My Dependable Travellng Companions

Back in 2009 Veronica and I were preparing for our very first cruise and also our very first time going to Alaska.
Prior to that cruise I bought my very first pair of Merrell shoes. The style was Gemini.
Besides my wife Veronica, these Merrell Gemini shoes have been my trusted and dependable traveling companion since 2009 and they are still going strong.
These shoes have been on the soil of many countries during its travels and they have never flinched once nor failed on ice, snow, sleet, rain, concrete, or cobblestone.
Besides being waterproof and having Vibram soles these shoes are extremely comfortable so much so that whenever I travel overseas the first thing I grab besides a suitcase and my wife's hand, I grab my tried and true Merrell Gemini shoes.
These shoes have traveled to Alaska, Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, numerous trips to France and numerous trips to Italy. These shoes are going to be traveling this year to Venice again and later in the year to Hungary and the Czech Republic.
So many miles from so many places have been put on these shoes.
If these Merrell Gemini shoes could talk...oh the sole-ful stories they could tell.
***Please note- No shoes were harmed or injured during the writing of this blog entry!

Update On The Garden

Well the garden is coming along pretty good. The pepper plants are starting to really grow and the corn has started coming up with some of the stalks being about 6" tall already. I planted 113 corn seeds and right now all but 5 have not broken ground. If I dont see any progress on those 5 seeds  I will re-plant seeds. Those 5 plants may be behind the other plants in growth but I am sure they would do fine as the season moved along.
Below are some new photos showing you the progress made in my garden.

Tomato plant with potatoes on either side 

Pepper plants

Below are carrots

More potato plants

Potato plants with 3 tomato plants behind the potato patch

Plants Have Arrived

I received my order of sweet peppers and tomatoes from Burpee Seed. The sweet peppers looked particularly healthy. I got everything planted and staked up. This year I am trying out a new product...at least new for me. They are called tomato rings. You will be able to see them in the photos below. They can also be used with the sweet pepper plants.
I planted my corn seeds approximately a week ago. I already have approximately 65 corn stalks coming up.
The little carrot greens have popped up too.
And the potato plants are growing well.
It should be a great gardening season.

 The 2 photos below show the tomato rings that can also be used on the sweet pepper plants

 Potato plants

 Below is the expanded garden section with tomatoes and potato plants

 Below are 2 carrot patches

 And here comes the corn

Let The Planting Begin Along With Updated Garden Photos

Not sure if I mentioned in my recent entries that I have started planting a few vegetables.
I planted our potato crop in 4- 8 gallon bags that are out on the deck along with 2 separate sections in my expanded circular garden area. I have plants popping up in all but two of the bags.
Carrots have all been planted with growth already popping through the soil in both locations. I have carrots planted in a plant box on the back deck and also in a small plot just next to the back deck.
I just got finished planting 5 varieties of corn in the main garden section. When all of the come up I will have a total of 113 corn stalks.
My plants from Burpee Seeds should be arriving here sometime this upcoming week which will keep me very busy until I get everything planted.
I ended up re-arranging all of the planters on the back deck to maximize the space better allowing more space between each plant and allowing for me to go between the plants for watering purposes and tending to each plant.
I will take a few more garden photos as time permits...hopefully today.
Update on the medical front...just finished getting my last Radiofrequency Ablation procedures done.
3 levels of my lower spine on each side. Hopefully that will give me some relief from the chronic pain for at least a little while.
Checking into have 2 additional injections done to deal with the sciatica issues.
Have a future appt set up to see a neuro-surgeon about possible options on my back  the would remedy my back issues for the long term
And of course I developed a new issue in my right shoulder. It has been rather painful for some time and has got worse more recently. It is to the point that I quit doing my weight lifting routine out of fear of doing further damage to it. I went to the doctor a couple of days ago to have it looked at at and there is a good chance that I have a rotator cuff injury. Working on getting an MRI schedule to confirrn the diagnosis and severity of the injury.
Hopefully it wont be a worst case scenario because with that type of surgery the recovery time is 4-6 months.
Have I told you recently that growing old really sucks at least when the body starts to break down.

Re-organized deck to allow more space between each pot

One of my several potato bags

Carrot patch

Temporary spot for some of the extra pepper plants

Another view of the in ground carrot patch

One of the in ground potato plots

Below is the new and improved corn garden

Various herbs and spices that I planted this year including oregano, sweet basil and something new that I am trying...chocolate mint...you read that correctly. Antually does have the scent of chocolate

A Little Getaway

Veronica had to go to Orlando for a conference so I hid myself in her luggage and had her shlep me with her.
We went down to Orlando a couple of days before her conference started so that  we could take a little break and do some site seeing.
After checking into our first hotel we took a shuttle over to Universal City Walk. After walking around for a while we had a cheeseburger in paradise at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. By the time we got finished with dinner we were both pretty well tired out and headed back to our hotel.
The next morning we decided to take a shuttle to Epcot Center in Disney World. They were having their International Flower and Garden Festival going on there so I knew that there would be plenty of photo opportunities.
We spent the whole day at Epcot and by 6PM we were ready to head back to our hotel. Below are photos that I took during our day in Epcot:

I saw this little guy scurrying around out of the corner of my eye .

He/she stood still long enough for me to take a few photos before taking off to find new tidbits for dinner

The next morning we took a shuttle to the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort which is where Veronica's conference was to be held. This resort was huge and extremely nice. Here are some stats that will give you an idea of just how big this resort is:
1,501 suites
490,000 square feet of meeting and event space
99 meeting rooms
Largest theatre size capacity is 9,500
Banquet seating capacity is 6,800
An 18 hole par 72 7,149 yard championship golf course with computerized GPS yardage system
Fishing on site
10,000 square foot Spa and Salon with 9 treatment rooms
3,000 square foot fitness center
4 pools and 2 hot tubs
2 lighted tennis courts
A volleyball pit and basketball court
11 restaurants, eateries, cafes and bars
A 1.25 mile nature trail
For more information about Rosen Shingle Creek please visit via this link...   Rosen Shingle Creek Resort
Below are various photos that I took on the property of Rosen Shingle Creek: