into baskets that are attached to cables leading from the gantry. They swing down the cables and run to an M13 tank parked near by for their getaway. Must be quite a ride!

The shuttle is between the gantry and the rockets. You can see a triangular corner of the tail. Wish we could have seen the whole thing.

There's a lot to see and do here so we tried to fit it all in after our two hour bus tour of the facility...because the price of admission...$116 for two. So when we reached the Rocket Garden I opted to admire the rockets from a shady seat while Jim explored and played.

We closed out the day viewing an IMAX film, The Dream is Alive. This 40 minute film was shot by the astronauts on various missions. It shows a few launches and lots of activities in the shuttle, space walks and many views of earth from space. It was an awesome climax to the day because we realized that this was not a movie set but actual space travel and some of the stars died in pursuit of new horizons. I can't even imagine the courage it takes to be one of these space heros and heroines.

Posted by Joan at 07:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Woohoo...Yeah...Yippee!!! We are celeBRATing tonight! Two weeks after surgery, Jim's doc said he's free to go, no 6 week checkup. Actually we think the doc just wants to get rid of him because he asks too many questions. How many patients go into the doctor's office with a 3-ring binder filled with Internet research and pages of questions to be answered. The doctor's literature stated that they encouraged patient involvement in the treatment. Little did they know that they were getting the patient from hell in Jim.

We are so excited...we broke down and had a light libation and a campfire in our little chimenea. So we are ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Posted by Joan at 06:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just off Main Street in historic downtown Kissimmee is the Monument of States, built in 1943. It is 50 feet high and contains stones collected by a local physician and his wife in their 350,000 miles of driving trips. Dr. Bressler-Pettis conceived the idea, designed the monument and sculpted the 6 ft. eagle perched on the top. It was funded and built by local citizenry and promotes and honors tourism.

Here's what it looks like close up...

It contains 1500 stones from all 50 states and 22 foreign countries. Just another of those "funky" roadside bits of Americana.

Posted by Joan at 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another hurdle overcome, another stone in the road crushed! Jim is home from the hospital after surgery for bladder tumor which, although cancer, was contained to the bladder and will require no further treatment except checkups. We are incredibly relieved and feel so lucky. We've had just about enough of this tumor stuff! In a few weeks we'll be back on the road and will have our schedule of doctors to check in with periodically.

We would say that the doctors and staff at Florida Hospital Orlando are very good. The facilities seem top drawer and the urology practice we saw seemed very competent and experienced.

Enough. Now we'll do a bit of sightseeing here in central Florida and enjoy the lovely weather. Bet we'll get out of here just before the heat hits.

Posted by Joan at 05:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Check out the patient, on the phone with admirer's. Jim is in the hospital for a few days for surgery which went fine. Now we wait for test results. Looks like we'll continue to enjoy Florida weather for another few weeks.

Posted by Joan at 04:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)