In the beginning, I was concerned that we wouldn't have much of a social life on the road. I couldn't have been more wrong! We have had the opportunity to visit a number of old friends and we've made countless new friends along the way.
In October of last year we were in Mountain View, Arkansas when we got the call from Disney, offering us each a part-time job in Disney’s Days of Christmas Store! We were excited to be returning to work at Disney, but unhappy to be cutting our time at Mountain View short. Mountain View is one of our favorite places to be! If Disney is the Happiest Place on Earth, then Mountain View is the Friendliest Place on Earth!
On our way to Florida, we visited a high school friend who lives in the panhandle. It was the first time we had seen her and her husband since we were all first married, yet it was as if no time had passed! It was such fun to see them both! They came down to Orlando to see us again after a few months had passed.
When we arrived in Orlando, we checked into our RV Park and got settled in. A few days later we met our neighbors, Gary and Peggy Moore, who had been gone for a few days. It was serendipity that we were parked side by side, because we hit it off right away and spent most of our free time together over the next 5 months. We also spent a lot of time with Terry and Sherry and their son, Casey, who lived across the road from us. Sherry worked for the park as social director during most of our stay. It was a bonus that we also found that two of the couples that we ran around with when we worked for Disney in 2006 were back at Disney again and staying in the same RV park!
RVers tend to head south for the winter, so we got to see several of our RV friends while we were in Florida. Jim and Linda Harriss spent a few days with us on their way to the coast. Bob and Sue Moore, from Mountain View, came to see us for a few days and we also went to visit them once at their Florida home. We spent a fun day in Lake Placid with Lu and Larry Tillotson and Greg and Kristie Plank. They both own lots at RV resorts south of Orlando. It was great to see them all again!
We were pleased to learn that a close friend from home was coming to Orlando to spend a week with her daughter's family! They invited us over for dinner while she was in town and we all spent a fun evening together. Another good friend from high school lives in the Orlando area! We met her and her husband at a restaurant for dinner one night. We were having such a good time that the waiter probably wondered if we would ever leave!
It was fun working at the Christmas Store! We were lucky to have gotten such a great job! We liked everyone we were working with and enjoyed visiting with all the guests who came into the store. The best thing about working for Disney, though, is that our Disney ID’s get us into the parks at any time (up to a year after our last day of work)! As cast members, we also each receive hotel discounts and a Main Gate pass to use for our guests. We were thrilled that all four of our kids and their families were able to come down! And it was so nice to able to treat them to discounted hotels and free park admission! We enjoyed three fun-filled days with each family in the parks and also went to Disney Quest and played miniature golf at one of Disney's courses. There's nothing like seeing the joy and wonder in the little ones' eyes when they are experiencing Disney World!
Terry and Sherry had already moved to a different park, and it was soon time for Gary and Peggy to leave, too. Ron and I left Florida after the last of our kids left to go home. On our way to Missouri, we stopped in Alabama to see an old friend from elementary school! We have kept in touch with each other all of these years, but we hadn’t seen each other since we were in our 20’s. We had a good time reminiscing and catching up.
We have been in Missouri all summer and are parked at our oldest daughter's home. From here it's a short trip to see our other kids and grandkids, who all live within a 3 hour drive. We've had a full summer of family events: a school band concert, prom, high school graduation, birthday parties, swim meets, and baseball and soccer games! In June, our son and daughter-in-law invited the whole family for a fun-filled week-end at her parents' cabin at Lake of the Ozarks. It's rare that we can get our large family together at one time, so it was a special time for us.
It's always fun to get back with our hometown friends, too! We're hoping we can all get together a few more times before we leave in a couple of weeks.
We just got back from spending a few days with Erin and Chris and then with Jeremy and Kelly. Erin's girls were excited about their new trampoline and had us go outside to watch them perform! While we were at Jeremy and Kelly's house, we went with their family on an outing to Eckert's Farm. A tractor-pulled wagon took us all out to an orchard where we picked peaches. Kelly made a yummy peach cobbler that evening! Ron and I brought ours home with us and made a cobbler for Lorisa and her family.
Our time here is getting short. It won't be long until we will be leaving to go to Tennessee. Ron and I worked at Dollywood the last three summers and this year chose to wait and return for the Fall season instead. Ron's usual job is a summer one, so he will be doing something different this time. We're anxious to see what that will be! We're looking forward to seeing the Fall colors in the Smokies and to seeing our Dollywood friends again. We're also excited that we will get to be neighbors with Gary and Peggy again! They are working at Dollywood now! I know we'll have a fun time with them this fall. Can't wait!
