A cloudy but hot and even more importantly dry morning greeted us despite the gloomy overnight forecasts.
Today we had fluid plans as I needed to be in the villa to sign for a delivery. Over breakfast I got the update that the delivery should be made between 9.45am – 1.45pm. Of course, we just knew it would most likely be at the latter end of that time but decided to not risk it by going out earlier.
As it happened the weather held out all morning and we enjoyed the time chilling and reading by the pool. One of us may have had a doze for a while.
Karen tried to watch some of the local news channel with the local weather, but the dreadful free TV service meant that for some reason it was on a several hour time delay. So not only was the news old but the weather was out of date. I really do not see the point of these free channels when none of them are worth watching and will leave that as feedback for the villa’s owners.
We had lunch (mine was the extra Steak from Outback from yesterday which was a treat) outside and almost at exactly 1.45pm the delivery was made. Actually, in the hour before I had been able to actually track the Amazon driver on their website and see how many drops they had ahead of mine. Most of them amusingly seemed to be our estate.
We immediately headed out or rather we tried to. The house alarm would not set as it seemed to think there was a door or window open. I checked and concluded that there was a problem with one of the sensors. So, I called the management company who promised to come round and sort it whilst we were out.
We got ½ mile down the road and Karen realised she hadn’t picked up her rain jacket so I had to turn around. At least we didn’t have to worry about resetting the alarm when she went back in.
Our plan was to drive all along the 192 and visit the Kissimmee Lakefront Park. Lots of memories were stirred as we passed lots of the sights we had seen and visited in many earlier visits. In truth though the further west we travelled along the 192 the more run down the surroundings then became. It was all rather sad, where we saw some of the places we used to enjoy visiting. Even the Pirates Cove golf course we always used to play was now derelict. Its fascinating how other areas further away have sprung up to take their places.
As we parked up by the Lake, Karen was convinced we would get wet as we walked so plotted our route via potential shelters along the walkway. It was as I predicted totally unnecessary. The dark clouds moved around us and missed us entirely. It was a good place for a walk. We virtually had the whole place to ourselves apart from some unsavoury looking characters who had congregated with their shopping trolleys and possessions near the Monument of the States that ended up walking to look at.
The monument contained rocks from 48 States plus a few other countries. I found the stone from England which pleased me. It was built as a legacy from one man to show the unity of the USA after the attack on Pearl Harbour. Despite being a legacy it was a bit tatty and seemed to have been made up as they went along rather than having a design and plan. I mean if you had a plan it would not have ended up looking like this.
As I get older, I do start to think what would be my legacy. I hardly think it will be this blog. I know it will always Barry & Neil but beyond that I have no idea. I have not built a statue or made any discoveries or done anything that will cause me to be remembered or thought about in 100 years’ time. But I guess that applies to 99.9% of all people. Perhaps though someone may think that I have had such a strange life that they will want to write about it especially all the adventures I still plan to have.
As the weather was holding up, we decided next to visit the Animal Kingdom Lodge and managed to bluff our way into the car park. Going at that time proved to be a good move as they were setting out the food for all the animals next to the Lodge. We got great views of the Giraffes, Zebras and various antelope. We watched them feed the pelicans. After a quick walk round the shop, we made a decision to go straight out to dinner.
Our restaurant of choice tonight was The Olive Garden which is somewhere we have not visited for many years. We had timed it right and we were seated immediately. Karen has the Spaghetti with meatballs whilst I had Chicken Alfredo Tortellini. They both came with bottomless soup or salad – I had neither, but did feast upon the unlimited hot bread batons. They were divine. I would have been happy with just them but the pasta when it came was really good as well. I was well stuffed by the end of the meal and almost had to roll myself into the car.
Back at the villa we watched the latest episode of Succession followed by another Mrs Maisel. I went to bed whilst Karen watched another episode of the ‘Rings’ series on Amazon.
It had been a bit of a strange day but we both decided was still enjoyable despite the end of the trip now looming close.
