Visiting cousins

We had noticed on Facebook that Carl's cousin's Galen and Julie were in Florida, so he reached out to see where they were - turns out they are visiting in Celebration,not far from where we are in Orlando/Clermont so we arranged to meet up on Friday.

We met at Ford's Garage...

... a couple of pictures of cars outside the restaurant...

When Carl was taking this picture, we could hear someone inside was giving him grief...

... turned out Galen and Julie were right inside the screen (the photo was photo-bombed by our waitress - she was quite the character!).

A picture of the four of us with our meals...

... the bun top on sandwiches was "branded" with Ford's Garage!

The decor in the restaurant was all car / engine related...

... cars hanging from the ceiling...

Kitchen area was the "Assembly Line"

Even the restrooms were unique! (Men's room -- we didn't take pictures in the women's room!)

Sinks in tires and fuel nozzles for faucets!

Fuel nozzle for door handle too!

It was definitely a unique place for lunch!

The restaurant was located in a resort area: Margaritaville Orlando. A model of Big Ben was at a London-themed restaurant nearby.

We were so glad that it worked out for us to visit family!

Back to Thousand Trails Orlando

On Thursday, we returned to Thousand Trails Orlando.

Carl had a dermatology surgical appointment on Thursday morning, so we drove together with Gracie and the Jee-rage to a parking lot near Thousand Trails, and then Carl drove the Jeep to his appointment. We weren't sure how long the appointment would take; check in at Thousand Trails Orlando starts at noon - so I was going to get us checked in if he wasn't able to make it back in time. But... he was able to get back in plenty of time and we got checked in and parked at the campground.

After the surgery, Carl had a prescription to pick up at Walmart - he had not ever noticed their efficient scheme for keeping the prescriptions cataloged for retrieval.

Later in the afternoon, we went for a bike ride. Thousand Trails Orlando is such a large campground that it is great to have bikes to ride around.

We saw a couple of folks walking looking at what appeared to be a garbage can on its side...

... I don't know if you can see that there is some sand being thrown out...

... there was a large tortoise in there...

We figured that she was burying eggs.

Not sure if the video will embed successfully or not:

There was a second tortoise also in the area, but she had not yet stopped to dig.

We continued on our ride and found some paths through trees down near the lake.

The Spanish moss gives it a bit of an eerie feel.

When we rode back by where the tortoises were located, the one who had still been moving had stopped and was starting to dig -- right in front of a sign that indicated "Stop"! A rules-following tortoise!

When we got back to the rig, Miss Kitty was napping on my laptop keyboard...

... she briefly opened her eyes and raised her head and then returned to her napping. Once again, any odd emails or strange blog posts should be attributed to cat-action instead of me!

We are looking forward to about 10 days here at Thousand Trails Orlando.

Last day of Florida Sower Reunion

Wednesday was our last day at the Florida Baptist Youth Camp attending the Florida Sower Reunion.

Carl and I took a walk down to where the boys' dormitory is located. On our way back, we saw the mural that was painted on the wall next to the restrooms that are near the chapel and dining hall.

How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

After devotions in the chapel, Carl had volunteered to help with trash pick up...

-- he didn't know that the task involved a very unique vehicle and picking up trash from all the trash cans around the campus!

On the positive side: the windshield was nice and clean (albeit missing), the air conditioning worked well - as you drove you got a nice breeze, and... well... the engine did run!

Lawn mowers for the camp

Wednesday afternoon there was an auction to contribute funds for the Sowers office.

Wednesday supper was pot luck - what a spread of options!

In the dining hall for supper.

At the beginning of the evening program, Bo shared about happenings at the Florida Baptist Youth Camp. He shared that last year 107 children gave their lives to Jesus while at camp, aided by the work that Sowers accomplish at the camp each winter.

Wednesday evening's entertainment was Talent Night. The Sower volunteers who had been at the Florida Baptist Youth Camp in February (the Februarians) started us off with a song.

I shared a testimony about Bible translation...

... a men's quartet shared in song.

There were several other folks sharing stories or poems or songs.

We've enjoyed our time at the Florida Sowers Reunion, getting to know more Sowers, and hear about more projects.

Florida Sowers Reunion - Tuesday

The first full day of the Florida Sowers Reunion was on Tuesday.

After breakfast, we heard a message from a local pastor for our devotions.

The theme of the reunion is "Serving Sacrificially" - Carl took pictures of a few of the signs that the reunion committee has put up around the buildings...

Our theme

The "pitch in" message...

... taken a little differently as there was a good turnout for the cornhole tournament!

Many participants!

There were two cornhole sets with bags to go along with that were specifically Sower oriented!

Carl and I took a walk out the entry road to the hard-surface road -- a little over 2 mile walk.

After supper, a singing group (Crossfire Gospel Quartet - minus one member for this concert - so a trio) provided us with great harmonies as they performed for us.

One more day in our reunion!

Last morning at Lake Placid and moving up to Groveland

Monday was our last morning at Lake Placid Camp and Conference Center as we were heading north to Groveland, Florida to attend the Sowers Reunion being held at the Florida Baptist Encampment.

Beautiful beach at the lake...

Looking down at the pier area...

A wider view of the lake.

As we passed the entrance into the camp, we saw a large roll-off dumpster coming in the gate. We had been told that the roll-off dumpster was to be picked up "soon" when we arrived at the camp, and that we should ensure that no items extended over the top of the dumpster because, if it did, the guy coming to pick it up would leave without taking it.

As we continued our walk, I told Carl to take a picture of the truck delivering the empty and retrieving the full dumpster...

... so he did, and in doing so...

... noticed that there was a bucket extending above the top. Camp project leader Tom was there and said that when the truck driver got there, he saw the bucket next to the dumpster and just threw it on top. Tom protested that there wasn't supposed to be anything above the sides... the driver said, "Ah, it's okay, it's in the middle!"

As we were getting back to where Gracie had been parked, we saw a number of our fellow Sower volunteers and we were telling them good-bye. They all gathered around us and we prayed for safe journeys for each of us as many would be leaving in the next few days.

We drove to the Florida Baptist Encampment in Groveland where the Florida Sower reunion was to take place.

We arrived in time to get registered and then proceeded to the worship center where we were welcomed and got to meet others in the group.

The host had arranged for a special speaker to come...

"Bob" presented on "birds" -- he was *very* funny!

After supper all together,

... we joined together to hear a teaching on the topic of our get-together, "Serving Sacrificially". The text was from John 13 when Jesus washed the disciples feet...

... so we had the opportunity to wash each others feet!

We finished the evening singing a few hymns.

We're looking forward to getting to know some of the other couples here with us!