Up north friends

It's been a long time but the wait is over.  Our dear friends George and Paula from Michigan had been planning on visiting us and are finally here.  We've been close for many, many years and it is so nice that they took the time to come down.  The weather has remained cool and blustry; not the greatest for us but, I guess a nice change from the ravages of a Michigan winter for them.

They were here for about 10 days, staying in one of the rv resort rental units.  Not exactly the Ritz but close to us and reasonable. 

Before they arrived, Sharon and I were out exploring and I discovered a large array of ham radio antennas just north of us.  I squirreled away the location and when the four of us went on a little sightseeing trip we drove by the place.  Pulling into the driveway George immediately noticed a name on the mailbox and declared that he knew this guy from way back and headed for the door.  Well old Leo was indeed a character giving us a tour of the antenna 'farm' and he and George sharing stories of days gone by. 

Ham radio is a lot like rv'ing ... friends are made everywhere.

It goes without saying that we needed to take our lovely ladies out for a Valentines Day dinner so we chose 'The Vines' resturant on the south side of Orlando.  Not that any of us had been there before but it got good reviews on the internet and they offered live jazz.  A real treat for me in itself.  As it turned out the food was indeed good as was the music.  A very nice evening.

Valentines celebration at 'The Vines' in Orlando

Kicking back and enjoying each other's company is good therapy for all after a long winter.

Paula and Sharon go back to when they were about 10 years old so they have many great memories.  Paula stood up with Sharon and I when we were married in 1966.

George I and don't go back quite that far back but got to know each other after he married Paula.  I had the honor of photographing their wedding some 38 years ago and had a similar honor when I did the same for their daughter Kim in 2008.  Not sure I'll be up for the next generation ... but I'll give it a try.  While the girls went shopping, George and I attended a ham radio swap meet north of Orlando.  We wandered around all the good stuff and junk alike and enjoyed the outing.  George got me started many years ago in the ham radio hobby.  Something I'm forever grateful for as it has provided me a great deal of enjoyment and will for years to come.

We introduced them to Mimi's Resturant and dropped in for a mid-morning breakfast.  The resturant is a nation-wide change with great atmosphere and good food.  But in the whole scheme of things, the food is secondary to sharing the day with good friends.

The time seemed to melt away and they had to head back home.  We thank them for bringing a little hometown sunshine into our lives and will look forward to seeing them again when we return home.

With friends like this it's no wonder we're 'livin' the dream.

Phil