A Million Little Pieces Of My Mind

Michael moved in with me in spring of 1997. To celebrate, and to give him more time to get to know my kids, we arranged a motor home trip to Florida.

At that time, my three daughters lived in Reston, VA; my son lived in Orlando, FL and my Mom was at her "winter home" with my sister, Louise, in St. Augustine, FL. So, the plan was to drive from New Hampshire to Reston; rent the motor home there, drive Dorothy and Karen (Jenny couldn't make it) to St. Augustine, pick up Mom, and continue on to Orlando to go to Disney World with my son, John.

Picking up the motor home went without incident; in St. Augustine, we timed our arrival so that we could pick up "Grandma" after Mass.

At Disney World, we chose the Disney/MGM Studio theme park. Here's Michael and Mom in front of the gates.

My favorite ride was the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror—a six floor elevator drop! Michael and I rode on it over and over—although, the first time, Michael was so terrified he actually bit my shoulder!

As fun and exciting as the ride was, the architecture of the building itself, and the grounds, were fascinating. Endless photographs could be taken there. (And I took quite a few, but the above will suffice as an example.) The line for the ride was quite long; it was as much as a forty-minute wait; yet, the surroundings were attractive and interesting enough to make the wait not that awful.

Disney World was celebrating its 25th anniversary that year; it was certainly decorated to the teeth in honor of it! (Not that Disney World is ever not decorated "to the teeth" for something.

While there, Michael met Jessica Rabbit, star of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Judging by his grin, I suspect the two may have had an affair. Of course, as Jessica often says, "I'm not really bad…I'm just drawn that way."

The crowds were dense, of course. Here are Dorothy and Michael trying to figure out a shortcut to the Star Wars ride.

On the way back, we stopped at Alexander Springs, a delightful (and little known) state park not far from Orlando, in the Ocala National Forest. Here is Karen sunning herself on the beach, there, while watching Michael and me wade out to snorkel in the crystal-clear waters.

And, there we go…underwater!