We departed Blue Springs State Park and drove through Orlando to Kissimee,  having selected a park positioned close to our visiting family’s Universal Studios hotel.  Passport America once again helped out, pointing us towards Mill Creek RV Resort where we enjoyed a full hook up spot with fully working wifi and amenities.

We are over budget this month so a day trip to Disney or Universal Studios was not in the cards, but we did get to spend a day with Linda, Jayson, Amy and the boys at the Cabana Club Resort for Jude’s first birthday.  They have a large pool with a much bigger than average pool slide, and we spent the afternoon lounging there before heading out to dinner.  Since we were on a Universal Studios hotel property we had access to their free bus to the amusement park and “Citywalk,” a collection of restaurants, stores and clubs.

It’s a crowded and chaotic area with airport style security and moving sidewalks that spit you out into a garishly lit and even more crowded thoroughfare.  By pure coincidence, my son Jackson and his wife Andrea had spent the day at Universal Studios taking advantage of their annual passes, so they were able to meet up with us for dinner.  We selected the Mexican option, Antojitos.  The service was excellent, the food and drinks were OK, and the prices were as you would expect at a tourist location.

After a few days we packed up and headed south west towards Venice to celebrate Rosemarie’s mother’s birthday.  Bill and Gloria’s driveway is just big enough for Serenity, and the neighborhood policy apparently allows such a stay for up to three days.  Visiting the Bayba’s is always a treat since Gloria has the bacalaitos (cod fritters) ready the moment we arrive and usually a pernil (pork shoulder) or some other traditional Puerto Rican dish for at least one dinner.  Bill is quite handy in the kitchen himself, and often prepares a gourmet style pizza or rotisserie chicken on the grill.

As is traditional in most American families, I carved her a birthday pumpkin, and we purchased her an asian guava fruit tree.  Both Bill and Gloria have distinctly green thumbs, and are even a bit competitive about it.  Plus their growing conditions and soil are excellent, so plants are always welcome there.  Now they have a guava to match the avocado tree we bought them as a wedding present.

Rosemarie’s brother, nephew, niece,  and future sister in law and her son (Jerry, Daniel, Laura, Kim, Andrew) joined us for Gloria’s birthday.  We had made arrangements for everyone to wear white shirts for a beach side photo shoot before sunset.  We had even rush ordered a universal camera remote on Amazon for the event so we wouldn’t have to deal with the timer function on Rosemarie’s tripod mounted DSLR Nikon.

Afterwards it was back to the Bayba’s for that pernil dinner I mentioned earlier, with Bill’s daughter Bobbi and her husband Steve joining us as well.  The Bayba house might have been a bit louder that night than it is on most.

We closed out the month there, with but a pair of trick-or-treaters coming by on Halloween.  Its not exactly a kid filled neighborhood.  Next up: October report and then on to south east Florida.