NATURE IN DECEMBER

Viewing and walking through nature is a favorite past time of mine.  I venture out to the Circle B Preserve several times during our winters, in Florida.  What used to be a large ranch, is now a wildlife preserve. Walking through the preserve is a different experience each time.  Depending on the time of day, the month, the migrations, feeding times and seasons. Stepping out of the car and onto the path immediately creates a calming, relaxed mood for me.  The birds are my friends, the animals are a bonus!  
                        Such a Good Thing...

Camoflauged

                 Feral Hog looking right at me. 
            An unusual sighting at the Circle B. 
              I went in the other direction-fast!


           

On most occasions we see dozens of vultures
on "Buzzard Beach" - this day only a few.

Standing very still, waiting for prey to pass through the water. 

CHRISTMAS IN FLORIDA

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, 

just like the ones I used to know ~ 

NOT!  

It was in the 80's here on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!  Wonderful...missing all the kids, is the one thing that makes me sad when holidays come around.  We did have family here for Christmas! 
Joe's sister, Frances, and her son, Tony, were here Christmas Eve-overnight to Christmas afternoon. They will return for an overnight again on Thursday.  Tony is on leave from the Navy and we enjoyed their company for Christmas. Spaghetti dinner coming up on Thursday!  


I snapped numerous pictures over the holidays.  We spent several days and nights at concerts, cantatas, reenactments of the Christmas story (above in Davenport, FL, viewing decorations at major hotels and having fun at Downtown Disney. 
                                                     Living statue at 
                                                 Downtown Disney.

 TeePee's decorated the tree         
at the Wilderness Hotel. 
                                                                                                       
                                                    
                                                      The Ricola horns!
                                                 Downtown Disney.

 Snowflake ladies amazing the
children~and the adults!

            Living statues drawing throngs of Disney visitors.

 A gingerbread house 12' high at the Grand Floridian,   Disney/look at the ingredients!

                    Mickey Mouse "Wreath" at the 
                   Contemporary Hotel, Disney.

              It's Mardi Grau all year at Port Orleans.
                                            
                                                Nice "seat" Frances...

         Frances and Tony       
                          

                       Joe and Tony on a Harley!

 The snowflake ladies, on stilts, walked around, creating "Kodak moments" for Disney guests.  The toy soldiers, on stilts, also were blinded by cameras ~ they were amazing!  Dancing, singing, jumping up and down entertaining the crowds~all on those stilts!  Fantastic balance! 

                    Our "Christmas tree" on the porch.  

IT'S A JINGLE BUG CHRISTMAS!

We ventured out ~ before the Packer game ~ to Old Town.  Getting there before the game to view the VW's in the back lot.  They were coming in and lining up for the cruise.  Joe took off to find a place to see the beginning of the game.  Sue, a friend from the park, and I wandered through the back lot "oohhing" and "aahhing" at the VW's of the past.  I took so many pictures!  I have posted some impressive ones today.  I tried posting a video, but can't seem to get it to post and work.

Old Town is decorated for Christmas right now and music was blaring.  Some of the cars were decked out for the season ~ most weren't ~ as a VW can stand alone, undressed, and look great! 

This one resembles the one I drove to college, not so many years ago!  Started smoking in the front/strange the engine was in the trunk.
Had to sell it - a guy bought it to make a dune buggy. 

Pretty in red!

Bright blue caught my eye...

Older than me!  1947  First '47 I've ever seen.

Are you familiar with Fridolin?  I wasn't either.  It is a VW mail truck, built for the German Postal Service.  Only 1,626 were built between the years 1964 and 1973.  It's a combination of the bug, the bus and the squareback.  At the present time there are only about 25 in the United States, several used for campers and most going to car shows. 

Very clever "redo" on this one.
John Deere VW pick-up.
Couldn't find the owner, wondered if he was
from Wisconsin?

Our shadows in the this VW bus. 

The squareback ~ new to me!  A VW station wagon. 

HERBIE ~ what more is there to say?

The Volkswagen Type 181 "Kurierwagen", popularly known in the United Kingdom as the Trekker, in theUnited States as the Thing, and in Mexico as the Safari.

This is similar to my VW van, back when Michelle was 7 and Josh was a newborn.  NICE!

Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

My VW show is done, for now.  

If I can figure out the video I'll upload it.  

Old Town is the place to go if you like vehicles.  Thursday nights there is for motorcycles.

Friday night a cruise of old cars.

Saturday night is the cruise of OLD cars.  

That's the one we frequent.  We like them all ~ and here's a "heads up" ~if you ever visit us ~ you will end up at OLD TOWN!

BUSCH GARDENS ~ TAMPA, FL

How cool is this?
Mel knows how to advertise his hot dog diner!  We drove past this VW on the way to Busch Gardens. Needed to make a u-turn (without the GPS telling us to (as she so often does) ) so I could get a picture.

Beautiful gardens at every turn...
Busch Gardens**buy a ticket for a day and come back all year!  We did that, last January when Brian and Ceci visited.  Senior Citizens get special passes that are good for 15 months.
Thank you Busch Gardens! 
We will be there several times before our passes expire in April! 

Vibrant colors and amazing birds.

Frances and Lana on the sky ride.
We were in the next 'car' ~ the only ride I went on! Oh, I also rode the train and the safari jeep, but those aren't really "rides" when Busch Gardens is full of roller coasters.

A small part of the new roller coaster, CHEETAH RUN, it winds up and down throughout the entire park. While on the train, I noticed some of the animals jerked and weren't startled when the roller coaster cars traversed the tracks above them.  That I did not like. The animals at a park like Busch Gardens should not be frightened by something that gives pleasure to people.  They should have secured areas, especially if they have to be "caged." 

See the lizard on the top of the screen?
Reminds me of Michelle's dragon!

...and what are you?  

Santa's elves ~ poising at the entrance of the park.

Lana, Joe's niece, accompanied us to the park. 

Lana was visiting her Mom, Frances, who is in FL for a few months. 

Lana, Fran, Nancy, Joe

Scaring yourself silly is fun!  They had a great time on this ride ~ SANDSERPENT.  I stayed below and was the Keeper of the 'stuff.' 

Tortoises and Anteaters were among the privileged that weren't deleted from my camera.

CHEETAH RUN**Yes, it is enormous, loud and  intrusive winding throughout the park.
Guess when you think of Busch Gardens/you think of roller coasters.
I favor ANIMAL KINGDOM for viewing animals and going to shows. 

The Christmas tree was decked out with various types of gourds, all with paintings of cheetahs.  The new roller coaster opened this Fall and everything is "All about it."
It was a great day!  We were there 11 hours. At the end of the evening we ate popcorn and listened to a wonderful group of people sing Christmas carols.
WHAT A WONDERFUL LIFE!