For the first time ever, the Blue Angels graced the skies over Vero Beach. Apparently, the Blue's had a gap in their schedule and Vero Beach had connections, and they made it happen. I could not let this opportunity pass me by.
Unfortunately, Andrew was sick, so I had to go by myself. I found a parking lot about a mile from the airport, just north of the flight line and parked my chair under a palm tree. But similar to the saying, I didn't need my chair once the Blue's took to the sky. Be sure to browse to the slide show folder and watch the two videos.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Monday, April 21, 2014
LEGOLAND 2014
LEGOLAND was offering a group discount for home school families, so Susan decided to take them up on the offer. I originally planned to skip it, but things changed and I decided to go along.
Susan and I met Mom and Andrew at the Kohl’s parking lot off Narcoossee Road east of Orlando. Mom asked me if she needed to bring a jacket. A jacket, in Florida, in April? Ha! That’s ridiculous. I told her it was going to be sunny and 75, just like the Joe Nichols song.
We all climbed into the Fit and headed south on 417. About five miles down the road, traffic came to a stop. We could see that the traffic was stopping only a couple hundred yards ahead, so we figured it shouldn’t be long before we could crawl past on the shoulder. Time passed and traffic didn’t move. Before long, emergency vehicles arrived, but still no traffic movement. A little later a life flight helicopter flew over and landed on the highway near the incident. This was more serious than we first thought.
By now, other cars were crossing the median and heading north on the highway. The thought crossed my mind (and Andrew kept pointing out the other cars), but I decided to be patient. We called the family who had made the ticket arrangements and told her we would be late.
Eventually, the state highway patrol blocked northbound traffic and started signaling southbound traffic to, you guessed it, cross the median and go north. DOH, we could have done than (albeit unsafely) a half hour earlier! Finally we were on our way – again.
As we approached Winter Haven, we were all starting to get hungry and were thinking about lunch. We stopped at a Publix on the way and picked up some finger foods from the deli.
We arrived at the park about an hour late. The sky was overcast and it was about 65 degrees. None of us thought to bring a jacket, except Mom, but I talked her out of it. Oh well, here’s hoping the forecasters were right.
In the park, we got our tickets and a map, then called the other parents. We decided to go our own way and perhaps run into them later.
Our fist stop was the Greenhouse. The Greenhouse had miniature scenes created with LEGO blocks. The exhibits talked about Florida agriculture. There was even a pair of cows for milking. I was surprised that they were not made of LEGOs.
Then we passed through MINILAND. Several cities and locations were modeled, including Florida favorites: Daytona International Speedway, Kennedy Space Center, Key West, Miami, Tallahassee, and St. Augustine. Other cities included: Las Vegas, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.
I think Andrew’s favorite stop was IMAGNINATION ZONE. Here, he was given a set of wheels and was turned loose to create his own custom car to test out on various tracks. After a few design iterations, he came up with a car that tracked fast and straight. It performed amazingly on the ramp track, flying off the end and smashing into pieces in the catch zone. It even got first place competing with other cars on the five-wide test track.
After lunch in LEGO KINGDOMS, the sun was finally out and we stopped looking for places to get warm. Our next stop was the Star Wars exhibit. This was amazing. There were scenes from all six movies modeled. Unfortunately, my camera was accidentally set to manual mode and most of my pictures here turned out extremely over-exposed. Luckily, a few turned out nicely.
The one place I looked forward to seeing was the old Cypress Gardens, especially with the sun shining brightly. Andrew enjoyed exploring the many twisting trails. The wonder to behold was the old Banyan tree. It was planted in 1939 and is now enormous. Andrew took my phone and shot dozens of pictures to create a Photo Sphere.
So, even though the crash on 417 cost us almost an hour and the weather wasn’t nice until late afternoon, I know everyone had a good time, and Andrew is looking forward to going back again with his LEGO-loving cousin from Ohio.
Susan and I met Mom and Andrew at the Kohl’s parking lot off Narcoossee Road east of Orlando. Mom asked me if she needed to bring a jacket. A jacket, in Florida, in April? Ha! That’s ridiculous. I told her it was going to be sunny and 75, just like the Joe Nichols song.
We all climbed into the Fit and headed south on 417. About five miles down the road, traffic came to a stop. We could see that the traffic was stopping only a couple hundred yards ahead, so we figured it shouldn’t be long before we could crawl past on the shoulder. Time passed and traffic didn’t move. Before long, emergency vehicles arrived, but still no traffic movement. A little later a life flight helicopter flew over and landed on the highway near the incident. This was more serious than we first thought.
By now, other cars were crossing the median and heading north on the highway. The thought crossed my mind (and Andrew kept pointing out the other cars), but I decided to be patient. We called the family who had made the ticket arrangements and told her we would be late.
Eventually, the state highway patrol blocked northbound traffic and started signaling southbound traffic to, you guessed it, cross the median and go north. DOH, we could have done than (albeit unsafely) a half hour earlier! Finally we were on our way – again.
As we approached Winter Haven, we were all starting to get hungry and were thinking about lunch. We stopped at a Publix on the way and picked up some finger foods from the deli.
We arrived at the park about an hour late. The sky was overcast and it was about 65 degrees. None of us thought to bring a jacket, except Mom, but I talked her out of it. Oh well, here’s hoping the forecasters were right.
In the park, we got our tickets and a map, then called the other parents. We decided to go our own way and perhaps run into them later.
Our fist stop was the Greenhouse. The Greenhouse had miniature scenes created with LEGO blocks. The exhibits talked about Florida agriculture. There was even a pair of cows for milking. I was surprised that they were not made of LEGOs.
Then we passed through MINILAND. Several cities and locations were modeled, including Florida favorites: Daytona International Speedway, Kennedy Space Center, Key West, Miami, Tallahassee, and St. Augustine. Other cities included: Las Vegas, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.
I think Andrew’s favorite stop was IMAGNINATION ZONE. Here, he was given a set of wheels and was turned loose to create his own custom car to test out on various tracks. After a few design iterations, he came up with a car that tracked fast and straight. It performed amazingly on the ramp track, flying off the end and smashing into pieces in the catch zone. It even got first place competing with other cars on the five-wide test track.
After lunch in LEGO KINGDOMS, the sun was finally out and we stopped looking for places to get warm. Our next stop was the Star Wars exhibit. This was amazing. There were scenes from all six movies modeled. Unfortunately, my camera was accidentally set to manual mode and most of my pictures here turned out extremely over-exposed. Luckily, a few turned out nicely.
The one place I looked forward to seeing was the old Cypress Gardens, especially with the sun shining brightly. Andrew enjoyed exploring the many twisting trails. The wonder to behold was the old Banyan tree. It was planted in 1939 and is now enormous. Andrew took my phone and shot dozens of pictures to create a Photo Sphere.
So, even though the crash on 417 cost us almost an hour and the weather wasn’t nice until late afternoon, I know everyone had a good time, and Andrew is looking forward to going back again with his LEGO-loving cousin from Ohio.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens 2013
While visiting my in-laws in Virginia this year, we visited the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. We arranged the trip with my sister-in-law. She stopped by to pick up the parents and drove of while we lagged behind. We must have taken a quicker route because we amazingly arrived at the same time. It was late and the place was packed, but we decided to go for it anyway.
As soon as we entered the gardens, the family unit dispersed in all directions. Andrew and I had tripods with us, so we fell behind as we set up our shots. Before we had time to see everything, a park official told us that the lights would be off in 5 minutes and to start heading for gate. Too bad, but we did get to see most of the outdoor attractions. Unfortunately, we missed out seeing the train layout inside the Conservatory.
As soon as we entered the gardens, the family unit dispersed in all directions. Andrew and I had tripods with us, so we fell behind as we set up our shots. Before we had time to see everything, a park official told us that the lights would be off in 5 minutes and to start heading for gate. Too bad, but we did get to see most of the outdoor attractions. Unfortunately, we missed out seeing the train layout inside the Conservatory.
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