Presidential Exit

I shot this video that shows (briefly) President Obama flying out of SWFL airport on Tuesday on his way back to Washington. I was filming blind because I couldn't see the plane at all in the camera view screen. I used our neighbor's windsock as a guide and at least got some shots of Air Force One. SWFL is the same airport used by Kris, Mike and Kim and Howard when they visit us down here.

Turtles and Pasta

Tonight was "Italian Night" here at Upriver. A group of volunteers worked all day to make a great Italian dinner. Salad, pizzelles, ziti, and Italian Ice. The response was so great that they had two seatings, just like on a cruise. We were in the 4:00 group and the next crowd came in at 5:30. We had over 100 people at our time and the other one was sold out also. There was a strolling accordian player playing traditional songs from Italy, a dance group and a sing-a-long (That's Amore). We all felt like paesanos for a while.



Many people really decorate their sites with lots of garden statues, lights, flags, hanging baskets and such. We added a cute little momma and baby turtle so that our area didn't look too plain. We may add a few other things if we make a trip to the fleamarket. We have to be careful that we don't collect so much stuff that we have trouble packing it to go home.

The Formative Years

My lovely wife Sue often asks me a question of this sort. "How did you get this way?" Maybe my kids have wondered the same thing. Well, TV certainly played a part in my development. Here is a brief insight into what molded little Billy into big Billy.

Howdy Doody

Lassie

Sgt. Preston

(Well King, it looks like our work here is done)

Pinky Lee

Soupy Sales

Brrr!

I understand that all you northerners are putting up with long stretches of cold temperatures and snow. We empathize, we really do. Florida is getting an influx of cold air too and it's really been unusually cold here lately. Over the next couple of nights, the fruit growers to the north of us may get hit pretty hard by freezing temperatures. We have been using the furnace in the motorhome a lot in the evening and overnight. We're not complaining, just sharing information.



On a different subject, nephew Trevor has been having a great season playing basketball for Marietta College back in Ohio. I haven't been posting anything about him, so here is a brief update. As a freshman, he has started all 20 games for the team and is averaging about 15 points per game (team high). The team is 10-10 with 5 more games to go this season. Since they have often started five freshman against juniors and seniors, they are doing very well. The picture above shows that Trevor definitely inherited the famous "Halter-man" legs.

We're Moving, A Little Bit.

Today, we are moving from lot 339 to 338. We had requested a lot that would put the "sun room" on the non-sunny side of the bus. They couldn't give us one on 1/7, but said that we could move to 338 on 1/30. The people that were on that lot left this morning about 9:15, so it's available now.

It will actually move us closer to the beach. Ok, maybe 50 yards closer out of 20 miles isn't such a big deal, but it's still closer to the beach.

It's raining here now, so we'll have to work around that. Sue is going to a "Ladies Luncheon" today at 12:00. If the weather cooperates, the move will not be that big a deal.

We made our first visit of this winter to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Iguana Mia. The food was as good as we remembered.

See everyone later from 338.

Inauguration View From Space

Here are some satellite views of Washington D.C. during Barack Obama's inauguration .







Without magnification, the only objects visible from space are: The Grand Canyon, The Great Wall Of China, and according to Jay Leno, Aretha Franklin's hat.

It's 'Tee Time

Manatee, that is. We went to the Manatee Park on Friday and found a plethora of manatees. I guess that the colder weather and the warm discharge water from the power plant made the right combination to attract the critters. There were certainly a lot more of them than at any other time that we have been there. Here are some pictures of a crowd of manatees at a small cove.




This video shows the manatees in action. The last couple of minutes shows them at the cove where the still pictures were taken.