Farewell Florida!

Even though we've been in Florida for almost three months, it seems like we just got here. We leave for Maine on Wednesday and right around this time next week will be driving up the Eastern Seaboard. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. I'm not sure where we'll be or if we'll have internet access but I'll try to post a quick update if I can. If you're curious about where we are each day you can always subscribe to one of our social media feeds (links located on the right side of this screen). We've been posting one picture every day, so by the time our great adventure ends in August we'll have quite the gallery amassed. As of today we've been "on the road" for 274 days. Wow!

Maine is one of those places we've always wanted to visit. We can't wait to see all the lighthouses.... and eat lobster rolls three times a day....and hang out with Stephen King.... Okay, so that probably won't happen but you can be sure we'll be seeking out at least one lobster roll! The truth is that most of the things we know about Maine are from what we've seen on TV, so we can't wait to actually live there for a while and really get a feel for our East Coast counterpart. What will we see? Who will we meet? How does it "feel" to live there? What does the local accent sound like? There is so much to learn!

We're currently preparing for our departure and it's been a pretty eventful week. Last Saturday I met up with the Florida State Society Daughters of the American Revolution (FSSDAR). They were holding their annual state conference and I was invited to the Junior Membership Luncheon. Junior members are members between the ages of 18 and 35. It was great to see some old friends and meet new ones. The Florida Daughters are a fun bunch and I encourage you to take a look at some of the things they do in their communities.

This morning, the older two and I drove to Epcot. The kids have been reading the Kingdom Keepers series by Ridley Pearson and today he was there for a book signing for his newest (and last?) book in the series, The Return: Disney At Last. It was an amazing experience for them to be able to meet him AT Disney World and buy the books before they're officially released! Mr. Pearson was very nice and asked questions about our adventure so we gave him a card with a link for the blog. If you're reading this, Mr. Pearson, thank you for the opportunity! The kids are pouring over the newest installment as I type.  

Our oldest has been working with someone to build up his swimming endurance at the National Training Center in Clermont for the past few months. Shortly after we arrive in Maine, he and my husband will be returning to Florida to meet his Boy Scout Troop for BSA Florida Sea Base. Apparently sports teams and Olympians from all over North America come to train at this facility, which we didn't know when we signed him up. It was a fun surprise!

While I was waiting for him to finish his last session I had a wonderful conversation with the woman sitting next to me- who turned out to be one of the Olympians! You just never know who you may be sitting next to.  Brandy Johnson, who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, now owns Brandy Johnson's Global Gymnastics Academy and coaches her daughter, Sydney, who is an outstanding athlete in her own right. You can see them both in action here. Brandy, if you're reading this, it was a pleasure meeting you! Thanks for the great chat!

After the lesson, my oldest and I took the opportunity to visit the Citrus Tower, which is a tourist attraction that was built in the late 1950's. Originally the view showcased the surrounding orange groves but the scenery has changed quite a bit in recent years with the decline of the local citrus industry. It's still fun to ride up in the elevator and see the surrounding area, though. Of course, I couldn't resist the cheesy fun!

This Citrus Tower is right next to the Presidents Hall of Fame*, which is a little roadside presidential history museum that opened in the 1960's. The kids and I visited it a few weeks ago. You can find small versions of American landmarks as well as a model of the White House during it's construction and a very detailed version of what it looks like now. Wax figures of past presidents, clothing, and other artifacts fill the museum. It was interesting to see an exact replica of the Resolute Desk and items like an actual banner that hung in the capitol during the campaign of William McKinley, 25th President of the United States.  

I'm not sure where we'll be when we post next but we always love your suggestions, so keep 'em coming! Until then, goodbye Florida! We enjoyed our stay and loved meeting so many new friends. Thank you for everything (especially my new/old sewing machine)!!

- Jen

* Note: The website needs to be updated

Conservation, Historic Preservation, and Sustainability- Disney Style!

Do you ever have days when you know you have plenty to do, but you're just tired and can't seem to focus without a lot of effort? We're having one of those days today. It seems like it took forrr-evvv-errr (Sandlot, anyone?) to get schoolwork done. As a result we decided to take the rest of the day off and just relax at home.

Before we left for our adventure, we knew we'd be spending the largest amount of time here in Central Florida. Many amusement parks and attractions are less than 20 min away, so we knew we'd have the opportunity to visit them often. Unfortunately, it's just to expensive to piece out a day here at one park and another day somewhere else. So we decided as a family to use our budget for Disney season passes and forgo the rest this time.

Having season passes means we can visit any time we like (except black-out dates), which means we can use them like gym memberships. I mean, when was the last time you went to an amusement park and left under 10,000 steps?! We've also discovered that Disney has a lot of educational programs within the attractions. I've got you curious, haven't I? Well, let me tell you about a few things we've experienced.

When driving into the Magic Kingdom parking lot, we drove past rows of solar panels. It was a surprising but welcome sight to see. Apparently Disney is one of the major corporations leading the way for sustainable energy practices and global conservation efforts.

At Epcot we went to "The Land Pavilion" and went on the "Living with the Land" ride. It starts off as a boat ride through different landscapes and then takes you into working labs where scientists are busy developing sustainable growing methods with hydroponics, greenhouses, and innovative growth structures. Much of what's grown there is served at Disney restaurants throughout the parks! I encourage you to visit the links in this post to learn more because it's really interesting! There's a lot of potential for global implementation.

Epcot is also hosting the "International Festival of the Arts" through February, which allows us to try new foods and see art from the artists, themselves! That, along with being able to learn more about different countries, makes Epcot my favorite of all the Disney Parks.

One of the chefs plating a culinary delight!

This example is the Deconstructed Purple Sweet Potato Pie, Salted Caramel, Bourbon-soaked Cake and Marshmallow Whipped Cream. Yum! 

In the Animal Kingdom you'll find the Kilimanjaro Safari ride where you can board one of their vehicles and be taken on a tour through their actual wildlife refuge. You'll drive next to real lions and rhinos, plus a host of other animals, and see what their natural habitats are like. The guide gives you information about each species and what kind of conservation efforts are in place to help protect them in the wild. They also give you information about the main threats to each species, such as poaching. I was surprised to learn that the veterinarian we're seeing here (vaccinations for our dogs) also works with Disney as one of their animal experts. Apparently Disney keeps experts and conservationists on site to make sure their animals have the very best care at all times. She was really proud of the work they do and was able to give us a few tips for educational programs, like the bird show, which our youngest son loved!

The Tree of Life at the Animal Kingdom was built around an old oil platform! Now that's recycling!

Those are just a few examples of things we've discovered so far. So, in addition to being a fun day out, our season passes have turned out to be a great opportunity for exercise and up-close education with actual animals and field experts. Another added benefit is we don't feel obligated to stay there all.day.long. When it gets too hot or we're all tired, we can just go home and come back another day. Believe me, this is not something we'd be able to do normally so we're enjoying every minute while we can.

That takes care of the Conservation and Sustainability parts of the title, now for the Historic Preservation! If you've been following my social media feeds this week, then you've seen my new baby! No, not an actual baby. ;-) I am now the proud owner of a Singer Featherweight 221 sewing machine! It was manufactured in 1955, which makes it over 60 years old and it still purrs like a kitten!

You may be wondering why I'm so excited about "an old sewing machine". Well, I'll tell you. I'm a quilter and love to sew, for one. We had to keep things light on this trip so I only brought a small project with me. When we were in Alaska, though, I met with some quilters and many of them were using Singer Featherweights. I asked them why and they told me it was designed for people who live in remote places or compact quarters (like a trailer) because they are small, lightweight (only 11ish lbs!), easy to maintain yourself, and total reliable workhorses. Well, after a recommendation like that, I was sold and found this one for sale here in Florida.

Just for scale, the blocks are 6 1/2"

Just looking at it makes my heart sing! Now I can work on getting my state flowers quilt top finished before we return home next summer!

- Jen

P.S. If you were wondering about the Fire Ant bites/stings from the launch last week, they are healing nicely. I learned that the bites turn into blisters and then they take a long time to disappear.....education in all forms on this trip! ;-)

Inaguration Day

With a title like that you might think this is a political post. Nope. It's just a marker of what today is here in the United States. This blog is about our adventure after all. I will say this, though; whether you're happy or upset about our new President, I hope all the Americans reading this exercised their right to vote last Fall!

Now that we're in the southeast, we've been adjusting to a new schedule and climate. We've all been a little thrown off with my husband working Pacific hours while we're in the Atlantic time zone. Normally the kids and I start school at 9:30am while my husband is in the throws of conference calls and other work-related activities. That way we can focus and be ready to relax by the time he's finished in the evening. With the new schedule he works in the afternoon/evening so we've been spending time together and running errands in the morning instead, and starting school in the afternoon. It's a little harder to get focused (and get this blog posted on time) after so many other activities, but we're making it work. We knew this adjustment was inevitable, but living it is slightly different than anticipated. Not bad, just different. I suppose you'd say it's teaching us all to stay flexible and focus on what's important.

The temperatures here in central Florida have been consistantly between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, which is pretty perfect if you ask me! The kids have been swimming every day and we've even been able to visit Disney World.

Our house is pretty close to all the local attractions, which is fun, but it's also not far from orange groves and great farmers markets. Snowbirds, as well as Brits and Canadians, flock to this area every winter. As a result, you can find a pub on just about every corner and tons of British products on the shelves at the local grocery store. So far everyone has been very friendly and interesting.

Because central Florida relies so heavily on tourism, strip malls and souvenir shops line the main roads for miles. If you want to get into the "Real Florida," you have to be deliberate about driving into the smaller towns and surrounding areas. Another result of having so many tourists, is that you can't receive mail at the short-term rental houses. So just like in Sedona, we had to visit the post office to set up a P.O. Box for the duration of our stay. Fortunately, it's not Christmas, so I don't need to visit the Post Office to catch packages on a daily basis.

NASA has a site at Cape Canaveral, which isn't far from us either. We've been keeping an eye on the launch schedule and were excited to see the Atlas 5 rocket was scheduled for this week. So, last night we headed to a spot near Port Canaveral to watch. We showed up early for a good vantage point and were all ready to go. Unfortunately, after waiting through the launch window, it was rescheduled for tonight due to a sensor problem and a plane that got too close to the airspace. So, we're back here to try again. This is how it looks from where we are at the moment. See that tiny white dot? That's the rocket!

This time I'm wearing my boots. Why? Because last night I wore sandals and our primo vantage point ended up being on top of a fire ant colony. Word to the wise: Don't mess with fire ants! OUCH!

- Jen

P.S. UPDATE! We just got back from the Launch and it was a success! It was so cool to be parked at the side of the road by the water with hundreds of other people. We all counted down and watched the rocket launch and fly through the sky. It felt like a minute passed before we heard it and felt the vibrations against the car. We saw it separate and all stood to watch it fade from sight. A-MAZING!