I still, after several attempts, don’t feel that I have adequately explained Bluegrass Festivals and I suppose, with my limited literary skill, I never will. The central activity of a bluegrass festival is the concerts. Here there are three days of concerts, each concert is split into 2 parts, before supper and after supper. Each half has a line up of 5 or 6 bands, each does a set of 45 minutes, which usually lasts an hour. Then they do a second set in the evening half. In this festival there are 3 completely different line-ups each day. With bigger and bigger name acts. So the festival may involve watching up to 10 hours of top line bands each day, which of course you can’t do. So you have to choose who you will not watch, so that you can take a break, look at the vendors around the place, talk to people, do some ‘pickin’, or just resting. Some of the music is traditional (mountain) bluegrass and some of it you may call modern, even swing, or jazz. Bluegrass music is about love, death and family, but there is a huge input of gospel music, most bands aspire to produce a gospel CD. No solo artists, but lot of close and three part harmony amongst groups, which can produce some amazing music. Often it slips into the areas of Country music, so the songs tend to be a bit sugary (no, very sugary). Often music will be a tribute to the armed forces. In two days bands asked serving men and veterans to stand and be applauded, bet it happens again today). One group, called The Isaacs, when called to do an encore (they are an exceptionally talented group) sung an amazing version of the Star Spangled Banner. To which everyone stood with pride!!
As I continue this on Monday morning, I Was correct, There was another call for the armed forces to be acknowledged and respected. This time it was by a band called the US Navy Bluegrass/Current Country band. Yes they are all in the navy and are paid by the navy to play bluegrass (a bit like Forest Gump and ping pong). However, they are also very good musicians. So at one point they played a medley of the forces anthems and asked serving and vets to stand as each arm of the forces was highlighted, it was quite moving. Incidentally, there are 5 sections to the US Armed forces, as well as air, army, and navy there is also the marines and surprisingly the coastguard. (Carl, who married our niece was in the coastguard)
This was the festival line up, for all you aficionados:
Thursday: The Grascals, Dailey and Vincent, The Gary Waldrop Band, James King, Paul Williams and the Victory Trio
Friday: The Isaacs, The Gibson Brothers, Carolina Sonshine, Doyle Lawson, Blue Highway and Goldwing Express
Saturday: Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, Rhonda Vincent and The Rage, The US Navy Band, Nothin’ Fancy and The Lewis Family.
In my opinion the best band was bluegrass gospel band The Isaacs, their music is beautifully thought out, their harmonies exquisite and their voices amazing. Two sisters, a brother and mother, as well as a fiddle and bongo (?) player.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Palatka Bluegrass Festival
The trouble with Bluegrass festivals is that there is so little time to sit and reflect, or write a blog. We arrived on Wednesday and already it is Saturday! We drove up in convoy with Connie and Jim and Paula arrived a bit later. We were so pleased that on the Thursday our friends Don and Sandra, who we had met at Arcadia, arrived for the festival. It was a happy reunion and we were pleased that we could introduce our friends to each other.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Being Amongst Friends
Sunday was time to move on. We have come to Belleview, to Connie and Jim’s house, where they have some hook-ups. We are staying here until Wednesday, when we plan to go to Palatka for a bluegrass festival.
But first the Big Game. Superbowl CX11, I think that is roman for 42, now there is a significant number, also known as 10101010, so JP tells me. Anyway, tonight the New England Patriots, who have won every game this season (17) were set to crush the New York Giants who are rank outsiders, so far outside so as you couldn’t even hear them. They got through to the playoffs as a ‘wild card’, so they didn’t even qualify through the games they won. So guess who won. Yep, Giants trounced the Patriots 17 to 14. It was such a close game that we even watched it right to the end!
We have stayed with Connie and Jim for two days now, yesterday we had a lie in, went for a mooch around the local Publix, to stock up food for the week, then took Connie and Jim and Paula to eat at Sam’s Seafood Restaurant, I have never seen so many prawns on skewers. It was a lovely meal.
Today we didn’t have so much of a lie in, I have spent a lot of time updating the Ridings Website. We now have the dates and information for the Meetings this year, I eventually finished that. Connie’s son-in-law’s brother, wife and mother came over to see Connie and Jim, so we went out to Sonny’s Ribs reataurant, where we ate Pork ribs till they cam out of our ears (no not literally).
This afternoon Sally set about correcting some of the awful workmanship of the trailer builders by taking off all the cushion and seat covers and using Connie’s sewing machine to reinforce every seam. I meanwhile went with Connie t get supplies for the Palatka festival at ‘Sams’, a cash and carry owned by Wal-Mart. So you can buy everything you get at Wal-Mart, but in bulk and at a discount. Very interesting.
Hopefully when Sally finishes the cushion covers we will get a relax in the outdoor spa and jacquoozie (I don’t know how to spell it). Rrelaxing under the stars in the hot water, with the old bubble machine going. I will tell later whether it was as good as it sounds.
But first the Big Game. Superbowl CX11, I think that is roman for 42, now there is a significant number, also known as 10101010, so JP tells me. Anyway, tonight the New England Patriots, who have won every game this season (17) were set to crush the New York Giants who are rank outsiders, so far outside so as you couldn’t even hear them. They got through to the playoffs as a ‘wild card’, so they didn’t even qualify through the games they won. So guess who won. Yep, Giants trounced the Patriots 17 to 14. It was such a close game that we even watched it right to the end!
We have stayed with Connie and Jim for two days now, yesterday we had a lie in, went for a mooch around the local Publix, to stock up food for the week, then took Connie and Jim and Paula to eat at Sam’s Seafood Restaurant, I have never seen so many prawns on skewers. It was a lovely meal.
Today we didn’t have so much of a lie in, I have spent a lot of time updating the Ridings Website. We now have the dates and information for the Meetings this year, I eventually finished that. Connie’s son-in-law’s brother, wife and mother came over to see Connie and Jim, so we went out to Sonny’s Ribs reataurant, where we ate Pork ribs till they cam out of our ears (no not literally).
This afternoon Sally set about correcting some of the awful workmanship of the trailer builders by taking off all the cushion and seat covers and using Connie’s sewing machine to reinforce every seam. I meanwhile went with Connie t get supplies for the Palatka festival at ‘Sams’, a cash and carry owned by Wal-Mart. So you can buy everything you get at Wal-Mart, but in bulk and at a discount. Very interesting.
Hopefully when Sally finishes the cushion covers we will get a relax in the outdoor spa and jacquoozie (I don’t know how to spell it). Rrelaxing under the stars in the hot water, with the old bubble machine going. I will tell later whether it was as good as it sounds.
The Hog Roast Meet
We have come back to the Soggy Bottom Bluegrass Club to take part in their annual Hog Roast. We now seem to be like old timers. We waited with anticipation for Paula, Connie and Jim and Brenda and Dave to arrive. When they did we were again given a heartwarming welcome. It was as though we had never been away. Connie again wanted to submerge us in an All American Cookout.This is a festive weekend, celebrating nothing in particular. This is now a traditional event, having been done for the last 24 years. It is also Soggy Bottoms most popular event. The central event is the roasting of a pig. However all through the weekend there is a lot of talkin’, pickin’ and drinkin’. I set out with the guitar on Friday morning. Sat outside a trailer with a man called Russ and Frank, who was from he trailer next to us. They both play dobro (Slide guitar). We picked for a few minutes then moved up to a covered area (The Pavilion).
We played for a bit and were joined by a banjo player. Then a bass player joined us. Followed by Michelle, a banjo player. Soon there were 2 mandolins, another guitar and another dobro player. We played a whole range of tunes and songs, most of them simple three chord progressions, but with a lot of lead breaks in there as well. 
It was great fun. I backed out after about 2 hours to get lunch. Although there is no central concert there is some amazing playing that goes on around peoples campfires. I saw one group, it was a scratch band, but they were really good. They stood in a tight horseshoe shape, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, guitar, bass, lead guitar and played music which varied from bluegrass through swing to jazz. In the middle was a chair. People took turns to sit in the chair and just listen to this band in surround sound. About 12.30 on the Saturday night, while wandering around I came across a small group of players, three guitars, banjo and bass. They were just playing modern jazz, sounded weird, but incredible. About 50 yards from them was an open session made up of girls (of all ages). Just across the little creek was a campfire with predominantly young people. Their idea of a campfire was to bring a tree stump (about 18inches wide by 3ft high) in on the back of a pickup and burn it (they were sort of in charge of roasting the pig). They did nothing but shout laugh ‘whoop’ and drink homemade ‘shots’ and eat ‘puddings’. Shots are m ore or less neat alcohol + a flavour. Puddings are made up. The recipe varies but is usually miracle whip (like Angel Delight), cream and some sort of alcohol. The mix is then dispensed into little plastic pots similar to the milk cartons you get in café’s these days. These are then carried round from campfire to campfire then shared, or used as forfeits. However they were very friendly and harmless (mostly).
Roasting a Hog.
Roasting a hog sounds quite straight forward, but of course it isn’t.
There are a whole raft of things to do and specialist people to do them. I shall try and explain the basics of this.
The Hog roast is for about 200 people, so first off (American expression) one hog (pig) ain’t enough, so they roast one pig but buy in a load of pork joints. These are called ‘Pork Butts’.
The pig must be prepared, by a preparation team. It is slit down the stomach and ‘bits’ removed and cleaned, then stuffed with secret spices and sour oranges. It then has a scaffold pole pushed from one end to the other. 
It is then skewered on to the pole by what seemed to be about 10 long bolts. Then wire mesh is wrapped round it. This is to hold it together when it cooks.
The pole is suspended over a large charcoal fire inside a huge BBQ. An electric motor is used to rotate the pole. The hog was set roasting at about 4.00 on the Friday afternoon. It is then watched over by a team of Hog Watchers, who make sure that it doesn’t get to hot, but has a good supply of coals. 
It cooks for about 20 hours, in that time the skin burns and the legs burn off as well. Then is allowed to cool for about 4 hours, so that it can be handled. Meanwhile a team of Butt Rubbers are employed toseason the pork joints, which are then cooked in another large BBQ. This year they cooked 28 pork butts. I suggested that they may like their own T-shirt with ‘Hoggy Bottom Rubbers’(rather than Soggy Bottom) on it.
There are a whole raft of things to do and specialist people to do them. I shall try and explain the basics of this.
The Hog roast is for about 200 people, so first off (American expression) one hog (pig) ain’t enough, so they roast one pig but buy in a load of pork joints. These are called ‘Pork Butts’.
The pig must be prepared, by a preparation team. It is slit down the stomach and ‘bits’ removed and cleaned, then stuffed with secret spices and sour oranges. It then has a scaffold pole pushed from one end to the other. 
It is then skewered on to the pole by what seemed to be about 10 long bolts. Then wire mesh is wrapped round it. This is to hold it together when it cooks.
The pole is suspended over a large charcoal fire inside a huge BBQ. An electric motor is used to rotate the pole. The hog was set roasting at about 4.00 on the Friday afternoon. It is then watched over by a team of Hog Watchers, who make sure that it doesn’t get to hot, but has a good supply of coals. 
It cooks for about 20 hours, in that time the skin burns and the legs burn off as well. Then is allowed to cool for about 4 hours, so that it can be handled. Meanwhile a team of Butt Rubbers are employed toseason the pork joints, which are then cooked in another large BBQ. This year they cooked 28 pork butts. I suggested that they may like their own T-shirt with ‘Hoggy Bottom Rubbers’(rather than Soggy Bottom) on it.
Band Scramble
A new activity for the Soggy Bottomers was the ‘Band Scramble’. First invented by Connie and Jim at their Harpers Hideaway weekend. 6 pots are put out, one for each instrument (guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, dobro and bass), you write your name on a slip of paper and put it in the pot of your choice. Names are pulled out at random and lo a new band is formed. We have 1 hour to choose music and practice, then all meet together for an impromptu concert. Each band had 13 minutes of performance. We had a stage, P.A. and everything. There were 7 bands, though some had more than one of each instrument. Once the band line ups were put up we all met together at a trailer and pulled out some tunes. We chose Ragtime Annie (fiddle lead), Have You Lost All The Love? (song by bass player, Christie), The Lighthouse (sung by Ed, the other guitarist) and Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Banjo lead). Lots of people thought we were really good (others just kept quiet). This was just an excellent afternoon. It really gave a chance for people to mix together.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Oh for the Simple life
Monday Evening.
Picked up another Chance Card!
Bates RV had said they would put the Trailer onto our site at Tampa East (next door to them). But they didn’t. Oops!
We had to deploy a back up bonus card and stay at a local motel for the night. Motel 6
Not bad, this meant we were forced to go to the Waffle House for breakfast. Surprisingly it was quite yummy. They cooked the food right there in front of you and though it was simple it was good.
Fortified by breakfast we entered the fray at Bates RV.
What ensued there could so easily be full of meaningful detail, but would probably appear quite trite. Sufficient to say that we were underwhelmed by their communication skills and organisational capability. The trouble is that the people who work in the Service Department are really very nice. But their receptionists cannot remember to pass on messages. Their body shop workers, while keeping themselves in a job by damaging panels of our trailer against a wall could not actually fix all the parts, leaving work to be done on the repair, because he forgot that he had damaged one of the trims at the same time. Doh!. They have an ordering system by which given a choice of two sofa’s to replace, because of faulty upholstery material, cannot, even after writing it down about four times, order the correct one! So we have a brand new sofa to replace the one which was not damaged. But they are now going to have to chase us up country to replace the defective one. But a work record system which lost our snagging list about three times, leaving them asking us what they were supposed to be doing! But bless them, they do try. Linda, the manager, when we told her what had happened (she, being the manager said, and I can believe it, she knew nothing of the arrangement to place the trailer at Tampa East, even though we had made the arrangement with her in December. She wondered why we had not phoned on the Monday to remind them. I pointed out that we could have phoned at 5.00 in the morning when we took off from Manchester, but felt that no one would be really interested at that time. We had phoned on the Friday and spoken to Richard (he’s the one that looks like the guy in ‘fifty first date’, is it Adam Sandler?) to remind him. He said OK sure thing, no trouble.) So he is not in on Tuesday (can you blame him), so Linda phones him and says “I have Mr and Mrs Phillippe here, they want to tell you how much they enjoyed staying in a motel last night”. Truthfully though, they did refund our motel cost, which was nice. Meanwhile, this all happened in Linda’s office, and a dear sweet receptionist, who kept saying that Linda was bearable after a good cup of coffee (I am not sure who was supposed to drink the coffee), was trying to calm the waters by making everyone (well Linda really) a coffee, also in her office, however having the standard skills of a BatesRV receptionist, she had no idea how to make ground coffee, so half way through our conversation we could see the coffee boil over, flooding the desk, wall and floor of Linda’s office with strong coffee and grounds, which when we pointed it out to them took three technicians (RV menders really) and a receptionist to stop the flood. French Farce was one theme that kept passing through my brain. We went out to the trailer and went through the snagging list again, and admired the nice new ladder they had fitted. It is strongly attached to the back bumper, the rear walls of the trailer and the roof itself (this was nice and they had done it very cheaply for us. You don’t realise how much of a comfort it is to know that I can get up on the roof now, I certainly sleep easier). One of them tested it first and it seemed OK, so we were happy with that. Good job done.
Anyway, we seem to have got most things sorted out (apart from the sofa which will be delivered some time in March, oh and the electric hot water heater (which died on us in October, which after several hours of them saying “it works” and us saying “it doesn’t” they admitted had been recalled and we would get a new one anyway), which they will refit at the same time). So we said a temporary goodbye and took the trailer on round to Tampa East RV.
As we were just leaving one of the guys, Billy, who is very nice and seems to know what he is talking about, came over somewhat sheepishly over, though I figured he came to say goodbye (because they are all right neighbourly) carrying a nice new sewer hose kit, nice red one, with the 90 degree bend and two lengths of hose that clip together, still in its box. I said “Hi Billy, we are just off, we’ll see you. Do you know we’ve got a sewer hose just like that one”. He said “Yep, I know that, this one is for you, because, you see, as we were fitting the ladder we had to drill through the bumper to fix the ladder to it”. What, good readers from England, you may not know, but which every RV’er in the States knows, (except apparently those who fit ladders to the rear of RV’s) is that the rear bumper is hollow and you use it to store your sewer hose. So we now have a brand new sewer hose, unfortunately at the moment we can’t store it in the correct place because there are 2 large bolts stopping us putting it away.
So today (Wed) as we are packing up to leave, Good Old Matt arrives with a piece of trim (you remember the trim?), which he has lovingly removed from another Starcraft Trailer, and proceeds to fit it while we are packing away. Still, job done!
Moving on to Sertoma
We packed up our trailer and have moved on to Sertoma Youth Ranch. Some loyal readers may remember that we stayed here last November for the Thanksgiving Bluegrass Meet and then stayed on to join The Soggy Bottom Bluegrass Bunch. We have now returned to join in with their Hog Roast Weekend.
While on the road we saw a fascinating sight. We stopped for lunch at a roadside pull in, a bit like a motorway service centre, but with no petrol station or café. Very similar to the Aires they have on French motorways.
We stopped in the truck section, so that it is easy to park. We were close by a couple of low loaders, each with half a large mobile home on them. As we stopped we noticed that there was a pick up truck which was stopped off the paved area, half hidden in the dense undergrowth and trees. It seemed a strange place to leave a truck. In fact we both commented on it at the same time. As we sat there the driver of one of the trucks and a woman came round from behind the mobile home. They threw there arms up and ran for the truck. It seems that they had got out of the truck and walked away without putting the brakes on. The truck had rolled away, over the edge of the car park and off into the trees. Fortunately nothing but their pride was damaged. They looked very sheepish as they reversed the truck out, clearing braches and leaves from the front. The only casualty was the big flag they have to carry on the front bumper. The pole was badly bent and the flag had ripped off in the undergrowth. This made for a very entertaining lunch.
We arrived at Sertoma in good time and were greeted enthusiastically by Karen, the manager, who greeted us like long lost friends. Yes, it is nice to be back.
Picked up another Chance Card!
Bates RV had said they would put the Trailer onto our site at Tampa East (next door to them). But they didn’t. Oops!
We had to deploy a back up bonus card and stay at a local motel for the night. Motel 6
Not bad, this meant we were forced to go to the Waffle House for breakfast. Surprisingly it was quite yummy. They cooked the food right there in front of you and though it was simple it was good.
Fortified by breakfast we entered the fray at Bates RV.
What ensued there could so easily be full of meaningful detail, but would probably appear quite trite. Sufficient to say that we were underwhelmed by their communication skills and organisational capability. The trouble is that the people who work in the Service Department are really very nice. But their receptionists cannot remember to pass on messages. Their body shop workers, while keeping themselves in a job by damaging panels of our trailer against a wall could not actually fix all the parts, leaving work to be done on the repair, because he forgot that he had damaged one of the trims at the same time. Doh!. They have an ordering system by which given a choice of two sofa’s to replace, because of faulty upholstery material, cannot, even after writing it down about four times, order the correct one! So we have a brand new sofa to replace the one which was not damaged. But they are now going to have to chase us up country to replace the defective one. But a work record system which lost our snagging list about three times, leaving them asking us what they were supposed to be doing! But bless them, they do try. Linda, the manager, when we told her what had happened (she, being the manager said, and I can believe it, she knew nothing of the arrangement to place the trailer at Tampa East, even though we had made the arrangement with her in December. She wondered why we had not phoned on the Monday to remind them. I pointed out that we could have phoned at 5.00 in the morning when we took off from Manchester, but felt that no one would be really interested at that time. We had phoned on the Friday and spoken to Richard (he’s the one that looks like the guy in ‘fifty first date’, is it Adam Sandler?) to remind him. He said OK sure thing, no trouble.) So he is not in on Tuesday (can you blame him), so Linda phones him and says “I have Mr and Mrs Phillippe here, they want to tell you how much they enjoyed staying in a motel last night”. Truthfully though, they did refund our motel cost, which was nice. Meanwhile, this all happened in Linda’s office, and a dear sweet receptionist, who kept saying that Linda was bearable after a good cup of coffee (I am not sure who was supposed to drink the coffee), was trying to calm the waters by making everyone (well Linda really) a coffee, also in her office, however having the standard skills of a BatesRV receptionist, she had no idea how to make ground coffee, so half way through our conversation we could see the coffee boil over, flooding the desk, wall and floor of Linda’s office with strong coffee and grounds, which when we pointed it out to them took three technicians (RV menders really) and a receptionist to stop the flood. French Farce was one theme that kept passing through my brain. We went out to the trailer and went through the snagging list again, and admired the nice new ladder they had fitted. It is strongly attached to the back bumper, the rear walls of the trailer and the roof itself (this was nice and they had done it very cheaply for us. You don’t realise how much of a comfort it is to know that I can get up on the roof now, I certainly sleep easier). One of them tested it first and it seemed OK, so we were happy with that. Good job done.
Anyway, we seem to have got most things sorted out (apart from the sofa which will be delivered some time in March, oh and the electric hot water heater (which died on us in October, which after several hours of them saying “it works” and us saying “it doesn’t” they admitted had been recalled and we would get a new one anyway), which they will refit at the same time). So we said a temporary goodbye and took the trailer on round to Tampa East RV.
As we were just leaving one of the guys, Billy, who is very nice and seems to know what he is talking about, came over somewhat sheepishly over, though I figured he came to say goodbye (because they are all right neighbourly) carrying a nice new sewer hose kit, nice red one, with the 90 degree bend and two lengths of hose that clip together, still in its box. I said “Hi Billy, we are just off, we’ll see you. Do you know we’ve got a sewer hose just like that one”. He said “Yep, I know that, this one is for you, because, you see, as we were fitting the ladder we had to drill through the bumper to fix the ladder to it”. What, good readers from England, you may not know, but which every RV’er in the States knows, (except apparently those who fit ladders to the rear of RV’s) is that the rear bumper is hollow and you use it to store your sewer hose. So we now have a brand new sewer hose, unfortunately at the moment we can’t store it in the correct place because there are 2 large bolts stopping us putting it away.
So today (Wed) as we are packing up to leave, Good Old Matt arrives with a piece of trim (you remember the trim?), which he has lovingly removed from another Starcraft Trailer, and proceeds to fit it while we are packing away. Still, job done!
Moving on to Sertoma
We packed up our trailer and have moved on to Sertoma Youth Ranch. Some loyal readers may remember that we stayed here last November for the Thanksgiving Bluegrass Meet and then stayed on to join The Soggy Bottom Bluegrass Bunch. We have now returned to join in with their Hog Roast Weekend.
While on the road we saw a fascinating sight. We stopped for lunch at a roadside pull in, a bit like a motorway service centre, but with no petrol station or café. Very similar to the Aires they have on French motorways.
We stopped in the truck section, so that it is easy to park. We were close by a couple of low loaders, each with half a large mobile home on them. As we stopped we noticed that there was a pick up truck which was stopped off the paved area, half hidden in the dense undergrowth and trees. It seemed a strange place to leave a truck. In fact we both commented on it at the same time. As we sat there the driver of one of the trucks and a woman came round from behind the mobile home. They threw there arms up and ran for the truck. It seems that they had got out of the truck and walked away without putting the brakes on. The truck had rolled away, over the edge of the car park and off into the trees. Fortunately nothing but their pride was damaged. They looked very sheepish as they reversed the truck out, clearing braches and leaves from the front. The only casualty was the big flag they have to carry on the front bumper. The pole was badly bent and the flag had ripped off in the undergrowth. This made for a very entertaining lunch.
We arrived at Sertoma in good time and were greeted enthusiastically by Karen, the manager, who greeted us like long lost friends. Yes, it is nice to be back.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
In Flight The Travel Bored Game
We are here! Again! Safely!
We had a really good, low stress flight. If you remove the fact that the plane was delayed 1 ½ hours.
Please skip the rest of this unless you want to read about my smugness at beating queues in the airport.
In Flight – The Travel Bored Game.
Anyone can play. For the whole family.
Aim of the game is to move round the board, from home to resort, as quickly as possible, with the least stress, for the least amount of money. The winner is the person/team who gets to their destination with the fewest Stress Points.
Use your skill and judgement to manage your stress by making decisions about where and when to fly, how you get to and from airports., before you start the game.
Free with every pack of In Flight.
The travel version of ‘Airport jeopardy’.
On every throw of the dice you get a ‘Chance’ Card’ or play ‘Bonus Cards’ earned while using the Internet:
Basic rule: if this is your first playing of the game you must wear a blindfold for the whole time.
The game is in two parts. Time spent in planning and on the internet can earn you Bonus Cards which can be used to reduce stress, save time or money.
Read On
Sunday we had a lovely lunch and afternoon with Carol and Ron, Dee, Steve, Beth and Sam. Ron had done a lovely job on the mandolin that was given to me by Paula.
We drove over to Manchester and found the Travelodge – the one at Knutsford Stavely is quite comfortable – only £19 p.r. if you book 3 weeks ahead.
Next morning a quick drive (Threw a 4 for traffic congestion) to Terminal 2 and drop the car (threw a 4 for what to do with the car while we are away) with the Meet and Greet man from Global parking, who are very good.
Picked up a chance card – Virgin Atlantic plane delayed by 1 ½ hours.
Through baggage drop (threw a 4) in 10 minutes. Straight through security (4 again). Though this left us waiting for 3 hours, it gave us time for breakfast.
We had good seats on the plane, right at the back there are 4 rows where the window seats only have two not three seats (I had used a Bonus Card when we booked the flight). This gave us a bit more room and freedom to squirm and move. But it is a long flight.
Moving through Orlando was almost perfect. Right at the back, almost last off. Sally’s wheelchair was waiting. Through to immigration (finger and eye check). Huge queues at all check ins – (bonus for double six) except handicapped. Straight through in about 10 minutes. Now about 10th off flight to get baggage. No queues now. Straight through agriculture and customs (Another 6). Drop off baggage again. One more security check (shoes off and full works job), no queue (another 6). Shuttle train waiting. Baggage appeared 2 minutes after we did (Yet another 6). Downstairs for the car hire. Big queue at Dollar! Went to Express Lane (played a Bonus Card, picked up by using the Internet), Only one person in front, showed card and driving licences and away we went. Crossed the road and collected our Dodge Nitro (Another bonus card – using Dollar Platinum, booked in the UK - £25 a day, all insurances, any driver, full tank of gas, drop off anywhere in Florida). We were underway to Tampa East 1 hour and 10 minutes after touch down. It’s a warm evening and we are safely back, with as little stress as we could possibly manage. Unbelievable.
We had a really good, low stress flight. If you remove the fact that the plane was delayed 1 ½ hours.
Please skip the rest of this unless you want to read about my smugness at beating queues in the airport.
In Flight – The Travel Bored Game.
Anyone can play. For the whole family.
Aim of the game is to move round the board, from home to resort, as quickly as possible, with the least stress, for the least amount of money. The winner is the person/team who gets to their destination with the fewest Stress Points.
Use your skill and judgement to manage your stress by making decisions about where and when to fly, how you get to and from airports., before you start the game.
Free with every pack of In Flight.
The travel version of ‘Airport jeopardy’.
On every throw of the dice you get a ‘Chance’ Card’ or play ‘Bonus Cards’ earned while using the Internet:
Basic rule: if this is your first playing of the game you must wear a blindfold for the whole time.
The game is in two parts. Time spent in planning and on the internet can earn you Bonus Cards which can be used to reduce stress, save time or money.
Read On
Sunday we had a lovely lunch and afternoon with Carol and Ron, Dee, Steve, Beth and Sam. Ron had done a lovely job on the mandolin that was given to me by Paula.
We drove over to Manchester and found the Travelodge – the one at Knutsford Stavely is quite comfortable – only £19 p.r. if you book 3 weeks ahead.
Next morning a quick drive (Threw a 4 for traffic congestion) to Terminal 2 and drop the car (threw a 4 for what to do with the car while we are away) with the Meet and Greet man from Global parking, who are very good.
Picked up a chance card – Virgin Atlantic plane delayed by 1 ½ hours.
Through baggage drop (threw a 4) in 10 minutes. Straight through security (4 again). Though this left us waiting for 3 hours, it gave us time for breakfast.
We had good seats on the plane, right at the back there are 4 rows where the window seats only have two not three seats (I had used a Bonus Card when we booked the flight). This gave us a bit more room and freedom to squirm and move. But it is a long flight.
Moving through Orlando was almost perfect. Right at the back, almost last off. Sally’s wheelchair was waiting. Through to immigration (finger and eye check). Huge queues at all check ins – (bonus for double six) except handicapped. Straight through in about 10 minutes. Now about 10th off flight to get baggage. No queues now. Straight through agriculture and customs (Another 6). Drop off baggage again. One more security check (shoes off and full works job), no queue (another 6). Shuttle train waiting. Baggage appeared 2 minutes after we did (Yet another 6). Downstairs for the car hire. Big queue at Dollar! Went to Express Lane (played a Bonus Card, picked up by using the Internet), Only one person in front, showed card and driving licences and away we went. Crossed the road and collected our Dodge Nitro (Another bonus card – using Dollar Platinum, booked in the UK - £25 a day, all insurances, any driver, full tank of gas, drop off anywhere in Florida). We were underway to Tampa East 1 hour and 10 minutes after touch down. It’s a warm evening and we are safely back, with as little stress as we could possibly manage. Unbelievable.
Friday, January 25, 2008
D Day minus 2
It's only two days before we set off to Manchester. Terry has been working in a local school and doing things for our trip when he gets home. Quite tiring so he is ready for a long break. I've been doing all the necessary things to get ready for the trip as well as having plenty of rest, to try to get my energy levels up again after my relapse. Everything is done now except for the packing which we will do tomorrow - Saturday. On Sunday we will just have to pack the last minute things , close up the house ( dealing with the rubbish - trash- turning the heating down- setting the timers for the lights etc) and then we are travelling to Manchester, stopping at Ron and Carol's on the way. We are going to pick up Terry's mandolin ( thank you Paula) which Ron has repaired and got in working order again. Ron is a wizz where anything to do with wood is concerned - many thanks Ron. It will be good to see them again as it was in between Christmas and New Year when we saw them last. Plenty of catching up to do. Hope we see more of each other when the camping season gets going again. After a night in a motel at Manchester, we fly out on Monday morning arriving at Orlando 2.45 local time. Lets hope the strong winds we are having at the moment die down or we might have a bumpy flight.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Preparations
16th January 2008
We cannot believe that it's only 12 days till we board the 'plane and fly to Orlando again. It's been a busy time since our return on 5th December. Our daughter, Helen, who lives with us, got her H2B visa which allows her to work in the USA. She only had 5 days after our return to get ready for her return to Breckenridge, Colorado, where she is working in the Day Care facility near the ski slopes. There was a lot to do - shopping, washing, packing, Christmas presents to organise etc. etc. Terry drove her down to Manchester in the early morning on Dec. 10th and made sure she got on the plane safely. She is really enjoying working there and has settled in very quickly. This is her second time as she worked there last winter too.
Getting ready for Christmas was a scramble - thank goodness we had brought quite a lot of things from the USA with us. Our eldest son, John-Paul, wife Andrea and granddaughter Emma spent Christmas with us. We were given the best of Christmas presents when we were told that we are expecting another grandchild this year. Lovely. Then Terry and I flew to see the New Year in with our second son, Andrew, wife Marie and our grandson Ben.
I, Sally, overdid things over the holiday period and ended up back in bed for over a week with a relapse of CFS/ME. I'm back on my feet but am having to be careful to rest much more than usual. Hope I survive the flight.
Terry has been his usual efficient self and booked everything for our journey - flight tickets, motel, hire car etc and has booked us into various campsites and music festivals. He's been in touch with our dealer who is doing warranty repairs to our trailer - still not completed, but we are hoping they finish before we pick it up. I've been sorting out insurance and things we need to take.
We are looking forward to our next trip, mainly because we hope to meet up with various lovely people we have met on previous trips. We are getting excited about hearing and playing more Bluegrass and are dying to get back to some sunshine after our dull skies and cold, damp/wet weather here in England.
We cannot believe that it's only 12 days till we board the 'plane and fly to Orlando again. It's been a busy time since our return on 5th December. Our daughter, Helen, who lives with us, got her H2B visa which allows her to work in the USA. She only had 5 days after our return to get ready for her return to Breckenridge, Colorado, where she is working in the Day Care facility near the ski slopes. There was a lot to do - shopping, washing, packing, Christmas presents to organise etc. etc. Terry drove her down to Manchester in the early morning on Dec. 10th and made sure she got on the plane safely. She is really enjoying working there and has settled in very quickly. This is her second time as she worked there last winter too.
Getting ready for Christmas was a scramble - thank goodness we had brought quite a lot of things from the USA with us. Our eldest son, John-Paul, wife Andrea and granddaughter Emma spent Christmas with us. We were given the best of Christmas presents when we were told that we are expecting another grandchild this year. Lovely. Then Terry and I flew to see the New Year in with our second son, Andrew, wife Marie and our grandson Ben.
I, Sally, overdid things over the holiday period and ended up back in bed for over a week with a relapse of CFS/ME. I'm back on my feet but am having to be careful to rest much more than usual. Hope I survive the flight.
Terry has been his usual efficient self and booked everything for our journey - flight tickets, motel, hire car etc and has booked us into various campsites and music festivals. He's been in touch with our dealer who is doing warranty repairs to our trailer - still not completed, but we are hoping they finish before we pick it up. I've been sorting out insurance and things we need to take.
We are looking forward to our next trip, mainly because we hope to meet up with various lovely people we have met on previous trips. We are getting excited about hearing and playing more Bluegrass and are dying to get back to some sunshine after our dull skies and cold, damp/wet weather here in England.
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