Trip to Monaco Service Center, Wildwood, Florida

Today we headed 60 miles north of Theme World to the Monaco Service Center in Wildwood, Florida. Here we would be addressing all of our factory warranty issues which needed to be corrected in regards to our 1 year factory warranty.

They have 40 service bays at this service center along with a 40 site RV Park.

The first night we were at the service center we were parked right outside a service bay. The next day we were assigned this RV Site.

We expected to be leaving on Friday, December 7 but luck was not with us. We had to wait for some parts and ended up staying until Wednesday, December 12. We had to work at Epcot two days and made the 60 mile one way commute from the service center.

By staying, however, we were able to attend a nearby Barbecue Cookoff on Saturday. This was the first time this event had been held in Wildwood but they plan on doing it every year.

Doug had some luck when he entered a drawing and won an auto detailing kit.

For a few more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/december/monaco-repair-cente/ .

To be continued...

Epcot Visit #2

Today we went for our 2nd visit to Epcot. Before leaving, we decided to take a picture of the new centerpiece at our dining table.

Upon entering Epcot, we headed over to peruse the Mouse Gear Store. It is the largest store in Epcot and the 2nd largest store on Disney property. This is where we will be working the next few months.

Epcot is decorated for its Christmas Around the World celebration.

This was located at the Gateway to the World Showcase, which is the part of the park which features authentic looking buildings, marketplaces & restaurants representing 11 different countries of the world.

During Christmas Around the World, Epcot puts on a nightly Candlelight Processional Show hosted by celebrities who narrate stories of Christmas. A large choir is also featured singing traditional Christmas fare.

Here's a video Marlon took of a portion of The Candlelight Processional.
For a few more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/november/epcot-2/ .

To be continued...

Lake Wales Mall & Bowling

Today Frank & Joyce met us at the shopping mall in Lake Wales, about half way between Sebring and Davenport.

Father and sons rode the merry go round in the food court.

Here's the merry go round in video action.
Austin visited with Santa but was stumped about what he wanted for Christmas...at first.

This little girl enjoyed herself at the children's playground at the mall.

After a little shopping, we headed off to bowl at The Recreation Station.

Here's Aron concentrating on the pins.

Frank celebrates a strike...one of many.

Marlon aims for the gutter but misses thanks to the children's bumpers set up on the lane.

Joyce prepares for her approach.

Austin displays his unique bowling stance.

For a few more pictures of our outing, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/november/mall-with-frankjoyc/ .

To be continued...

Thanksgiving 2007

Today we drove about 60 miles south to Sebring. We were headed for Thanksgiving Dinner at Frank & Joyce's.

Frank was in charge of the turkey and had decided to deep fry it.

Austin was in charge of seat assignments at the Thanksgiving Dinner table.

Aron was in charge of the Gears of War video game...blowing up and decapitating anyone who tried to ruin our Thanksgiving.

Aron was also in charge of the card tricks in the following video.
Here we are just about ready to sit down for a feast. Joyce was in charge of the rest of the food and had prepared so much that we noticed 3 hours later that the stuffing was still sitting on the stove untouched.

That gobble gobble sure smelled good.

So did this oink oink.

After dinner, we headed over to nearby Highlands Hammock State Park for a nature hike.

We found this short hike which promised alligators and snakes in exchange for looking carefully and walking quietly.

As luck would have it, we walked quietly enough to happen upon this alligator...hard to see in the picture...but an alligator it was.

We weren't scared though. We were walking on a catwalk at least 3 whole feet above the powerful jaws of the alligator.

Frank's sister, Marlon's step sister, Laura, was so tired after the hike she took a nap.

For more pictures of Thanksgiving 2007, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/november/thanksgiving-at-franks-/ .

To be continued...

Spook Hill & Florida's Natural

Today we drove about 25 miles south of Theme World to see a couple of items of interest in Lake Wales, Florida.

The first place we found was Spook Hill...located on a street that appears to slope downhill initially and then turn into a steep uphill. When cars stop on the downhill part and shift into neutral, they will actually roll backwards up to the beginning of the street. Legend has it...

Looking at Spook Hill from a distance.

The street appears to be heading downhill up to the bushes, but cars will mysteriously roll backwards as if the street is actually uphill at this point. This picture doesn't quite do it justice.

Here's a video in which we attempted to capture the essence of Spook Hill.
As The Travel Channel has pointed out, there are several such Spook Hills around the United States. Each is actually an optical illusion whereby observers are somewhat disoriented by the surroundings into believing the street is going downhill in a certain place when in fact it is not. Thus cars roll in the direction opposite what the observer would think they would.

After Spook Hill, we headed over to Florida's Natural Orange Juice Visitor Center for some free orange juice, raspberry lemonade, grapefruit and grapefruit cranberry juice.

Neither of us cared for the grapefruit juices. All the visitor center's interactive displays and movies were not operating due to a recent lightning strike. So if we really want to know about Florida's Natural Orange Juice, we will have to return in the future.

For a few more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/november/spook-hill-floridas/ .

To be continued...