Whirlwind

This week we have been busy tying up all the endless details encountered when a loved one dies. We had a nice memorial service Tuesday afternoon at the clubhouse in the park my Mom and Dad used to live in. They still own a double wide there and are renting it to the gal who works in the office of the park. She is a very nice lady and all we had to do was call her and she set up the details for the memorial and even arranged for volunteers to make coffee, tea and cookies for all of us. Rudee made up 3 boards with pictures of my Dad and the rest of the family to display.

My brother picked up the rental truck Tuesday evening and Rudee and I began loading it. We packed up everything except the things my Mom would need for her last night in Florida. We made it back to the 5th wheel around 9pm and went straight to bed.

Wednesday we were up early and headed to Mother's apartment. She was still in the cafeteria finishing breakfast when we arrived so Rudee striped her bed and began washing the bedding while I took the bed apart. We carried the bed, chair, and the few boxes of clothes left from last night out to the truck. Jon and Cherie' arrived and we all headed to Barb's Restaurant for one last lunch at their favorite restaurant. My parents loved going to Barb's. They had a regular group that would meet for lunch on Wednesdays and dinner on Fridays. My parents didn't go very often in these last few months since he really didn't feel like it but my Mom sure enjoyed it today. She even got serenaded by one of the waitress'. We said our goodbyes to my Mom, Jon and Cherie' in the parking lot and they began their trip north. We stopped at a farmers market on the way home and picked up some grapes, strawberries, bananas, and 2 green tomatoes. We just hung out under the awning most of the afternoon. We both needed that!

Rudee had picked us out a nice steak at the grocery store so I got the grille out and cooked the steak while she made us some fried green tomatoes.

Thursday we decided to take a day off and we headed for Disney World. We had our choice of parks and decided on "Hollywood Studios Theme Park". The park opened at 9am and we arrived around 9:30. Traffic was a lot lighter than I expected and the parking lot was fairly empty. I guess the recession is alive and well here in Central Florida. We zoomed right in and there was hardly any line on any of the attractions we went into all day. The crowds did pick up some after noon but still a lot less than what I remember from years past. We stayed all day and enjoyed ourselves. I even rode the "rockin rollercoaster". That thing is like being shot out of a cannon and then it goes upside down several times. Pretty cool! We also saw several of their shows and "street parades". It was dark when we left around 7pm and made the 1 hour drive back to the 5th wheel. We were both tired and ready for bed when we got back. I didn't take the camera to Disney since we were planning to ride some rides and didn't want to take the chance of losing or damaging it. I did get a nice picture of the sunrise from under our awning here at Grove Ridge RV Park.

We still have some loose ends of my Dad's to tie up here but have most everything taken care of. We plan on visiting with some friends we have that live down here. Wayne Abdul works with Rudee and transferred down here a few years ago, he has invited us to his house for dinner Friday evening. Dave Myers and I were on the Sheriff's Dept. together and he has since retired and lives North of Orlando. We have been corresponding by email and will try and get together Sunday. The weather has been nice here and we hope to do some motorcycle riding in the days to come. I'll keep you posted.