We have arrived in Kissimmee, Florida! Tired, but safe. This picture was made from our living area. I was standing on the porch and behind me is a pond with signs warning the tourists not to feed the Alligators. They are said to have very rude table manners!
Before daylight, we stopped in Ooltewah, TN to fill up the van. Paul Fritts (seen here pumping gas) had traveled from Tellico Plains on Friday to pick me up at 6:00am. Does he look a little dizzy to you? If you had been up since 4:00am and had slept less than three hours the night before you might look dizzy too.
After arriving in Kissimmee, FL around 5:00pm, we decided to drive over to Wal-mart and pick up a few snacks. It was 9:00p when we got there - and there was an un-believable crowd shopping there. It blew my mind. I've been a lot of places and seen a lot of faces - but have never seen such a crowd of shoppers in a Wal-mart store before, anywhere, at anytime. There were probably 20 check out lanes open and each one had several customers waiting in line to check out.
This is the scene at 9:30p at the check out counter.
My friend (Paul Fritts) had a big smile on his face after we had finally made it through the line!
Then, as if that were not enough, we decided Saturday that we would go to the Golden Corrall. It showed only 4 miles away from us on the GPS...so why not? Can you believe it took us 2 hours to drive that four miles? Everyone, it seemed to me, had decided to go there for dinner. What a crowd.
After standing in line for another thirty minutes, this was the scene inside the Golden Corrall.
By this time I had finished off the meal and was actually feeling dizzy when Paul decided to take this picture! Crowds are awful here on Friday night and Saturday.
There were tour buses coming and going constantly the whole hour and a half we were in the Walmart. About 15 to 20 taxis were also parked near the entrance - with a few of them constantly on the move picking up passengers from the front door with their packages in their hands. What a dizzy crowd! But then I thought - After all - we are here at Dizzy World! Right?
5 comments:
Dizzy World - I love it! I think I live in dizzy world sometimes. LOL! Glad to know you 2 made it safely. I thought Paul was Curtis in that pic until I started reading. They DO look a lot alike.
Sounds like COG people LOVE Wal-Mart. I bet their Wal-Mart isn't usually THAT busy. And the traffice - that sounds like going from Pigeon Forge to Gatlingburg during the holidays - hours just to drive a few miles.
I know you'll have a good time in the services tho and I'm sure you're both glad to be there. Wish I was still in Florida - on vacation, of course and not going thru all that traffic. :-)
I enjoyed seeing your brother, your brother-in-law and your other brother today (Lowell, Mike & Wil)at church today. They were accompanied by your sister and sisters-in-law (Bonita, Janis & Melody). Hard to believe that about 15-20 years ago - I predicted they'd ALL live in Tennessee. Looks like that might actually happen!
Looking forward to your next post. Love you!
Goodness, Fred.... I remember when Kissimmee was a small, country town.. When I was about age 16, I rode the train from Bristol, VA to Kissimmee to visit my brother and family (who lived near Melbourne). SO--since that was about 1958--- it WAS a long time ago!!!!! Good ole Florida has really grown since then!!!!
We enjoy the Golden Corral in Cookeville--but luckily, we do't run into those types of crowds...
Hope you enjoyed the rest of your trip.
Betsy
Enjoy what you can Fred. Looks mighty dizzying to me. That's why I stay away from such crowded fun. Even when I'm having to be city-fied, I much prefer to be sitting at a patio table with a cool lemonade and cards in my hands, just for fun., or a walk in a park. Not much for the crowds, never have been.
Was to Kissimmee for a convention once and stayed at the huge Convention Center with the glass elevators in Orlando. What a trip.
BlessYourHearts
Nice to meet you Fred. Thanks for your kind comments on my blog. We seem to have a few things in common. We are Mennonites and my father-in law was a preacher. My first name is Frances, noticing your wife's name. Hard to believe how long it took to get to Golden Corral when it was so close!! We have a brand new one they have just built here, and we love it! I see you have a delightful sense of humor, I'm liking the dizzy theme! Now tell me, what were you up to in Africa all those years? We have a granddaughter from China, who is a regular visitor to my blog, and our kids are thinking of adopting from Africa now. I'm signing on to follow you.
Welcome to my blog Ginny! It's great to have you here. Although I've not posted much lately, I do enjoy telling my story and hope to be back soon. Your friend Betsy is to be thanked for my finding your blog.
You asked what we were doing in Africa: Frances and I went to the nation of Kenya in 1989 and lived in the city of Nairobi until I was appointed supervisor of our organization's churches in 32 of Africa's nations in 1998. I'm now retired after 47 years of full-time ministry in the Church of God with headquarters here in Cleveland, Tennessee. (Retired at the last General Assembly in 2008.)
Post a Comment