Epcot and Wilderness Lodge - Three Day Holiday

 

Epcot has beautiful gardens

I love this view of our hotel lobby

This China picture looks familiar - 
same spot as in 2019

Lulu and I love Disneyworld. We have taken our family there many times. As teachers - we have taken groups of students there. No one can forget the day we chartered an airplane in Pennsylvania and flew 150 kids to the Magic Kingdom - and got everyone home safely by midnight. To us - Disneyworld is the happiest place in the world - and it represents everything good about life in general. 

We left our home in Tallahassee on Monday morning at 8 am. We drove our red electric car with just 2 little roller bags - one for each. All we packed were shorts and tee shirts. It takes 5 hours of driving to get to the park from our home. Although we can make it without stopping to charge our car - we stop halfway - to top up - and get out to relax. By 1 pm - we pulled into the hotel parking lot. The gate attendant pointed out the electric car chargers. Although they were slow chargers -we plugged into one of them and got a charge overnight. 

They gave us a very nice room on the 6th floor overlooking the main lobby. What a nice room - with a balcony looking north toward the Magic Kingdom. We were able to catch the fireworks at 9 pm - then we tucked into bed to get a good night's sleep. 

Tuesday - we got up at 8 am - Epcot opens at 9. When you stay in the Disney hotels - they let you drive your car from park to park. We arrived at the Big Ball at Epcot just as it opened. We were surprised that the crowd was very mild. 

TICKETS

It now cost $140 a day for a one park day pass. There are bargains for Florida residents and buying multiple days. We bought two 4-day park hopper passes for $250 each. We only used one day each - so we have 6 passes left now. They must be used before October 1st. 

In 1974 - when we took our first school group to the park - it was $8 a day a person. If you stayed in the hotel - there was even a discount from that price. Lulu and I made our first visit to Disneyworld in 1972 - on our first anniversary trip. The park was not open when we eloped to Florida in 1971 - but we passed by on the way to Miami. 

Epcot - 

Walt Disney planned Epcot to be a community with people living there. But he died way before Epcot was built and they changed his plans. Today - it is like a World's Fair with favored countries having pavilions. You walk into their area and experience a little of the culture. 

Canada - England - Japan - France - Germany - Morocco - China - Norway - Mexico. We visited each country on Tuesday. We realized that the only country that we have never visited live is Norway. We had lunch in France and supper in England. Sandi - one of Lulu's former students - came to Disney to have supper with us. 

Around 8 pm it started to rain - and we had to wear ponchos to stick it out for the fireworks at 9 pm. There were very few people that stayed for the fireworks - we had a nice location right along the lake - and watched a spectacular show in the rain. 

We drove our car back to our Wilderness Lodge - we slept well after being on our feet for 12 hours. In the morning we got up at 9 am and went swimming. Both pools were very warm - with few bathers. Checkout time was 11 am - I put the bags in the car - and we enjoyed the resort for a while. 

We left Disney at about noon - had a nice drive home with stops for supper and shopping. We topped the car up at Ocala - and got home at 6 pm. 

This geyser is inside the lobby

The pools were warm - few swimmers

Wilderness Lodge from our car

That big gay ball

Vespa

The sky ride from Epcot to hotels

A maze in France

Old England

English Gardens

We had supper in this pub - 
shephard's pie - fish and chips - 
bangers and mashed

We saw a British rock band here

You all remember Sandi

The Soaring ride is breathtaking

The Lion King

This lookalike real England

Vibrant colors

Canada 

A favorite movie of mine

Norway - we must go there soon

China girl

China pavilion

China Disney Castle

China Disneyland

Temple of the sun - China

Old Ford RV in Morocco

Vespas of Italy

Germany - beer and pretzels

Train yard Germany

Venice Italy

Italy

Casey Junior from Dumbo

Tour movie of South America 

Japan

Morocco Bazaar

Beautiful tile work

theatre in France

Beauty and the Beast

Paris

England

Minnie

We charged our car at hotel

Map of our hotel

Welcome sign

View form our room

Lulu checking in

Slow Charge Point charger

I Covet a Citroen 2CV

Citroen 2CV

Citroen Type H Van

Citroen Mehari Plastic Jeep

My son has been living in Paris for 4 years with his family. Every time we visit - I am tempted to bring home one of these cute little cars - the Citroen 2CV. 

They made them in Paris after World War II. They were just basic transportation - rugged - simple to operate and work on - and relatively cheap. It is the French answer to the VW Beetle - but they never officially made it to the USA. They made them a long time - 1948 to 1990 - same model. 

The engineering was ahead of its time - 2 cylinder air cooled engine - front wheel drive - high soft suspension. They got 60 miles per gallon. They even made an odd looking pig nosed van - and a plastic bodied jeep. 

Last trip over we went to the official Citroen Museum. It was closed for lunch - but they opened ti up for us - we had it to ourselves. 

https://everhart.blogspot.com/search?q=citroen+museum

Since they are such a basic lightweight vehicle - there are companies that convert them to electric motors. 

For Christmas in 2020 - my son gave me a Paris tour in a Citroen. 

https://everhart.blogspot.com/2020/01/i-am-touring-paris-in-my-christmas.html

We Are Building A Pool

 

Lulu loves to swim. Many of her best childhood times were spent swimming with her cousins. So we just applied for a permit to build a pool. 

In working class America - success seems to be having a "cement pond" in your back yard. So here we go. 

Bill the builder will build it. He built our last pool and guest house on our old home up the street. 20 years later they are both going strong. He said it will take 6 weeks from the time we get the permit. He will do a nice job. We have vowed to stay home during the entire construction project. Hopefully it will be done by July. 

It will be a salt pool with an ionizer to kill bacteria. It will have a heat pump. All the mechanics will be housed in the garage in the background to keep things quiet. Other options we are considering are an opening glass pool enclosure and a solar electric system on the garage roof. Maybe a guest house. 

I know all the good reasons not to build a pool - insurance - taxes - utilities - maintenance - upkeep. But I know one really good reason to build one - Lulu wants it. She works hard and deserves it. So I am here to make sure she gets a good one. 

I hate swimming in cold water. But all the Everhart 10 are water bugs. They just love spending time together in the water. So this is our next adventure. 

A Week At The Beach With The Everhart 10 - Seaside/Watercolor

It is a special time when we can get all the Everharts together. All the kids get bigger and bigger - they have lives of their own. So it took a lot of planning to get them all in the same spot at the same time. 

The Florida Panhandle - in my opinion - has the best beaches in the world. They have beautiful white powdery sand - emerald green water - and they are relatively uncrowded. 

Seaside is a planned community designed to look like a village in the 1900s along the coast. In April - the water is already 74 degrees - and the air is in the 80s. We rented a home that sleeps 10 people - Lulu and I are on the first floor - the rest are upstairs. Included with the house is a beach club - that has several pools - slides - lazy river - along with a lovely private beach. The pools are a toasty 85 degrees. 

We can leave the van parked in the car port - because we have bikes for the kids and adults to cruise along the quiet streets. There is even a bike trailer for the little ones. 

Lulu has been cooking up a storm - each night she cooks and serves to a long table that seats us all. There is also a grill and table to eat and lounge on the porch surrounding the house. 

The kids are 14 - 12 - 6 - 4. They grow so fast - that when they leave we realize we will meet new people next time we are together. Next time we hope to get all together will be at our home - when we have the new pool in place. We have the plans and are waiting for permits for the building to start. 

This resort has 5 separate pools - and like Lulu - the kids cannot get enough pool and beach time. As I type write now at the dinner table - they are all on the beach together. The time goes so fast. 

We make the most of it. There are no guarantees how much time we have. Life is a marathon - if you are lucky - you stay healthy - and have a strong kick at the end. We hope the best is yet to come. 

The Florida State Capitol

The Florida State Capitol is about a mile from our home. The old building on the left is now a free museum - it was the original Capitol. 50 years ago - they build a new modern building that surrounds the old building on 3 sides. 

Currently the government is in session. It used to meet only every other year - but since 1969 - they meet every spring. Right now they are in session. 

I Sold My Old John Deere Mower

My old mower on the way to Live Oak FL

I just sold my old John Deere gasoline mower for $3200. It was a very nice mower - looked and ran like new. The buyer came from Live Oak FL - about 100 miles away. He had a nice big trailer with a diesel truck with Cummins engine. 

I had listed it on Facebook and Craigslist. 

I have replaced it with a Cub Cadet electric zero turn mower. Both mowers did a nice job cutting our grass. The new mower is quieter - smoother - and uses less energy to run. 

The new mower has a 42 inch cut - and takes up less space in my garage.