skymama

Welcome to the forums!

Welcome to the forums!

Welcome to the forums!

Welcome to the forums!

That's an impressive honor, his Officers must think a lot of him. Good job, Dad! She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

Oh my gosh, that video is awesome! That manatee rolled over for you like a cat does when it wants a pet. That must have been so amazing to do. I'm glad you had a good time. Thanks for following up and letting me know! I'll recommend the experience to others now. She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

Welcome to the forums!

Restaurant chefs have been using sous vides for quite some time. They became popular with home cooks a few years ago. Do some research on it to understand how it works. It has nothing to do with being lazy, it has everything to do with stepping up the quality of your finished product. To the OP: my favorite is scallops in the sous vide. They melt in your mouth like buttah! She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

Welcome to the forums!

The calendar here relies on dropzones submitting their event. There's a FB group that I know of, but even that isn't updated that much. It would be nice if there was something current. She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

Very cute. Thanks! She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

Oh man...what a sad story. My condolences to you and your friends. She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

Welcome to the forums!

It's totally different to jump from a stationery object as opposed to a moving plane, so I think it'd be a waste of time to bungie jump if you're using it for training. Totally do it if you just want to do it for the fun of it! She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

You are so welcome! Let me know if you like, or don't like, any of the things I mentioned. If you don't like them, I'll stop suggesting them to people! She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

It's a long drive at 7-8 hours. It's actually probably longer than the maps say because traffic is really slow on the two lane roads once you get into the Keys. It's totally beautiful down there, but it would make for a rushed trip. It'd be better to have a three day weekend there. She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

You will be in Florida at the perfect time for manatee viewing, which is way better than alligator viewing, IMO. Look into "swim with the manatees" experiences in the Crystal River area. If the weather is nice, you can also rent your own pontoon boat there and take yourselves over to a cool place where the manatees hang out at Three Sisters Spring. The water is always 72 degrees in the springs, so it's up to you if you want to get in the water. Clearwater Beach is a nice beach to go to. One place I haven't been to, but want to, is Caladesi Island State Park. It's always rated as one of the best beaches in the area. You have to take a kayak, boat or ferry to get to it, but it is supposed to be quiet and beautiful and a nice getaway for a couple. Another highly rated beach is Siesta Key, in Sarasota (I grew up there). The sand is like baby powder! Shop, or window shop, where the rich people shop at St. Armands Circle. I highly recommend a visit to the Ringling Museum. There's actually three separate buildings you explore with your one entry ticket: a highly rated art museum, a circus museum (it's so cool!) and the historic and beautiful mansion, the Ca’ d’Zan, that was styled after a Venetian palazzo. Normiss and I spent about three hours there recently and we wished we had more time. If you really want to see gators, Gatorland is actually fun and a throw-back to what theme parks in FL used to be like, back in the day. You will see a lot more wildlife than just gators. You can even sign up for zipline fun that takes you right over a pond filled with gators. That would be a fun place to go if you're going to visit Orlando for a day. There are some thrill rides on I-Drive that might be fun for you, and the bar scene in downtown Orlando is pretty hopping (I hear). And, I think every outlet store is here, if your wife likes shopping. There are also airboat rides at Boggy Creek near Orlando that you can take. The theme parks are so crowded and expensive, we don't even go there. I like these other activities that I listed much better. Hope I've helped! She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

I can totally see him in a minivan. She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

Welcome to the forums!

I'll believe it when I see it. She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

A present for your Mom. She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

That was all UF that decided that, even refusing to play at LSU on Sunday. Now, in Florida's defense, the hurricane zone was still uncertain when they had to make the call. IIRC, the storm was still shifting west on that day. Also, a lot of the players have family in the area that they were concerned about. Adding to that the difficulty that thousands of fans would have in getting to the game from all directions in FL with flooding, road closures and people not even having electricity and gas stations running of of gas, I think they made a good call. She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

Hey, we made it! We were told that the storm would hit our area around 6 am Friday. Sure enough, the weather alarm went off at 5:46 and we lost power by 5:59. I've lived through many hurricanes before, and I had forgotten how relentlessly tense it is to sit through it all day and just watch the rain and winds through the windows. We kept hearing the thud, thud, thud of a big oak branch that goes over the top of our bedrooms. This was a long and strong one! The winds didn't really die down until 8 pm. My family lives in five houses in the area. We are the only ones who lost power for an extended time; we went 38 1/2 hours without electricity (not that I counted or anything!). We live in an older area of the city with overhead power lines and big oak trees, so we kind of expected it. My Dad has had two generators sitting in his garage for ten years, still in the box. Mark was able to get them working the day before the storm, and I'm so glad he did. We ran one during the day to keep our refrigerators going, so at least we were able to save our food. There are many people in our area who are posting today that they still don't have power. The temps are in the high 80's, so it's still pretty warm in the houses without a/c. We spent seven hours picking up debris out of the yard yesterday. Other than being sore and tired today, we are back to normal at our place. Oh, and no trees fell on the camper! Yay! Mark did find a baby squirrel who didn't make it. RIP, baby squirrel. There are many people in our area who are posting today that they still don't have power. Attached are a few pics of the messy yard. Thanks for all of your concern!

Thanks! I bet you are concerned about your sis, it's never good to be exposed to the wind like that. I hope they, and you, will be ok. So far, so good, in Sanford still. We're seeing a little bit of flooding on our street already, but I don't think it will be a concern for our house. She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

7:30 pm Thursday: Normiss and I are alive...so far! We are in Central Florida and are riding out the storm. We've spent the better part of three days preparing, and feel pretty confident in our prep. My biggest worry is our Fifth Wheel. It's parked in its slot on the north side of the house, between our house and the neighbors. There is a pretty big oak branch that goes over the top of it. We thought about moving the camper to the front of the house, but then it would be more exposed to high winds. The rain bands are heavy now. In our area, the worst time is supposed to start around 5:00 am Friday and last most of the day. The winds could be as high as 100 mph tomorrow. We'll give updates if we can. I know there area a lot of other skydivers up the east coast. Check in if you can and tell us how you are. Stay safe, friends! She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon