AND THEIR OFFFFFF!!!!!! Tampa Downs Horse Races

Well, time for another adventure for me. I have never been to a live horse race track before. So, we decided to head down to the Tampa Bay Downs. There is a beautiful spot with lakes and fountains in the center of the race track. There are actually 2 tracks there. One dirt and one grass. These make for two different races for the horses themselfs. We decided to sit in the carosal area which puts you up on the second floor where the view is awesome. So we got a program and looked over the horses as they were paraded down the track before us. I liked the looks of the beautiful grey lady...the horses are kept over on the other side of the track. But we had a good view of them as they walked by us. You have a good amount of time to check them out and look at their past race results and find out all sorts of things in the program. Where they were bred, from who, how old, how much weight they will carry on them during the race. Ie: saddle, reigns ect. You also see who the jockeys are and their race wins, place and show results. They actually have a fellow that plays the call to post, live with his trumpet. Kinda cool. Isn't that grey horse pretty????
Then, once you have all that stuff figured out, you head down to the wagering station and place your bet. You can bet on a horse winning the race (win), coming in first or second (place) or coming in first, second or third (showing) There is a lot more ways to bet and win $$$$ but I was sticking to the easy stuff. LOL This is Fred. He took my first wager for me.AND THEIR OFFFFFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Notice the horse in the lead???? Go baby go!!!!! This was horse #5 in the fifth race, named SkipSilver
And look who comes in first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Skip Silver wins....and so do I!!!!!There was a inquiry on this race but my gal wasn't involved and she got her picture taken in the winner cirlce. It was a very fun day, we bet all day, had some bevy's and had a blast. Getting excited with the races and talking with folks....and the best thing was that it only cost us $30.00 Both Daniel and I are good at picking winners...

A DAY AT THE BEACH IN WESTERN FLORIDA

We had the RV serviced today and so we decided to head to some of the local beaches....this is a pic of some of the crazy looking seagulls that live on the west side of Florida. Notice the black guys. They had bright orange becks...and the white guys had a black streak on the top of their heads with becks the normal light yellow/brown. This beach is called Redington Shores. Lots of resorts along the way....a big ole fishing peir down a ways....Our next stop was Treasure Island...lol Another pretty beach with sand that felt like baby powder on your toes....
This beach is at Ft. De Soto beach. This is actually the lagoon that is before the ocean. Again, white soft sandy beaches. This is our tour guide...lol
Then, of course, a great lunch on the beach at Sloppy Joe's in Treasure Island...cool to hang out looking at the sand and have a nice lunch. Fish tacos yummy

UP TO DISNEY WORLD....

We have headed up North from Naples to Orlando Florida....
Mickey and Minnie are calling us.....lol
Some of the pics are out of order but I am sure you will get the idea.....

DOWNTOWN DISNEY....some shopping time

The entrance to downtown Disney...a nice shopping area, with great restaurants
including the House of Blues, Bongo Bongo Gloria Estefans restaurant), McDonalds of course, Planet Hollywood, Rainforest cafe and some little sandwich shops ect. They had all kinds of stores...art stores, Virgin records, magnet stores, of course Disney stores with everything imaginable, a Harley Davidson store and tons of kids stores....
A HUGE lego land store...this is a whole family (on holiday) including the dogs made out of lego
Also a "boutique" for the young gals...you can have your nails, hair and makeup done. Also you can get a princess or fairy dress and get a sash included. Picture are also available.

As you can see, they were lined up out the door...how cool for a young gal to have her own fairy godmother give her a makeover!!!

DISNEY WORLD ADVENTURE 2008

We got to travell from Chinato Morrocco
had a awesome meal of lemon chicken and chicken kebobs, with couscous and slow roasted veg,
And went crazy on more rides....ROCK N' ROLLER COASTER...along with Arrowsmith. This ride shoots you off like a bolt of lightning and then right into a cork screw going super fast and travelling through "California" Very very fun
BUT, the Tower of Terror, takes you into the Twilight Zone and into another dimension on a service elevator....first slowly up and then across the building and then you go up a little more and then DROP down very quickly. So much so that you come off your seat. Then just a fast UP again...and then down and then up ect....tooo coooool
We went on this ride 3 times...it was so fun.

Mickey's kitchen renovation that Goofy is doing isn't quite up to snuff....lolEvery little girls dream...a beautiful carosal complete with jew encrusted saddle....
More of the magic of Disney...transported from Disney World to the Streets of San Fransisco....
Then to the streets of New York....how amazing!!!!!!!!!!!

Then off to the Epcot centre....

Tomorow Land....Where we remembered how to fly space ships again......
And saw some nice landscaping work....
Mickey invited us to dinner and to show us his new house...
And his garden is doing so well this year...notice the shape of the tomatoes!
And his "mousekosh bygosh" work pants....

THE GREAT DISNEYWORLD ADVENTURE 2008

The entrance to Disney World. After a little boat ride over we arrived here...then headed inside to let the adventure begin...Makes you feel like a kid all over again. The memories just come rushing back. Seeing the castle. Then seeing Mickey and Minnie roaming around...I loved it. We watched to fireworks display from the courtyard just in front of the castle that night. If you can imagine just what you see on the TV but times it by 100. It is AMAZING to see it all happeing right before your eyes. Then to see all the kids around you with the look of wonderment!!!!!!!!!!!!Just the coolest thing....
Adventure Land. We went on the Pirate of the Carribean ride,
and Magic Mountain roller coaster in Frontierland....
And a Jungle tour...........

We also went on a number of other rides that day...including Space Mountain. Which was a rough and bumpy ride...I remember my mom on this ride in California, back when I was younger. It hasn't changed Mom....still twisty and turny and dark and bumpy!!!! LOL

SOUTH BOUND AGAIN

We decided that we had gone too far north...lol. Actually, we went for a drive south the other day and found a awesome area south of Pine Island that is so beautiful. The area is called Naples Florida and also a area called Marco Island.
Here is a pic of a gorgeous home in Marco Island...nothing to shake a stick at hey?
In Naples there is a awesome street called 5th ave where you can find lovely things for men and women and kids as well. The architecture has a spanish influence and there are great places to eat on the ave as well.
We found an amazing RV resort called Pelican Lake. It is actually a motorcoach resort that allows only Class A motorhomes with a minimum lenght of 32 feet. We got very spoiled here. As you can see, the streets are all paved with super large lots that are lanscaped just perfectly so you didnt see your neighbors at all. This is a pic of the lake itself...

And this is our sight...notice the cassitta. Each lot had one that the owner could put in a bathroom/shower facility, laundry room or storage area. They had some great ones. So much so, that they have tours of the cassittas. Funny!
Here is the veiw from our side of the street.
They also had some very fun "golf carts" at this resort. I have never seen any built like this...here are some samples. I actually saw one that looked like a miniature Cadillac Escalade! Made me think of my friend, Dana.

Dont they look great!
Marco Island itself is a tiny spot filled with high end hotels and resorts...as well as gorgeous homes. A very desireable destination, mainly because the island is surrounded by white sand beaches...and the Gulf of Mexico as its main body of water. Warm gentle waters and soft winds. Very easy to relax here...

Like most touristy spots, they have great restaurants to serve the customer base. We had a couple of lunches here (Snooks Inn) It sits on the "Marco River" so you can enjoy a great meal and watch as boats cruise up and down the river, or dock right at the restaurant. They also have live music every day from 3 pm on. Lots of fun.

We left the east coast and headed west over on Highway 41 through the Everglades...seeing over 100 alligators lounging in the canals along side the roadway....We have a great view from the motorhome because we are sitting up higher than in a car, truck or bike...
We headed to a RV park just north (aghhh very hard to do after travelling south for so long...lol) of Naples, FL
Just outside of Ft. Myers Florida is a couple of Islands called Big Pine and Little Pine Island. They join up via a couple of bridges. On the big island, there is a old fishing village that is called Matlacha...the little town has some great restaurants and wonderful art stores....
Come enjoy our day with us........................

The waterways of Florida

Our lunch stop...on the ocean and very cute. Notice the outside patio. We sat inside and enjoyed a very pretty view. And a great waitress.
Daniel ordered the soft shell crab sandwich....coming from the west coast this is very cute to see... and it was tastey as well.
Upclose and graphic...lol
The shops in Matlachay...how fun are these buildings???? Makes me think of sunshine and warm beaches.
This one is for Sue...my friend who does really great mosaic stuff...Sue, this is on a brick...neat idea hey?

A old painted window for sale in a art store....do you think Jimmy Buffet had anything to do with this artists thoughts?????

And finally, Daniel found his market on the main street...lol

MEXICAN WEDDING and YA YA (partial) REUNION

So, I headed for Mexico on the 19th of January for a lovely couples wedding.
This is Lisa and Jayson (now Sinnott) They had everyone that they wanted to share their wedding with come and join them in Akumal, Mexico for their big day on the 21st of January.
As you can see, the bride and groom looked wonderful.
And after it was all said and done, they had even bigger smiles for all of us.
The service was very nice (I, our course, cried) and it was also quick. Which is good for me as well...lol.
The food that they had arranged was wonderful...ceviche, soup, a choice of entrees, and of course wedding cake.
Then, there was time to relax.....


Have some good food. This is seafood paella made at the pool...

A few drinks with friends....lol......Jack and a fellow from Duncan, BC...lol
And, a little music to enjoy the time with..........
A good time to see my friends again...Nicole and Kevin.........
Julie and Joe...(and I got to see wee Julie too!)The Goodmans, Jack and Gayle

So for those who know....it was a miniature Ya Ya reunion...Julie, Nicole, Gayle and Shannon YA YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The beautiful blue oceans of MexicoThe Ya Ya's with the bride and groom...so wonderful. And so magical there in Mexico.We also got to celebrate Gayle's and Jessica's (Stephens sweet gal) birthday...nice cake that Nicole and Julie had arranged
Then, a day trip to Cozumel...very fun. Shopping, frozen margarita's, scooter rentals, drinks on the east coast of Cozumel...great time with everyone...scooting around Cozumel....

Another way to get around Cozumel....