As to restaurants, her favorite was a pizza parlor that allowed her to assemble her own dinner . . .

   We Survived!                                                                  July 9, 2005

We survived!!!!!   In our last epistle we mentioned the impending arrival of our 11-year old Goddaughter from Reno and our plan to spend her 3-week visit escorting her around Orlando and all of the various and sundry Disney World venues . . .

But we did manage to get in a little reading time in the evening after the pool closed, her little friends went to bed and tornado warnings confined us to our motorhome . . .

Considering that neither of us has spent much time with the munchkin community over the past several years, we have come through the ordeal in pretty reasonable physical condition with all appendages still attached and most vital organs in working condition.  I did manage to kick a 45-year preference for beer during her visit and have moved on to Jack Daniels as well as having developed a Porky Pig-like stutter.  My bride, however, will need years of therapy to overcome a 5-pound per day chocolate habit and a phobia that causes her to break out in hives when in the presence of children.  And so, after placing our charge on a plane back to Reno, we headed north, out of Flori-duh, through Georgia, and into the rolling hills of northern Alabama back to the birthplace of our urban assault vehicle, Red Bay.  As luck would have it, we managed to flee the Florida panhandle ahead of Hurricane Dennis but will be trapped here in Red Bay for the next week having some repair work done on the bus and the wife, while enjoying the torrential rains that these storms always drop on this part of the world.  Assuming we can keep up with roof leaks and don’t drown in the interim, we will be heading to the Great Lakes area for a spell on the next leg of our life.  Until then………th-th-th-th-that’s all folks!!!  Hugs and smooches, Us

Welp, we did it and somehow survived not only Disney but a 24 hour per day exposure to a wee person who doesn’t share our vision of an exciting day . . . hanging out at home reading a good book, afternoon naps and 5 star restaurants.  We made the mistake of not remembering history and ergo, we experienced déjà vu all over again. :>)  During her month long visit when she was only 6, we spent several weeks in a frantic dash through all of the amusement parks in southern California only to discover during the waning days of her stay that she was much happier just hanging around the swimming pool and playing with other 6-year olds!!