Jo-Ann met our ladies for a pedicure this afternoon, while Bob and I hit the driving range and the chipping practice area. At 3 p.m. the two of us attended the Rick McCord Golf Academy at Orange Lake for a Calloway demonstration. We came away wishing we had attended last week and had scheduled a lesson afterwards. Oh well, maybe next year.
When the ladies had returned from their pedicure they played a game of Hand and Foot while waiting for us to return. We all then headed for Disney Springs.
First, the usual boat ride from the parking area over to The Landing. It wasn't exactly warm!
Disney Springs has changed a lot from previous years, including its name, formerly Downtown Disney.
Lots of new, high end stores.
As well as the old attractions, like the Rainforest Cafe.
And entertainment.....
where we filled in time until our 8 p.m. reservation at Raglan Road.
The entertainment and dancing tonight was the best we have seen, and we have probably visited here a dozen times or more.
We had the best seats ever. Front table, centre.
As usual, the young folks were given a chance to audition.
And this weird duck hung around the stage for a while.
All in all, a great evening spent with family and friends.
There was a noticeable security presence at Disney tonight. We saw two sniffer dogs and several other police standing around. I asked one of the dog handlers if they were looking for drugs and he said "no, but he is using his nose". I asked if I could take their picture and he said he would prefer not. Not sure what all was going on, and hopefully we won't read about any problems in the news!
Tomorrow is our last full day in Kissimmee. Mardi's cousin Jill will join the ladies in the morning for golf here on The Reserve, while Bob and I escape to play Sanctuary Ridge (Mardi and Lois don't like that course because it has a couple of holes that are very unfair for ladies, but it is a favourite for Bob and me). After golf, we mail Bob and Lois home and Jill will join us for our last night at Orange Lake.
Footnote: After initially publishing this post, I read that the Canadian Senate has voted to finally change the words in our national anthem to "in all of us command". This brings it closer to the original gender neutral words, and it also perhaps recognizes that singing "in all our sons command" we were ignoring the contributions of women in our war efforts. The Conservatives (my former party - I now have none to vote for) whined that they hadn't had a chance to speak on the issue (it's been hung up in the Senate for 18 months because of their foot dragging) and boycotted the vote. Shame!
Today, we played golf at Royal St. Cloud Golf Links. It was a chilly, blustery day - not the best time to play an open links type course.
Hoodies were the order of the day for the ladies.
The course was in excellent condition.
The #6 hole on the Blue nine is called "Church Pews" due to the grass knolls in the sand trap on the right.
I sent my ball to church and it got swallowed up by the grass on one of the mounds. From there it went into the junk on the right. Not a great result.
Bob and I were hitting our drives about 50 yards less than normal, into the wind. That was a real disadvantage on this par 5 dogleg right that circled the lake.
Mardi played well in front of a gallery.
Another dogleg right into the wind.
But, when the dust settled, Bud had sealed his second victory of the year. This could be a sign of things to come (or a fluke - take your choice).
Another quiet day. It had rained overnight and remained cloudy for most of the day.
We watched Jason Day win the golf tournament on the first hole (the sixth playoff hole - the other five were played last evening).
In the afternoon, Bob and I spent a couple of hours at the driving range and the chipping green. We played "games" - chip three balls each at a pin to see who gets closest - chip two balls to a pin and pick one of the balls and putt, counting a win only if you sink it - putt two balls and pick one and putt again. I was losing but reasonably competitive until Bob sunk two 50 footers in the last game and wiped me out.
The ladies had hoped to get a pedicure but couldn't get an appointment, so went shopping instead.
Jo-Ann joined us for dinner at Miller's Ale House and came back to Orange Lake for a game of Hand and Foot. She and I trounced Mardi and Lois.
Tomorrow we golf at Royal St. Cloud, a links type course.
Tomorrow is also the 16th birthday of the twins, Sarah-Jean and Ewen. This computer only has the pictures from this trip, so I will repeat a couple.
Warning: Use extreme caution when visiting the greenhouse this season - they'll be getting their driver's licenses soon. Good luck and best wishes twins!
The forecast for today was "bring umbrellas - it's going to rain". We were in no condition to golf again so rain would be welcome. Didn't happen until about 5 p.m.
There is more rain forecast overnight but tomorrow the sun should come out again. Bob and I will be hitting the driving range and the chipping practice area to see if we can regain our form - well, Bob wants to regain his form, my form isn't something to be too proud of right now.
The ladies spent a couple of hours at the Flea Market, while Bob and I spent the whole day in front of the TV. First, the European tournament at Dubai, then the LPGA in the Bahamas (Brooke Henderson came in ninth), and finally the PGA at Torrey Pines. After five playoff holes between Jason Day...
and Alex Noren a tie remains. They will resume in the morning.
Meanwhile, Jo-Ann came over and joined Mardi and Lois for games of Hand and Foot.
The shuffling included "smooshing" (per Jo-Ann)
and the automatic card shuffler.
And the games began.
At press time a winner had not been decided.
Not very exciting news but we were all needing physical (and mental in at least one case) therapy today.
One of our favourite courses down here has been Oakwood Golf in Lake Wales, particularly on Friday nights when they offer golf and a full course dinner for a bargain price. Last year it was closed while a new gas line was buried across the golf course. It reopened in November.
We wanted to play Oakwood to see if it had changed over the past two years. Not a bit - it's as if there was no interruption. Other than a couple of cart path repavings it's the same as ever.
Unfortunately, after having been closed for a year, they have had to go through having the kitchen and bar re-licensed. The bar is open but the kitchen has not. So Friday dinners are not being scheduled just yet. Hopefully, by the time the guys come down in March they'll be back on.
This is the par 3 third hole from the forward tees. The men's tees are farther to the left - 167 yards to the green, into a strong wind.
This is the scene from the tees on #6. Looks pretty benign.
But, if you go just one foot into the trees on your left, your ball falls off a cliff. And, when you get closer to the green you realize you may have issues.
To the right, you're blocked by the tree. And everything left of the tree ends up in the rocks or in the water.
Number 12 is a sharp dogleg left. This is your view for the second (or third) shot to a green that is severely tilted toward the water.
Finally, the view from the tee on the 18th. Slight dogleg to the left.
And the view for the second shot, looking at the clubhouse. Once again, fairly benign looking. What you can't see won't hurt you, right?
Not so.
Bob and I decided not to keep score today - after the golf Gods punished us for some unknown reason. Mardi and Lois had problems too, but they foolishly kept score. Two days in a row, in high winds, are apparently too much for our old bodies!
On the way out of the golf course, we saw an Osprey nest.
Bob and I took a turn providing dinner tonight - pizza and wings, bought on-site. Very good!
We have no plans for tomorrow or Monday yet - rain in the forecast. We'll play it by ear.
Today we played another very nice course, The Legends of Clermont. The Clermont area is very un-Florida in terms of being hilly and The Legends has some substantial elevation changes. It also has a few water features.
The weather was just a touch cool, mainly because of strong winds. And we often saw shots blown off course with unfortunate results.
I took pictures of four holes to demonstrate the terrain.
This is hole #5, a dramatic downhill that makes it appear that your tee shot will fall all the way to the water. The green is a left turn after the row of trees on the left and the water can come into play.
The hole on the other side of the water plays from left to right and features a dramatic uphill blind shot to the green which is behind the trees on the right.
This is the pretty par three #8. You must carry 157 yards from the whites to land on the green. Anything shorter will end up stuck on the hill (or in the water).
The following picture doesn't completely capture the dramatic terrain of hole #13. The hole is a 177 yard carry or you end up in the valley in front and we were directly into the face of the wind. My shot ended up against the fence on the left.
The signature #15 hole is just 126 yards from the whites, but it's two tiered green is a challenge to navigate.
We said hello to Marion and Larry Nasby at their rental home on the 9th hole, but no time for pictures - the foursome behind were pressing.
Despite the wind, Mardi shot a nice 97 and Bob an 83. I was somewhat higher. I think to simplify things I will just report on wins and losses when, and if, I ever win again.
Spent the evening watching CNN discuss Trump. Incredible!
Weather is iffy for the next two days with some rain in the forecast. We plan to go with the weather flow we wake up to.
As we recounted in the previous post: when you're handed an Out-Of-Province Health Insurance lemon, why not make lemonade?
So, Mardi and I drove to Orlando International Airport with Lois and Bob tagging along. After we got to Terminal A Departures they left with the van, to return at the end of our adventure to pick us up.
Security at the airport was slow but not severe. The sign estimating wait time of 34 - 38 minutes was pretty close.
We moved through the cattle corral and, after passing K9 inspector "Gunner" we were soon on our way.
Frontier Airlines uses Airbus 320's...no TV, no reclining seats, not even a free glass of water but, for $168 USD return, who's to complain? The flight was smooth and uneventful, and we arrived 20 minutes early.
The Hertz car rental area is located directly across from the Buffalo airport terminal exit doors, so we were on our way in minutes, upgraded from a Kia Rio to a Hyundai Accent. At this point we went incognito with Tennessee plates.
An easy ride through Canadian Customs and we headed for our first stop, a TD bank.
A short story here:
Back in November I got around to ordering cheques with our new address. The ones for my personal account arrived, but our joint account cheques did not. Blaming the Christmas mail volumes, I waited a couple of weeks before calling the cheque company. I was then told that the cheques had been mailed back in November and I should check with the bank.
There I was informed that about a dozen cheques had been cashed, the joint account had been emptied, the bank had helpfully moved all of the funds from my personal chequing account over so the fraud could continue, and had then allowed our overdraft protection to be significantly exceeded. Altogether, over $14,000 had disappeared despite signatures that did not match our own, a dozen cheques honoured over two days for an account that hardly ever has more than two transactions in a month.
So, with a week to go before we left for Florida, complicated by Christmas closings, we were left scrambling to replace rental cheques to our landlady, with no funds available to obtain additional U.S. cash, and our account access cards had been frozen.
The bank branch assured us that the bank would replace our funds in a couple of weeks after the fraud unit had done their investigation. Not completely comforting considering that we were, no doubt, considered to be suspects! (From now on, we will direct new cheques to be delivered to the bank for pickup.)
Finally, about a week ago we were able to confirm that we had been made whole again. Mardi and I were each down to our last $20 U.S. bill after crossing the border. Thus, the trip to the bank to buy some U.S. cash. Oh, what a relief it is!
We then checked into the Comfort Inn. You can see in this picture that the hotel is close to My Cousin Vinny's Italian Grill (the building on the left), the Fallsview Casino (a block away in the background), and Applebee's to the right.
A relaxed meal at Vinny's and then we strolled over to the Casino (actually we scurried and arrived breathless from the cold). Three hours at the slots resulted in Bud coming out $27 ahead and Mardi $70 ahead - yahoo! Our dinner at Vinny's was covered!
You will note in the following picture that I honoured my friend "Sven" by starting at the Nordic Spirit slot machine.
Made $7 of my winnings there.
After cashing out we headed for our hotel, but it was so cold (-18F) that we had to stop partway at Applebee's for a coffee and Baileys😜.
This morning we arose to the news over a Canadian TV channel that Patrick Brown had resigned as leader of the Ontario Conservatives. Apparently, he wasn't about to be given the same "Mulligan" that the U.S. Evangelicals have admitted they have given Trump.....since he did all of those things before he became President, they have forgiven him. Hypocritical? We can only hope that the Ontario voters don't give Kathleen Wynne another Mulligan in the next election either!
Breakfast at the hotel, then a short drive to the falls for pictures.
Yes, insurance company, we were in Ontario January 25th!
Crossed the Rainbow Bridge, no traffic, a two minute stop at U.S. Customs, and we were on our way to the airport. Filled the car with gas and returned it to Hertz.
At the boarding gate I met Sam the therapy dog.
He sympathized with my golf inadequacies and made me feel much better about my game!
Then we boarded Frontier for our trip "home" to Orange Lake.
Yes Frontier, you are a whole different animal. We'll see you again next year!
Altogether, the adventure was an unqualified success! No stress, lots of enjoyable moments.
Avoided cost of 30 day insurance extension..........$4,500 Cdn.
Less 2 X $168 return flights...$336 USD
And rental car......................77
Happy hour on return flight...20
Gasoline...............................5
438 X 1.25..$548 Cdn.
Comfort Inn, including parking...................85
Vinny's Italian Grill....................................96
Applebee's..................................................16
$745
Less winnings at Fallsview Casino................- 97
$648
Losses at golf..................................................NIL!
Net saving.................................................................$3,852
Bob and Lois picked us up as planned, and Lois had made some chili for dinner.
My verdict is that Lois could easily win the Optimist Chili Cook-off this year. We'll have to work on convincing her to enter!
This idea definitely worked! It will be repeated!
Tomorrow we play that stupid game again.
Today we played Swiss Fairways for the second time. My friend Andy Hardy asked how I made out on the second hole (the par three that crosses the water ski channel). I yanked my tee shot left and it drowned. Then he asked how Bob made out. Bob almost made it across, but he had to take his next shot beside me at the drop zone. He shot a miserable 86 on the day....just 24 shots better than me (see the title of this post to see how I made out today).
I forgot to take my camera, so this is a non-illustrated novel.
After the golf, we picked up Jo-Ann and headed to the discount mall for a bit of shopping. Then on to Miller's for the 35 shrimp special. Followed by some cards back at Orange Lake.
The blog will go silent for a day as we head for Niagara Falls, Ontario and the Fallsview Casino. Short story......Mardi and I have a 30 day out-of-province travel insurance policy. Our 30 days are up tomorrow, so we are left with the choice of heading home or paying a premium for each additional day we stay away.
By going back to Ontario for a day we can restart the 30 day clock. For 30 days, the premium would come to over $4,000 for the two of us. Coming home will cost us about $1,000 - return air fare, car rental, hotel reservation - so we save $3,000 with this short visit back to Ontario.
But, it is still an expense. So, we decided to turn it into a vacation adventure. We fly to Buffalo, rent a car and drive to Niagara Falls, make a lot of money at the Casino...or not 😢, get a night's sleep, and then head back to Orange Lake. That's the plan!!!
Just one carry-on, no camera, no computer....we're travelling light (maybe a winter vest).
We will report back Thursday night (the first version of this post said "Sunday"....it seems like what we're doing is a weekend type of thing I guess).
GOOD MORNING WORLD!
The patio was irresistible this morning. Gave us a chance to watch people playing that stupid game of golf on hole #4.
I visited the local Chrysler dealer to get a new battery installed in my car key. Then Mardi and I visited the "Founders Club" to have an issue with our Holiday Inn Club membership resolved. Look at the number of tables where they give "information" sessions trying to sell timeshare. Yikes!
Mardi and Lois went shopping this afternoon while Bob and I enjoyed a Yeungling (America's oldest continuously operating brewery - the name is Dutch, not Chinese) on the patio.
After the ladies returned, Mardi practiced putting on the 4th green. Pretty sneaky!
Later in the evening the local wild turkeys emerged.
After dinner we sat down to finish the game of Phase 10. After a valiant effort I completed the tenth phase. But Lois subsequently did the same, and I lost because I had a higher score. Not nice!
Tomorrow we plan to golf at Swiss Fairways, then pick up Jo-Ann and take the ladies shopping, before we head to Miller's Ale House for the 35 shrimp special and finish up with a game of Hand and Foot.
