Back at the Beach and The South Florida Fair

When we arrived in Juno Beach, back from our month in Arizona, we found the RV Park packed full of snowbirds.  There's not one more space to be rented!

We have new neighbors all around us - very active neighbors.  With everyone here for the winter, there is a calender full of activities in which to take part:  water aerobics, volley ball, game nights, billiards, golf, line dancing, bar-be-ques, darts, shuffleboard, and lots more!

Block parties are held every Wednesday evening so everyone can get together to eat, socialize and have a fun time.  Last week, the neighbors on each side of us hosted the event, so it was held right in front of our trailer.

Someone even brought along a keyboard for a "sing-along."  A good time was had by all!

Despite all there is to do here right now, we continue seeing everything we can while we're living in Florida.  So a couple weeks ago we drove "Pie" over to the South Florida Fair, in West Palm Beach, to see how they do fairs in this state.  One thing we don't see on the way to the fairgrounds in most states is this particular airplane.

It was parked on the tarmac at the Palm Beach International Airport. 

Hubby even turned Pie around so I could get a better look before continuing on to the fair.

The South Florida Fair had the normal Midway where you can try your hand at games and rides.

Then, there was an exhibit about Florida cowboys.  They call them "Crackers" here in Florida though.  They got the name from the bullwhips they used in herding cattle through the thick brush.

There was even a sea lion waiting to put on a show.

Somehow, I always find myself drawn to the livestock barns at any fairground!

Who can resist those little calves?

We spent most of our time at the fair in a section of the fairgrounds called "Yesteryear Village" but I'll have to post about that next week.   It's going to take a lot of pictures!

Meanwhile, we're back at the Beach and on to new adventures in Florida!

McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park

While we were still in Arizona we drove over to Scottsdale with the daughters and grandsons to ride trains and see some wonderful exhibits.  In 1967, Fowler McCormick donated 100 acres of land to be used as a park.  In 1971, Guy Stillman donated his railroad to the park even though Walt Disney had offered to buy it.

Both Jacob and Joshua love trains so they were thrilled to hear "All Aboard!"

After our train ride, we went to see the "real" train.  This engine hauled ore from Arizona copper mining town Superior to the smelter at Magma a for 38 years.

The little building next to the train is the Gabe Brooks Machine Shop built in 1930.  He was considered the finest machinist in the country during WWII.

Inside the baggage car were lots of exhibits.

However, the real star of the park is the Roald Amundsen Pullman Car, one of the last cars built by the Pullman Company.  This one was used for Presidential travel by every president from Herbert Hoover to Dwight Eisenhower and donated to the park in 1971.

Presidential meals were prepared in this galley.......

and served at this table.

This table was available for smaller meals.

The Presidential Compartment.

Not exactly palatial quarters, but functional.

Even Presidents have to use the....ahem....facilities.

In 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister W.L. McKenzie King signed the Ogdensberg Declaration, providing for the joint defense of North America - in this very car!  We know it better as NORAD.

Soon, we were on our way to one more train ride.

All too soon we said "good-bye" to McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park - and Arizona.  The hardest part was leaving the kids and grandkids!   

Next time I'll continue with more Florida adventures.

Pioneer Living History Museum

No, this post is not about someplace in Florida.  Pioneer Living History Museum is located 30 miles north of Phoenix.  It's a collection of buildings from the 1800's that have been moved here from all over the state.  While we were spending the holidays in Arizona, we decided to spend a day here accompanied by our grandson Jacob.   The following is just some of the many many pictures I took of just a few of the buildings.

We started out at the opera house, moved here from Prescott.  In the 1800's it hosted some pretty famous singers, including Lily Langtry.

Then we were off to the carpenter shop.

Jacob enjoyed looking at all the tools in this shop since his Dad is a carpenter!

I enjoyed looking at the contents of this dress shop.........

even if I don't particularly enjoy sewing.  However, I do enjoy clothes!

I also enjoyed looking at this Victorian house, moved here from Phoenix.

We had to be content with looking in through the doorway though.

Jacob enjoyed taking a little break on the front porch.

Hubby just enjoyed exploring with his oldest grandson!  This building was once a bakery in Phoenix.

They both loved looking at the old buildings............

although, sometimes, Jacob required a helping hand.

There's even a church where weddings are still performed.

I have wonderful memories of attending churches that looked just like this!

This was the 1878 boyhood home of Arizona Senator Henry Ashurst.

He lived in a pretty comfortable mountain cabin.

We saw more cabins but soon returned to the town area where we visited the bank.

Jacob tried to make a withdrawal.

They seemed to have plenty of money!

We finished up a wonderful day with a "goodbye" to Harold the Pig.

If you'd like to see more of Pioneer Living History Museum (and there's plenty more to see!) check out www.pioneeraz.org.

I Love Pie!

We interrupt the regularly scheduled blog for this important announcement ....... insert drum roll ......... I have a new car!  Okay, so it's new to me.  We will have been in Juno Beach for a year, come March.  With our other car at home, in Arizona, I've either been stuck at the RV Park all day long or I had to get up at 5 a.m. to take Hubby to work so I could have our Chevy 3/4 ton extended cab 4 x4 pickup truck (that's a mouth full!) to drive around.  In a "Palm Beach World" of Bentleys and Jaguars it's not much fun to park, what my youngest daughter calls, The Beast.  Plus, it rides like a - truck. 
So last weekend we went shopping!

We came home with this wonderful 2010 Dodge Caliber SXT (whatever that means).  Now I don't have to rent a car when friends/family come to visit and we have a more fuel-efficient vehicle for our sightseeing excursions.

Not only is it low mileage, low price (which Hubby likes) it is pretty well loaded with reclining rear seats and a glove compartment with a place to keep water bottles or cans cooled!  I'm thrilled!

Our daughters are pretty well horrified that we would choose to drive a car that is Key Lime Green but I love it and think it fits into our new Florida lifestyle pretty well.  Plus - I'll never lose it in a parking lot!  Anyway, since it reminds me of my favorite Florida dessert, I'm nicknaming my new car "Pie."  And I bet you thought this post was about a pie recipe.

Back in Florida

It's hard to believe that a month has gone by since my last post, but now our holiday travels are completed and we've been back in Juno Beach a week now.  Since we arrived home I've been trying to get everything put away, joining in on weight and water aerobic classes, walking Maggie to the beach everyday, and shopping for a new car.  Whew!

We really enjoyed our time in Arizona with the kids and grandkids.  We tried to squeeze in as much fun as possible in the time we had available!  There were visits with Santa........

deep philosophical discussions.......

overnight guests and bedtime stories...........

a trip to the zoo.......

lots of photo ops........

and camel rides!

You can see why it was so hard to leave Arizona!  All too soon, we were on the road back to Florida

where we arrived at our, now, very full RV Park.  The snowbirds are friendly though and I've joined in with the other ladies trying to lose those extra holiday pounds.

The weather is beautiful and Maggie and I are enjoying our walks on the beach again. 

I'll be blogging some more later about some of the interesting things we did while in Arizona and trying to catch up on what everyone else has been doing out in Blogland in the month I was gone.  I hope you're enjoying a beautiful January too!  If not - come see me in Juno Beach!