Our December to Remember - 12/1 to 12/26

Question: What do full-timers in a motorhome do about decorating for Christmas?

Answer: The couple gets out the few things they brought along and make a trip to Old Time Pottery and Walgreens to get something new that adds color but takes up very little room.

Just because we have no house, garage, yard, etc. doesn’t mean we’re that much different. We just have less to worry with and can’t buy as much. This, in itself, is a blessing. It’s all a part of living with less and being just as happy and alive.

When we got out the lights to string along the side of the Dutch Star we noticed that one was missing. Since we couldn’t find the spare bulbs, we went by Walgreens to get some. Well, wouldn’t you know, they didn’t have the spares we needed but they did have a string that looked similar to the string we had. Byron, being the “big spender,” suggested we go ahead and by a strand and use the supplied spares in the box for the lights at the motorhome. They appeared to be the right thing but, when we got home, they didn’t fit correctly in the base. So, we have now started a junk collection. Thank goodness it’s only a strand of Christmas lights. After all, we don’t have room for much.

The trip to Old Time Pottery was to buy a pair of small Christmas trees on sale. The box said they were to place at the entrance of a house. We have one decorated with knitted and crocheted ornaments from Grandama Mildred (Byron’s mother) and the other outside to complement the lights on the motorhome. We also have a Hallmark nativity set up by the inside tree. It is sitting on the dash.

We also have a few Christmas place settings, some candles and a couple of other small things. It doesn’t take much to decorate 400 square feet, especially when you have little room to store it for the rest of the year. Besides, we have the decorations of others in the RV park to enjoy.

The office building of Great Oak RV Resort

decorated for the holiday season.

On December 9 Byron began is first day as a Walt Disney World cast member (employee). This involved three days of orientation beginning with a general introduction to the Disney brand and the values it represents. Seasonal positions are quite limited so he elected to accept a position in the Food and Beverage group. He was assigned to the Casey’s Corner/Dessert Party group. Casey’s serves a variety of hot dog meals while the Fireworks Dessert Party is a ticketed event. The on-the-job training for these venues involved five shifts of training under the tutelage of five different trainers. Finally, the opportunity to work unassisted was presented. As Byron has found, there are a lot of people working at the “grumpy” level of the work force to create the “magic.” As he also told some his younger co-workers he’s back to working a few percentage points above minimum wage like he did when working at the hospital while in college.

Casey’s Corner on Main Street USA in Magic Kingdom at

Walt Disney World decorated for the Christmas season.

Byron has been told that Casey’s Corner is the second busiest quick service restaurant for the Walt Disney Companies. Considering the little amount of space and the high volume of traffic, it helps one understand that it takes a lot of team members doing their task well to create the magical Disney experience, that underneath the showy surface a lot of works is being done.

A benefit of occasionally working the Fireworks Dessert Party

is being able to get a glimpse of this unobstructed view

of the Wishes fireworks display and take more time

to interact with the guests.

Martha is still working as a medical transcriptionist for a Utah-based company. She has enjoyed working for this company and has found them to be very respectful organization. When not working during the evening hours, Marta can be found playing Hand and Foot with her new friends at the resort’s meeting room.

Our experience at First United Methodist in Kissimmee continues to be a positive one and one for which we are both thankful. Another couple from our RV park also attends worship so we sit together on occasion. Since Byron was working he wasn’t able to attend one of the Christmas Eve services. Martha was ill with cough and chest congestion so she wasn’t able to attend either.

For Christmas we shared lunch with several of the other residents. That is, the one’s that didn't go back north or to visit with other relatives. There were probably about 30 of us that were together for the meal. Other, less social people here over the holidays stayed away preferring to eat in their units. They also don’t get out to play cards or participate in the karaoke nights.

It was a “red out” for the luncheon on Christmas Day. Byron,

not pictured, chose to wear green.

Speaking of karaoke, Byron has picked up a voice student. While the person truly loves music she has had no training in reading music and was quite intrigued when he explained the ”Do, Re, Mi” song from The Sound of Music. Because of the way she handles her voice, Byron says he feels he’s teaching someone to play the trumpet with a trombone.

We’ll close this weblog by saying Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and include two photos. The first is of Byron’s fellow cast members at the Magic Kingdom. You may recognize a few of them even though dressed in their holiday best. The second was taken at the Candlelight Processional performed from Thanksgiving through December 30 at Epcot with 200 in the choir and a full orchestra. We’ll be attending the December 26 presentation featuring Blair Underwood as narrator of the birth of Jesus from Luke 2.

Our New Community for Winter - 11/7 to 11/30

The general rule of travel for us is to not drive more than 275 miles in a day unless absolutely necessary. When you have the time, “absolutely necessary” doesn’t come around frequently.

Our trip from Gulf Breeze (where Ashley and Michael live) to Kissimmee (our new base for the winter) by way of Jacksonville was about 525 miles. We chose to break the trip across two days because 525 miles is more than our new rule allows. Besides, 525 miles by car makes for a long day, anyway.

We left Gulf Breeze near 10:30, stopped for a lunch and refueling break and then arrived at our overnight destination, which was a campground near Lake City. Since we got in late, we decided to eat an an Italian restaurant. We wouldn’t recommend it unless you like your sauce from a Sysco can.

The morning light – looking across some open sites to our

motorhome in line with others who also spent the night.

The Spanish moss hanging from the live oak trees

says “welcome to the South.”

We decided to drive by way of Jacksonville in order to avoid the toll road and the frequent stops that would be required. Besides, it was only about 25 miles further and would allow us to go by a Camping World to look for a few things.

We arrived at Great Oak RV Resort about 4:30, just before the sun was setting. We were shown to our site by the owner who had arrived from his summer home in Germany two days earlier. At our site, two other residents assisted us with getting parked. They made us feel welcome.

A couple of days later, while walking around the park, we met a lady from Quebec. She and her husband had been coming to the resort for five years. When we mentioned where we were parked she said: “Why don’t you move in next to us? You’ll have more room and good neighbors.” We asked at the office and were allowed to make the change. We’re glad we did because our original spot felt a bit tight. Besides, if we get out to go to some rallies in Florida we don’t want to have to maneuver in and out of a tight space.

As it turns out, there are several couples here from Canada with most of them being from Quebec. Most of them are comfortable with English but when they get together they break into French. (Note to selves; learn some French).

The RV resort has over 200 spaces. Several are permanently filled by what are called “park model homes” (generally 9 x 40). Most of them have enclosed attachments built on as well as underpinning. There are also a good number of fifth-wheel travel trailers. Of those, about half are permanently parked with storage buildings and patio covers attached. We, in our motorhome, are in the minority. We do have a concrete pad and patio with enough room to park the Honda in our drive. We’re close to the trash and recycling dumpsters and a laundry/bath house. Since we have a Splendide combo washer/dryer and use our own shower and toilet, being near the park’s facility is of no consequence to us except that there is a clothesline at the building. (Yes, people do still hang clothes out to dry.)

Martha, Redford and Julie pose after a walk around the RV park.

Two times around the loop equals about one mile.

Until the end of March our address will be: 4628 Daisy Drive #112, Kissimmee, FL 34746-6376. Google Maps doesn’t show the location correctly but it is close. Since we’re in a gated community with one way in and one way out, finding us isn’t a problem. We’re known as the people from Kentucky in the big motorhome by the dumpsters though it sounds nicer to say at the intersection of Daisy Drive and Mimosa Court.

Our location in the resort is easy to find. Continue past

the main entrance on Mimosa Court and turn right

at Daisy Drive. Our motorhome is at the intersection.

On our second night here we attended a potluck dinner at the recreation hall. From our estimate, about 35% of of the residents are engaged in the activities. On Monday night Martha played Hand and Foot along with about 17 other people. On Thursday Byron joined a group of 20 card players for Double Deck Bid Euchre. Saturday night was karaoke night. There were seventeen that participated in singing with several others present for listening. Byron joined in and did versions of Nat King Cole’s “Mona Lisa” and the Sinatra standard, ”New York, New York.” (Some of the participants take karaoke very seriously since they go to other locations around Kissimmee to sing. We’re told that by December the social room will be filled with singers and spectators.)

By the end of our first week Martha was told of a water aerobics group that meets each morning at 10 AM in the heated pool. She attended on the Monday before the leftovers of the arctic blast made it’s way to Central Florida. It seems the ladies only get in the pool if the overnight low is above 60° F.

There are a few reasons for being in Kissimmee. 1) It shouldn’t get below freezing more than a couple of nights. 2) It is close to Walt Disney World where Byron was hired for a seasonal job. 3) We had to be somewhere.

We have made the observation many others have: The variety of languages and accents heard is rather broad. Not only do we have French-speaking neighbors from Quebec but the owners of the resort (25 years) are from Germany. Of course, when we go to the Walmart about a mile away we encounter Spanish. Another observation is that the two churches we have visited are multi-ethnic, which is a good sign.

We had found First United Methodist Church of Kissimmee to be

a congregation that offers a variety of ministries and activities

where we can feel involved.

At the beginning of our third week at Great Oak we were feeling quite comfortable. Though there were many new names to learn and other cultural things to adjust to, we’re adapting to the warmer climate without issue.

For Thanksgiving, about 50 of the residents gathered for a meal prepared by a committee. Of course it included turkey and ham and all that goes with it. For the second night of karaoke Byron did “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” and “Hello Dolly.” Other singers, however, repeated their favorite songs and, so we’re told, will continue to do so. Byron has picked up a voice student. It seems that four nights a week there is some kind of card game going on at the social hall as well as a poker game where a the ante is a nickel. Thus far, no one has been shot and no fight has broken out (apparently Florida is more civil than the Old West). Ambulance runs? Thus far there have been two for some of the more elderly residents.

For the first Sunday of Advent we made our third visit to the Methodist church. This included going to an adult Bible study class. We quickly took up with some of the members since three of them are graduates of Western Kentucky University. Two of them attended Eastern High School (we lived two blocks away when in Middletown) and another is from Danville, Kentucky. Another couple is from the Cincinnati area. We were all quite comfortable talking about the football season and our favorite teams. They’ve also invited us to their Christmas gathering.

Now that Christmas is approaching, several residents (inmates) in the park are decorating for the season. A gentleman from Canada, whose wife is from Germany, was used to decorating his house and yard for Christmas. He reported that he had hundreds of strands as well as animated figures standing up to seven feet tall. Since wintering in Florida at Great Oak is now their habit he saw no reason to stop decorating for the season. He has several collapsable trees with lights, a large star, and an image of The Grinch he displays on the front of their lot. Since we don’t have the storage space we can’t match what he does.

Our Canadian neighbors who live in a permanently parked fifth-wheel

trailer fully decorate their space for Christmas. The spotlight

is focused on The Grinch.