Elephant Encounter

Posted on by Ian C.

Today we headed 1-1/2 hours north to Two Tails Ranch to experience their “Extreme Encounter” which includes some “one on one” time with an Elephant! The tour began with a talk about Elephants in general and those at the ranch – it was a bit heavy with politics but we did learn some facts (for example African and Asian Elephants have different numbers of toes); we toured the rest of ranch (Tortoises, a Zebra, a Camel, and a family of Ring Tailed Lemurs) … then on to more Elephant-y experiences where we fed an Elephant, took photos with an Elephant, helped wash an Elephant and even had a ride on one! Overall the $200/person cost seemed well justified with the enjoyment we had here!

Some photos from the presentation (there are three female Elephants at the ranch):

Photos of not-Elephants:

Photos from the “extreme” encounter: feeding, riding, washing and close-up photos:

Central Florida Community Arts: Once Upon A Dream

Posted on by Ian C.

Last night we attended a fabulous musical choral + orchestral performance of Disney music, much of it in entertaining medleys and most of it recognizable. The performance was at Northland Church which is an amazing venue (and didn’t push religion too heavily!) … it’s introduced us to CFCArt and I think we will try to catch more of their work in the future …

I’ve included the playlist and some photos of the event (photos and even video allowed, so long as no flash/lights); the background is an animated projection showing images relevant to the performance (the rose for example is during Beauty and the Beast):

Here’s a little video to show just how good the performers were:

25,000 fun miles of X3 driving

Posted on by Ian C.

On our recent “Seven States” trip, my X3 passed 25,000 miles!

It was much nicer driving my own car on that trip, than a rental – it helps of course that the places we visited weren’t thousands of miles from home (though just getting out of Florida is around 200 miles)

My X3 M40i remains the most enjoyable car I’ve owned, and I’ve now owned it more than five years (a long time for me!); it’s comfortable and spacious and the technology remains perfect – though I have to pay an annual fee now to keep the navigation and traffic reports working, and there’s no notification when it runs out, it’s just that some functions no longer work but don’t tell you why not!

The car is out of warranty now, which so far only means paying for oil changes – I did have a “check engine” issue recently that needed two visits to BMW but turned out to be the “active grill shutters” (or “louvers” as the dealership called them) that is covered by an extended warranty. No doubt there will be future issues I’ll have to pay for and maybe that will eventually drive me to trade in to a newer still-covered model (but the probable $30,000 cost means I can afford a lot of repairs!)

When my X3 was being repaired I was given a current X3 (not M) as a loaner – it is of course pretty similar but I noticed a number of subtle differences; for example the display dials now incorporate a map but didn’t seem to have the different comfort/sport/eco design changes that my car had. The ride seemed a little smoother but maybe that’s just because it was newer. One thing that surprised me was the cabin temperature controls are now two tiny switches rather than the ergonomically better knobs that my car has …

I wonder how many more years I will own this car …