Mardi Gras and AVA

What a busy two days. Yesterday I did my first "event" with the AVA - what FUN! It was at Universal Studios in Orlando - the starting point was a Starbucks outside of the attraction, and the route took us around the outside of Universal and then into the grounds - we walked along the City Walk which goes along the waterways in the park. We walked around the grounds of the two huge hotels and past all of the bars/restaurants - Hard Rock, Margaritaville, etc. I got to Starbucks about 9:30 and ended up walking with two guys - one was named Bill - he was 72 and had been doing walks with Volksmarch for over 40 years, starting with walking in Germany when he was in the service. (I forget the others guy's name - this was his first walk too.) It took about two hours to do the whole thing, and it was a really, really pretty and interesting walk. The people at the registration tables were really nice and gave me all kinds of information and insight into doing AVA walks - they all agreed that, with our RV traveling, these walks are a perfect thing for me to do. I am SO looking forward to doing these on a regular basis (hint: I'll be reporting on my next walk later on!)

So after I got back and showered, Dave and I headed up to Leesburg, about 30 miles northwest of here. We had seen an ad for a local Mardi Gras celebration in a little hospitality magazine and decided to give it a shot - and we were SO glad we did. What fun! We got there about 4:00 - at that time, there was a band playing in a bandshell set up in front of the City Hall in Leesburg, and there were dozens of good, greasy food stands and a beer tent. We got a couple chairs, had a beer, ate some junk food, listened to the music and people-watched until 7:00. Then the PARADE started - I had assumed it would be VERY hokey but cute. But in reality it was a very nice parade - lots of floats with people throwing tons of beads, people on stilts, music and dancing girls. VERY cute! And then, after the hour-long parade, we went back to the town square and listened to the second band, which was excellent. It was a blues band named The Bobbly Blackmon band. We stayed for the first set and then decided to head back home - we got back about 10:00 (which is WAY late for us!). We had a lot of fun and would definitely come again should we find ourselves in the area in another year. We were both pretty tired when we got home - that's a BUSY day for us vacationers!

Today was another really nice day - when I got up around 9:00 it was already nice enough to open the outside door and leave it open. Not a big deal, until you realize this is the VERY first day that's been true since we left home in November! After a quick run to Walmart, Dave was planning on taking a long bike ride and then going out fishing for the afternoon. So I decided to do another AVA run! This time I did the Winter Park walk - it was less than 20 miles away and Bill (who I walked with yesterday) had said it was a really nice walk. And it was. It started at the YMCA and wound its way through the college campus, the downtown area, past the cemetery, through a VERY expensive residential area, and along the side of a couple small lakes. It was a very pretty walk - and I got another stamp in my books! I am LOVING having these walks to do and am so glad I came across this program. And what a nice day it turned out to be - I'm sitting here writing my blog and it's still over 70 degrees outside. Finally!