20,000 Leagues

[FLASHBACK]
Just what is a League anyway?
1954 – Disney’s Version of a Jules Verne Classic.
20,000 Leagues under the Sea was a great movie… full of action and adventure, and for me, generally anything to do with the sea or submarines was a huge plus… and it was Disney! How could it loose.
The ride at WDW opened with the park in 1971, it since is long gone… but the thrill of remembering the movie, and the ride, still evokes a moment of thoughtful delight. Remnants of the ride are still there awaiting some type of revival that is long overdue, and may never ever take place.
So here’s a short trip down memory lane…

The ride at Walt Disney World

Artists model of the Nautilus - Movie

and the ride version with viewing portals for guests

Nemo’s pipe organ – movie model

underwater helmets

The Nautilus’ Globe

navigation charts - movie

screenshot from the movie

Kirk Douglas, Peter Lorre, & James Mason.

and a final look at the ride.

On the ride, the guests walked down into the Nautilus and sat long benches to view the scenes out of the portals… simulated dives and underwater images created the illusion and adventure.

Somewhat out-lived in a more modern high tech world that expected a bit more, the ride closed in 1994…. awaiting a renewal.

A similar ride in Disneyland, originally a nuclear submarine adventure was closed too,

but has since been revived as

Finding Nemo Undersea Adventure

( Nemo the fish… not the Captain)

Original Submarine - Disneyland

the conversion…old to new…

Rebirth…”Finding Nemo”

note: The monorail was especially decorated for “The Year of a Million Dreams”

This special paint was at Disneyland only.

The monorail was later painted to promote the Finding Nemo Ride… pretty cool too!

I kinda liked the Million Dreams Version best.

Disneyland now has the newest Mark Vll Monorails

Extremely Super Cool!

( that was in an earlier blog entry Dec 2008 )

now that’s a cool bus to promote the ride.

Does kinda make you wonder…

Nemo the Captain – Nemo the Fish

Was there a thoughtful connection here?

or just coincidence?

Not much is ever… just coincidence!

Happiness

When I was younger,

I was taught that Happiness was the key to a good life.

As I grew up, I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I replied "Happy".

I was told that I didn't understand the question.

I told them that they didn't understand life.

Still applies today.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Happiness can be many things to many people.

It is many different things to each of us.

There are all kinds of saying about happiness.

All you need to know…

Happiness is a state of your mind…
which puts you mentally and emotionally
in direct control of your own happiness.

Don’t let others alter your happiness. 

Sarcasm & the Magic Wand

Great saying for the day >>> "Sarcasm is my Natural Response to Stupid People" ... and about things that piss me off... Learn to Recognize it when it comes your way. <<< The only problem for me is... sometimes I'm too subtle... and than it's wasted! ( That's my evil side). Good Sarcasm can be a lot of Fun. It can be light hearted, it can be cutting, it can be subtle, or right between the eyes… and the intensity of the delivery certainly sets the tone for how it should be received… fun loving or the wish I had a magic wand to turn you into a toad… ohhh… I like that one… turn you into a toad magic wand. Has all the elements of fantasy & playfulness… yet the sadistic but rewarding warm feeling all over that you haven’t really hurt anyone… just gave them the life of a toad that they richly deserve ( hope you enjoy eating bugs).  So I guess that if I had 3 wishes… a magic wand would certainly be tempting. And you wouldn’t have to be totally cruel… maybe the spell would only last for a period of time vs forever… or if it was to be forever, that they would always have a good supply of bugs & grubs… yummy for them. Now there’s a nice thought for the day. Plan to use sparingly, but certainly on those that truly need it… wouldn’t that give everyone (except those deserving) a nice feeling of peace & contentment if you could “puff” them into a toad! Wishful thinking thought for the day! If you agree or think it would be nice to have that Magic Wand… just click “cool” below.

The Jambo House

[FLASHBACK]
Another favorite place…The Jambo House at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Step into another place and time. The Lodge is a Majestic Compliment to The Animal Kingdom Park. So much attention to detail and the full African Experience is everywhere.

You know you are in for a real treat as soon as you drive up to the lodge and enter into the Great Room. Wow !










The Lodge is actually laid out in the shape of a horseshoe with the rooms surrounding the African Savannah Habitat.



You can look out your room windows, sit on the balcony, our venture down into the viewing areas to see African wildlife in a nature habitat.



Giraffes, antelope, kudu, zebras, and other animals are just outside your room. Wake up to a giraffe looking in you window… well… good morning! The lodge has a Great Hall (lobby) that sets the tone for an African Adventure.










Like all Disney Resorts, especially the Deluxe Resorts, you are immersed into a sensory overload of sights, sounds, and smells of the African Cuisine as you enter the resort.

Colors of Florida

Most times I wake up early in the morning… I’m the only one up! Got to try to be quiet! So I play on the Pc. Sometimes the internet (when it’s working), and sometimes just play with photos. It’s a cheap hobby… keeps me out of trouble… and keeps me out of the fridge. Okay… maybe a little out of the fridge. Nevertheless, a quiet, fun, cheap, hobby. So here’s the latest photo do-dad of some of the Florida Birds were have seen here. Just a little something for me to do… and perhaps for you to enjoy. Maybe you too would like to play with photos and have some fun too. It’s easier than you think… give it a try. This one’s simple and easy!

Work & retirement

It’s all about being happy…

Our life for the past ten years seems to be a quandary to some people. To others a dream lifestyle or “wish for” type of a thing. We took an early retirement but still work, living in a rv in campgrounds and rv resorts. Some people don’t see the whole picture. As we all have different goals in life, and lead our lives differently, and view happiness in different ways, there are many directions that people can go in. Most work until a normal retirement age of 65, collect their larger pension, live in their house of 30 plus years, and on average enjoy a sedimentary life, in their home, reaping the rewards of a lifetime of hard work. Some for just a few years, some perhaps another 10-15 years. Very conventional.

On home on wheels…

So lets take an age of 75 years old for the average lifespan. Normal retirement at 65 gives you ten good years to enjoy. Assuming a couple of things… one, you live that long… two, you are in moderately good health… and three, you can still both afford to enjoy the home you created over the past 30 years from a financial and health stand point. Many people go into assisted living or a condo and leave their cherished home. Pretty normal. Or, if you are lucky, you have children that appreciate you and all you have done for them and ask you to live with them.

My take on the normal conventional. I worked hard for 33 years, like most people… had the job, the house, the many cars and trucks over the years. I looked at the prospects for life beyond 50 years old. I was still in good health at 50… but how did I want to spend the rest of my life. I had already worked hard for all those years, and was faced with several possibilities. Some things got crossed off the list quickly… first I wasn’t independently wealthy, so that in it’s self created limitations. The rest of the possibilities and choices came easy.

Did I want to work another 15½ years to get to retirement in a demanding stressful job? How much time would I have to enjoy life after retirement from 65-75 years old, assuming I lived that long? How healthily would I be from 65-75 to physically enjoy life? Would I still be a slave to my home, both physically and financially and have little to travel on?  What would the quality of my life be after retirement 65-75? I really didn’t like the answers or the evidence from what others were experiencing. 20% were dead by 65. Another 60% seemed to be physically used up by 65 and have health issues that would limit their enjoyment of retirement. Most people I knew were home bound, quietly living out the rest of their lives enjoying their home… with both health of finances limiting their options.

Now… my questions and choices. Was I going to more healthy from 50-65… or 65-80? Assuming that I could enjoy 15 years of life after retirement, it was oblivious that I could enjoy life more from 50-65 years old, rather then 65-80 years old. This was the “happiness factor”. Yes… I would be healthier and happier from 50-65 then from 65-80? Next, the finances. I would have more retirement dollars to live on had I worked until 65, but then the happiness and health factors could be, and probably would be, a major negative factor.

Happiness in new adventures and travel…

Retire at 50 with less money and be healthier and happier ( 50-65 years old) … or roll the dice with the averages against me, retire at 65 knowing that my health and happiness would have huge negative considerations. Plus there’s the fact that I’d have to work hard at the same stressful job, that wasn’t fun nor challenging, for another 15 years. The number one question… would I be healthier and happier, able to do more fun things from 50-65, or 65-80? Easy answer… 50-65! The trade off… enjoy the next 15 years (50-65) healthier and happier, able to do more, see more, travel more, and experience more… but maybe not have the buying power that I did while I was working. Could I have everything I need? yes! Everything I want? Most times. Sure, I’d like to have the extra income and financial base to be a world traveler… but I have all I need, and I am happy, and not physically and emotionally used up by having worked the past ten years (50-60), with still looking at another long 5 years to go (60-65).

What enabled me to do this? Full time rving. Yep, sell the house, basically a financial ball and chain, not to mention all the physical work to keep up the house… buy the rv of our dreams… and drive off into the sunset on a life filled with new adventures. Conventional? Nope, not by most standards. We’re all suppose to grow old and die in our home of 30 years.

Extended stays in vacation destinations… 

So this was just on of life’s choices. For me, the decisions were not only easy, but living it for the last ten years has been one of the best decisions I ever made. Travel to meet have new adventures, meet new people, enjoy new things.

The trade off? … because everything comes with a price… working part of the year. Sometimes fulltime, sometimes part time, sometimes not at all. A real freedom of choice… what to do, when to do it, and where to do it. So, yes… we work after an early retirement. But not the like the 6 day a week stressful job I had for 30 years… and looking at doing the same thing for not only the past ten years, but another 5 years until I reached 65.

Working… now there’s another choice. Work is sometime a bit hard and time consuming, but mostly fun too. Something that it wasn’t in my old life. We have basically worked in two jobs since retirement. We were seasonal cast members at Disney World for 9 seasons, and doing activities in campgrounds and rv resorts. For the most part, fun jobs. We get paid to plan and have fun with the guests, which we only do for part of the year.

So what’s the freedom of work like. Not only do we have fun, but we can do it whenever we want, and take vacations whenever we want. Take off and spend entire summers with the grandkids. Take them to Disney for 10 weeks Disney vacations. Travel and work in different places, the mountains, the plains, the beaches… wherever we want. None of which would have been possible at the old career of 30 years. Be places for months that people dream about for a weeks vacation.

Everything Disney 2204-2011, usually 4-6 months every year…

It all comes down to freedom and happiness… and we have both. Someone said we should have planned retirement better, so we wouldn’t have to work. I said, I did… so I wouldn’t have to work the same old stress filled job from 50-65 years old, 6 days a week for another 15 years, in what would no doubt be the best years for the rest of our lives beyond 50 years old. Work yes… but with real freedom and happiness.

The house meant little to me beyond a financial ball and chain which took upwards of 2/3 of my spendable income for the mortgage, interest, taxes, utilities, and upkeep… not to mention time. It did provide us with the money to get the rv of our dreams when sold… but beyond that… there was no attachment to retiring in that house growing old.

Yep, life has many choices especially when you consider some outside the usual conventional life that society considers “normal”.

Life on the beach… toes in the sand…

Fulltime rving the past ten years has been wonderful. No regrets what so ever. Our home on wheels makes life great. Just check out the rest of the entries on my blog… where we have been, and the adventures we have had. When ever we tell people how we live our life, the first response is … “Wow, that’s a dream… I wish I could do that”! Yep… life is sweet… even if we have to sometimes still work for it. And, to top it all off… you can live in an Rv as cheaply as you want. For normal day to day living we have two resort memberships in Orlando. If we stay there 6 month a year it comes out to cost us around $40 a week to be in the vacation capital of the world. In other places, workamping about 9 hours each a week gives us our rv site and utilities. No property taxes, no personal property taxes, no state income taxes, no mortgage, no utility bills.

Our current home location… Yep, life is sweet!

                  

Add to this, all the people and friends we have made in ten years of travel. Countless wonderful memories with our rving friends and rving family. Priceless! But that’s another story that would take much too long to cover in this entry. Ten years of new friends in new places. Covering a dozen states, dozens of rv parks, and locations from the mountains to the beaches and most places in between. Rv friends are the greatest. Sometimes you are together for months or years, sometimes just for a short while. You may see them every week, or every month, or simply as the seasons change… and sometimes even years later. One thing is constant… when you meet them again, it’s just like the months and years were a mere couple of days ago… and you pick up the relationship as if no time has elapsed at all. It’s not like household neighborhood when you maybe get to be friends with several different families and it never changes… rving is where most people are open and friendly, wave as you go by, even if you don’t know them. Everyone has a common bond that brings them together in a safe environment. The down side? The nature of rving is the travel and move on to different places. So you may not see them again for many months, perhaps years. For us, an additional downside… we started fulltime rving at 50 years old. Most of our rving friends were already retired at 65+ years old… and some have passed away, and some have given up rving and settled into a condo, assisted living, or moved in with children. The upside… they are still life long friends. And, the new places we go always results in new friends. So here’s to rving friends… friends for life! Miss y’all. Wouldn’t life be great if they could all be in the same place at the same time… all over again. Ya never know.   

Just a Short Trip to an Island

[ FLASHBACK ] adventures from an earlier time.
It was a beautiful day and seemed to be a good idea to take a short trip over to one of the Islands. So we grabbed or cameras, some gear, and headed off for a new adventure. It was a great day to explore new places and see new things. The Island was plush and green with all kinds of plants & flowers that we had never seen before… simply beautiful. We had the option of going exploring by Jeep or on foot. We elected to start out on foot first… you just miss too many things by riding… and we didn’t want to miss anything. Except for a few small animals, that I could not quite figure out exactly what they were, the Island seemed to be strangely devoid of wildlife… but the wild looking trees, plants, and flowers maintained our attention.
We were assured that “We would see much larger animals later in our travels… so have your cameras ready”. Our cameras are always ready. We still could not get over the trees and flowers. Than there was more and more unusual wildlife starting to appear. A bit strange looking at first, but never the less, a bit awesome.

Than we saw the Visitors Center… wow… it was something out of a movie… just across the lake.
Filled with lots of animals that were nice to see, some cute and some that gave you an eerie feeling.

Than there was the compound where they use to do research and keep larger animals, now abandoned.

Than we hopped into the jeep and on with the tour!
Very Impressive… so what was behind that 50’ Gate?

More than we had ever imagined… a step back in time

Are you sure this is safe? “Absolutely” !

This was a little too “Up close & Personal” for me!

Almost lost my… ah… hat!

But we survived without incident… and got some great pictures to remember our day by.

It truly was…

An “Island of Adventure”

Balloons…. and more balloons…

[FLASHBACK]
Balloons…balloons… and more balloons…
While you can always find plenty of balloons at Disney… you can also usually see them flying high over the campground… or perhaps even landing right in the campground.

No… not that kind… this kind…

Hot Air Balloons are over the campground regularly here in Orlando.

All kinds of colors and designs…

sometimes even a blimp…

And sometimes … even a special treat!

Yep… you just never know…

so have that camera ready!