How I met Mr. Palmer
One last Florida reflection and then I'll be caught up and blogging in the present.
This year I made my second trip to see the PGA tournament at Bay Hill aka the Arnold Palmer Invitational. I purchased a grounds pass and went on Friday. Based on my experience last year I knew I wanted to be out early to walk with some of the smaller early galleries. As it worked out I ended up in the front seat of the first shuttle bus to run from the remote parking at Universal.
After I went through security at the entrance a cheerful gal handed me a card and said congratulations, the first 50 people in the gate get a free gift from Mastercard. I took the card but was not convinced I'd really "won" anything. Since it was early I headed straight for the practice tee's to see who was warming up for an early round. When I got to the practice tee I noticed that the Mastercard tent was overlooking the practice tee and practice green. So I went over to ask what that card was actually good for. They told me it was good for all day access to the pavillion AND that the first 25 people won a free XM radio. So I trotted up the stairs to get my radio (currently installed in my truck and quite nice btw) and found out that I could also get a free souvenir picture and a free putting lesson. I got the picture but the putting lessons had not begun, so I ate my breakfast in the comfy tent, then joined Colin Montgomerie's gallery as the first groups went out on the course.
After 4 hours of walking with Colin, Phil, Vijay and a few others, I decided to circle back to the practice tee to get my free putting lesson, eat lunch, and watch Tiger warm up. I got my putting lesson (face angles and contact point are good, my path is inside out, that tends to miss right - can be corrected by standing closer to the ball) and while I was sitting by myself watching the guys practice bunker shots a nice smiling host tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I would like to meet Mr Palmer. Apparently they were choosing people at random from the hospitality area to go to a meet and greet. I said "why not?".
After a short wait a group of about 20 of us (all with that "why me?" look) were walked across the street to a tent behind 18 tee and told that we were welcome to eat from the buffet and get anything from the bar - Mr. Palmer would be there in a few minutes. Sure enough, five minutes later in comes The King, Arnold Palmer himself. Friendly, cordial, and there to meet us!
We were given hats he could sign (I had him sign my souvenir picture instead) and a photographer took pictures as we each got our turn.
I am still amazed. It is also a bit ironic since last year I'd tried to fool a few folks into believing that my souvenir (faked) photo with Tiger was real. Now I'm telling those same folks that THIS photo with Arnie IS real.
It was a day to remember.
Mom's car in
Another reflection on our trip to Florida.
This is probably a common thing with a new car purchase but it became a family game in Florida. Last year our 1996 Dodge Caravan finally died. After consulting numerous mechanics, Tammy finally agreed that the van had passed the point of cost effective repairs and needed to be replaced. We ended up buying a 2007 Dodge Caliber, mostly based on the price, features and the lifetime power train warranty. It was odd though, because before we saw it in the showroom I'd never seen one, and even after we bought it I rarely saw another Caliber in NJ.
Well... for some reason there seemed to be a BUNCH of Dodge Calibers in Kissimmee. The kids were the first to notice them and would shout out "there's Mom's car in (fill in the color)". It seemed they were EVERYWHERE. Oddly, since we've been back to NJ I'm not sure I've seen another Caliber on the road again.
For sure, one of the family memories from this FL trip was the shout from the back seat "Mom's car in...."
Halfway home -the hard way
(More)
Kirsten's Poem - The Ocean
THE OCEAN
CRASHING UP ONTO THE SAND
PULLING SHELLS AWAY FROM LAND CLIMBING UP THEN FALLING DOWN
SPLASHING WHEN IT HITS THE GROUND.
(THIS POEM WAS INSPIRED BY THE TIME WE WENT TO THE BEACH.)
KIRSTEN LINDEMULDER
Packing up to go home and pack up
71 degrees / Kissimmee Fl
Today is the day that we start packing up our things in our RV to go back to NJ. Notice I didn't say "home" because it won't be our home for too much longer. Our house is under contract and we need to go pack up our belongings and either toss 'em, give 'em away or store 'em. It will be hard for certain members of my family, as they think everything they come in contact with is a treasure (we will deal with that after we get home.)
It is sort of difficult to leave as we have had such a wonderful time here. It's not that we have done all these wonderful once-in-a-life-time things here. We didn't go to Disney or any other theme park (everyone asks us that.) Pretty much we just did plain ordinary things, like going to the library, going to the movies (National Treasure 2), going to GO Church (we helped with their Easeter Eggstravaganza - what a great day that was!) visiting with friends and family, riding our bikes, taking REALLY long walks at night, and picking oranges and making orange juice (OK, that is something we have never done in NJ.)
And we did do a couple of unusual things, like going to Medieval Times (loads of fun -Mark liked eating with his hands, it's what he does anyway, and Kirsten liked getting the flower from our knight), riding go-carts, going ice-skating, touring Disney's "Textile-facility (a huge laundry room!), visiting the Osceola Conty Pioneer Village, and of course, Dave did a lot of golfing (not unusual) however, Kirsten got to go with him a few times (that IS unusual!) Ask Kirsten about her experiences golfing with Daddy. Maybe she'll tell you the story of when he made a quick turn and dumped her off the side of the moving cart.
So yes, I am sad to go home. I have always said that I am a "sunny" weather person and I think these last two months have proved it (I hate when I can't feel my fingers and toes). And I really do love living in our RV (ask me again after we have spent a year or so in such close confines whether my answer has changed). But going back to NJ is part of our moving forward. Packing up the house is just a start. From there it will be just one surprise after another as we find where God is leading us. I am so thankful that we are taking this adventure together as a family and I pray that Kirsten will enjoy the journey (she is the only one that is approaching the sale of our house with trepidation- I think it is more over the loss of her friends. We will have to do our best to make sure that she can remain in contact with them.) So as we continue to pack up to leave today, I will focus on all the blessings that God has given us. And I will continue to enjoy all the time our family gets to spend together, and learn together as we head out on our new adventure.
