October 2007 – Page 6

An empty reservoir

Posted on October 5, 2007February 21, 2017 by Ian C.

A lack of rain and, I’ve heard, poor water management in the town, results once again in our local Goose Cove reservoid being empty! But it makes for some good photos …

You can see a line with brown below on the big rock; that is the normal water level in the reservoir! It’s down perhaps 15 feet (it’s so low that no more water can be drawn out of it; what’s left is evaporating).

Back nearly a century local resident Roger Babson had various boulders carved with messages to inspire the public and to assist unemployed stone-cutters (see this website for more information); in addition to carving positive messages, Babson marked various “cellar holes” with a numbered boulder – cellar holes locate where a house once was, when Dogtown was a thriving community!
Since that time, the Goose Cove reservoir has been developed and normally submerges some cellar marker stones – but with the low water, we can see stones “29” and “30 easily (the huge boulder in the picture above has “29” on it):

On the way from our house to the reservoir, two more stones are passed – “28” is in the brush near the water, while “27” is partly buried on the side of the road!

There are many more boulders in the area; Margaret & I toured some lots of years ago – before this website (or my digital camera) existed! Maybe it’s time to tour again (although there are many websites out there already …)

End of Summer with GPMINI

Posted on October 5, 2007February 13, 2017 by Ian C.

I took this picture recently, on another of our end-of-summer-but-still-summer days … I like it 🙂

GPMINI at the end of summer

These “bonus days”, warmer than they “should” be, are especially enjoyable (it was above 80f yesterday and close to that today!)

Mickey & MINI 3

Posted on October 1, 2007February 15, 2017 by Ian C.

An absolutely excellent weekend – with many many thanks to George, who provided continuous friendship and transportation is his fabulously cute new Mini … and thanks also to Pedro (of MotoringFun), Alex, Barry and everyone in Sunshine MINIs!

Friday evening, after happy hour drinks at the hotel, there was a great dinner get-together with perhaps 80 people attending (sponsored by MinSpeed, previously MyMINI). The food was very good, and after prize presentations (including a hilarious one for best “hard luck” story on the way to the event), we ended with a group picture:

Saturday morning began at a sensible 10am, with a good drive that led us on twisty back roads looping around the Walt Disney World property (and back through it); we had regular stops for photos, and there’s lots and lots of pictures:

Back at the hotel parking lot, we could check out other MINIs (while George washed his Mini), including Jackie’s with a beautifully created Disney themed roof design, and Vladimirs with a stereo system to rival (or beat?) GPMINI, which included Bluetooth controlled equalization!:

On Saturday afternoon, George & I attempted a photo scavenger hunt – it was great fun but a bit frantic, especially since we non-locals didn’t know many of the “secrets” that the locals did know 😉 … then everyone re-grouped at Kitty O’Sheas for food (generously provided by Downtown MINI of Orlando), and drinks! Photo scavenger hunt results were announced, with Brandy & Amy taking first place … And then, it rained!

Thankfully, only for a while … so in the evening we were able to watch the original Italian Job movie, courtesy of the hotel (there was also a go-karting event, which we heard was excellent as well!). It’s quite amusing laying on sunbeds by the pool, in the dark, watching a movie – especially when you can’t really see the picture because all the lights are still on (but of course we all knew the movie anyway, and we could still hear it!)

On Sunday, a MINI golf event was organized at the Disney Winter Summer Land course; George & I sneaked in a game at Fantasia first … and that’s where I dropped my camera(!) and had to find the bit that dislocated from it 😦 so no more pics; but thankfully the camera is now re-assembled and appears to be still fully functional.