Disney's Hollywood Studios

We spent a day in Disney's Hollywood Studios. We figured that it would not take us long...... well, it was amazing..... We loved it and did not leave until 9pm.

Here we are on main street. What a great time.
Lights, Motors, Action!!!!! What a great action presentation. We saw lots of stunts, they showed us. We even saw Herbie Number 53.

This was a great presentation. It gave us the inside story of the great Walt Disney. Walt was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 5, 1901. They told about his humble life and his special love for his brother. We saw a table that they first made the animated cartoons created by Disney. I remember Steam Boat Willie (Mickey) and loved some of his early cartoons. We also saw some of the items used on "the musketeers"..... boy, did that bring back memories. I loved that show.
Goodnight Disney!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

December 1 Disney World- Magic Kingdom

Yes, we are at Disney World. It was formally a 30,000 acre cow pasture and now it has grown to encompass four distinct parks and an assortment of other entertainments.

Us on main street just before we went into the Hall of Presidents.... one of our favorites.

Of course, you know me, I wanted to head over to

Tom Sawyer's Island. Frontierland brings back our childhood of being raised on the tales of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett.

It is amazing what I can talk your Dad into doing!!

What a long and fun day we had.

Cape Canaveral, Kennedy Space Center

Cape Canaveral, FL is the home of the Kennedy Space Center, where the American rocketry & space exploration has been located since the launch of the unmanned "Bumper 8" research rocket in July of 1950.
In 1961, the launching of Alan Shepard from Pad 5, marked our first American in space. However, the BIG launching that I remember, happened in July of 1969. Apollo II blasted off from pad 39 and on the rocket were Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin & Michael Collins and they were heading for the moon. And while they were heading for the moon, John & I were packing and moving from San Jose, CA to Chico State College in Chico. Ray was just 1 month old and Matt, cute as a button, was 1 year old. These years were the beginning of our family and these launches were the beginning of our great American Space Program.

This is the building that they assemble the rockets for space. You can see on the ground in front of the building what is called a "crawler"...... Now this is a very interesting transporter. The wheels on the crawler look like a BIG tank... it weighs 2400 tons and its speed is 1 mile per hour.

I wish that this picture could show how big this really is..... This is just the bottom of a Command Module.

When the Apollo Program ended, a total of 12 astronauts had set foot on the lunar surface. Together they spent 160 hours on the moon, walking and riding more then 60 miles across its highlands and basins. What trips they had!!!

Thanksgiving in Florida with brother Mike

Brothers...... John and Mike

To start off Thanksgiving Day, we started with a walk on the beautiful Bradenton Beach.

There was a contest going on ..... Sand Sculptures. This is the boys working on their sculpture.

Here it is....... What do you all think?????

Happy Thanksgiving celebration at the RV resort with Mike..... It was great and the food was delicious.

Wild Animal Safari

How do you like this looking in your back door. Big North American Elk.

Aren't I cute as a button.... or maybe as cute as Marty.

This is a Scottish Highlander domestic steer. Can you see his long hair in the front and on the neck????

This is a Zony.... That is a mix of pony and Zebra. Do you see his zebra stripes????? He is wondering if John had a treat for him....

Hey Mike, do you have treats for us??????? These are 2 Zonies and they likes to beg........."Up close and personal".

Welcome to the Wild Animal Safari at Pine Mountain, Georgia. We got these wonderful tickets from Greg and Jonell. It was a nice drive up here and the mountains were full of the earthy colors of Autumn. This is a 500 acre park, filled with wild and exotic species of animals from around the world.

We saw these appropriate designed Zebra Vans and rented one for our trip. I wish you could have seen John and Julie...... they were laughing so hard..... the Van looks good from here but what you do not see....... It had no side windows & some had leather straps over the window area, the sides were scratched & dented, they were very dirty and looked like it was on its last leg....BUT the guys said the engine sounds good..... Upon seeing this, I began to realize that we did not know what we were in for & where this adventure was going to take us.

This is a good old Texas Long Horn, with North American Bison, and a water buffalo. But even better, in this photo, you can see the wonderful grounds that the animals roam and graze freely.

Yes, they even came up to the car to ask for food.

I believe, this is a Banteng from Cambodia Loas. His coat was so shiny that it looked as though it was polished. I am glad he was not wanting to come up to us for food. He was BIG

Georgia Friends

Does this say..... "Country Roads??????"..... I could hear the music from the John Denver song.. Boy, do I have childhood memories of Country Roads just like these.

Then the roads open up onto this dramatically beautiful home nestled in a pine forest. What a gorgeous place Julie and Mike have.

Julie & Mike..... friends we first met in 1966 when we all were stationed at Cheltenham Naval Station in Maryland, just out of Washington D. C.

The guys checking out our road map. Mike was very impressed....... but ended by saying "You haven't seen enough of Georgia." So we are coming back in December to do some more Georgia sightseeing. Julie and I are excited about going to Savannah.

Our RV in storage at Julie and Mikes home out in the newly planted olive orchard. We took a flight out to San Diego for 2 weeks to see some grandchildren. Thanks Julie & Mike.

South Carolina

Another awesome bridge.... This time on the way to South Carolina.

Samantha, Brenda and John. What a great family they have! We had so much fun time just talking and reminiscing. How great it is to see friends.

Brenda, Heather and John

Friends together again.

Jamestown Settlement

Some old ruins of the homes built near the fort.

This is a small model showing Fort James. Note the triangular sharp of the fort.

The famous Pocahontas, favorite daughter of chief Powhatan. Captain John Smith claimed she had saved his life twice during the colony's 1st year.

This is the site of the landing of the 1st settlers in 1607, May 13. These notes were found:

"The 13th day (of May 1607) we came to our seating place....where our ship doe lie so neere that they are moored to the trees in 6 faltons of water. The 14 day we landed our men" ..... George Percy.

The first church at the fort.

Voyage to the Americas

Four hundred years ago, on December 20, 1606, three merchant ships filled with passengers and cargo embarked from England on a voyage that would set the course of American history. This is their trip and these are the replicas of those ships. The ships were called Susan Constant, Godspeed and the Discovery.

This is the lead ship, called the Susan Constant.

These two ships are the Godspeed and the Discovery. The Godspeed was the second largest vessel in the fleet. It was a 40 ton vessel and the trip to Virginia took 144 days. It carried 13 crew with 39 passengers. The third ship, stayed with the settlers to help discover the inland water ways of the Chesapeake Bay.

On May 13, 104 passengers (boys and men only) selected a site on the banks of the James River, for what was to be America's first permanent English settlement. This is James Fort.

This is the inside of Fort James. It is a triangular recreation of the original fort. Inside the Fort is a Church, a storehouse, buildings, blacksmith, and an armory. It was just amazing. We saw the blacksmith making nails and a carpenter building a shop for the fort. The carpenter only used the tools of the 1600. John and I were very impressed.