Merry Christmas from Michigan

Our last week in Mount Dora, Florida was relatively quiet. Most of it was spent preparing for our trip back to Michigan for the Holidays. We did take time out from packing to meet friends visiting Disney World from Michigan. We met John and Pat Rilly in Downtown Disney for an evening of shopping and dining on Wednesday, December 11th. 

Dale dreamin' at the Downtown Disney Harley store

Dale, Lisa, John & Pat

On Friday, December 13th, we went on a CraigCat tour of Lake Dora and the Dora Canal. This was one of those events that will stick with the memory banks for a long time. It was cool! First of all, for those not familiar with them, a CraigCat is a small catamaran type watercraft slightly over 11 feet long powered by a 20 to 30 hp outboard engine. On the tour there are three customer driven CraigCats with the tour guide leading on a separate CraigCat. A fifth CraigCat brought up the rear with a tour assistant making sure we didn't wonder off or otherwise get in trouble. The tour leader's CraigCat had a 30 hp outboard capable of pushing him to 30 mph. Our customer boats had 25 hp versions capable of 25 mph. Although I didn't put a stopwatch on it the tour leader claimed 0 to 25 mph came in 2 seconds and, after driving it, I have little doubt it was doing just that. It was a real blast skimming (or bouncing when it got a little choppy) across the water just inches above it at 25 mph. Then the Dora Canal was a different kind of cool. It was the site for the filming of, among other films, 'The African Queen' in 1951. A pretty long section of it has been preserved in its original natural state. The tour ended with a 15 minute blast across Lake Dora back to the Mount Dora marina.

Dale patiently waiting for his brief driving instruction

Going out to learn how to drive this thing

Instructor steering into full throttle turns - no problem

Ready, set, go

Seaplane taxiing on Lake Dora

Our CraigCat tour guide

Lakeside Inn on Lake Dora
Oldest continuously operating hotel in Florida, since 1883

Our fellow CraigCat tourists at speed

View from the driver's seat

Native Dora Canal seen in 'The African Queen'

Totally satisfied!

On Saturday evening we went out to dinner again with Don Ilkka and his wife Kathy, but this time we added another Michigan Tech grad, Mike Elliott and his wife, Suzanne. It was nice to see Mike again after nearly 35 years.

Dale, Mike Elliott, Don Ilkka - MTU Buds

On Tuesday, December 17th, we packed up the Jeep and drove the Dutch Star over to Kathy Ilkka's mother's house in nearby Eustis. After putting the Dutch Star in hibernation for a few weeks we headed up to Michigan. Although the temperatures got consistently colder the further north we got and that white stuff started to appear on the ground, we had beautiful weather for the whole drive. We took our time and arrived at our daughter and son-in-law's new house on Thursday evening, December 19th. Since then we've not done anything significant except enjoy being with Kristy and Matt, and helping with a few minor chores related to settling into a new home. They just moved in December 7th. We did endure a pretty significant ice storm a couple days after arriving which just gave us more incentive to stay in and enjoy the fire. The rest of the holidays will be spent enjoying the company of more family and friends in East Lansing, Commerce Township and Livonia, Michigan.

The BBB in temporary hibernation in Florida sporting its new tire covers

Jeep's first taste of snow

Kristy & Matt's new home

Jeep's first taste of ice

Even the snowman has a runny nose

So until we get back to the Big Brown Bus in January, we'll close out this blog year with wishes to all for a Merry Christ-filled Christmas and a Blessed New Year!