2 March 2026 Sanford: Ian Comes a Visiting

 

Ian is the financial advisor for the entire Florida clan of McLanes.  He has been wanting to get to know Laura's businesses and of course we have kept him entertained with all of our unique international needs.  He told us he was going to visit from Chattanooga and we said yes indeed.  We first visited the Sanford Store, then went to lunch with Ryan.  Then we headed off to the Leesburg store for more inspections.  Lastly we went to Mount Dora for a fine dinner.   The kitchen was closed so we sipped a bit of hooch and then ordered a very nice dinner.

A mystery raptor sitting on the roof next door in the fog

Cedar Waxwings lifebird #1

Blue-gray Gnat Catcher, lifrbird #2 for the day 

Red Shouldered Hawk was he the one on the fog?  Lifebrid #3 for the day

Sandhill crane

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks life bird #4

Ringed-Necked Duck lifebird #5

The store #1

Lots of space

The kid's side

So much to choose from

Sanford sculpture

Lunch spot

Historing downtown

When you say bud, you said the word that means you like to do it all (actual lyrics from the jingle)

Lunch ready

A psychedelic gator

Driving off to the next store

Mount Dora!

Dinner at the waterfront

Pisces is rising and so is out appetite

Mount Dora sculpture

The water is fine

We had to wait for the kitchen to re-open so we had a tipple

The sun was intense

Until it wasn't

Time to head back

Howwwwwlllll!

 

 It was been 3 years and 270 days since we began our Migration

1 March 2026 Sanford: Getting Settled Just North of Orlando, in Sanford FL

 

We are staying with Leslie's sister Laura.  Her house is delightful and we did many first day activities.  Washing clothes, unpacking, heading to the store, walking Macy through the neighborhood and the like.  The area is fairly rural and so there is ample tree cover and good bird habitat.  I saw few new birds the very first morning!  We hosted Ian, our financial advisor for a Sunday dinner.  He came in from Chattanooga to see us and to see Laura and her stores

When we walk Macy, there is a lake at the end of the road by the mailboxes

A robin

Cardinal

This is a yellow-rumped warbler. life bird #1 for the day

The Spanish moss is thick and a great place for a bird to hide

A ruby-crowned Kinglet lifebird #2

Pickle juice in quantities we can not fathom

Appetizers

Big smiles

Big goofy!

Sunset

https://youtube.com/shorts/CIzxMBaXeH4

Macy is worn out already with so much excitement

 It was been 3 years and 269 days since we began our Migration

28 Februrary 2026 Hollywood to Orlando: A Bright Idea, Lets Take the Brightline

 

We got up, had some breakfast, cleaned up the place and drove to Miami. We gassed up the car and returned it then we took a cab to the Brightline station.  The cab was more expensive than the Uber but we did not know where to catch the Uber, while the cab was sitting there waiting for us.  The Brightline station is still very new and it had some nice decorative touches.  We got some lunch and waited for our departure time.  We paid to check in bags as we had flashbacks of the struggles for baggage in France and Italy.  As it turned out that was not a problem as there was ample space for bags, lesson learned.  The train ride was smooth in the new cars and even though we drove through a few rain squalls we could still see lots of Florida out of the windows.

Huge construction work

The Arsht Center

This may be for the trucking tunnel over to the port

Freedom Tower

The interior of the terminal building

Looking down to where we were dropped off by the taxi

Standard message boards for the few trains departing

Train themed art

A miniature office 

Bright sun heading out of the terminal

Not many fellow passengers

An uncooperative photographic subject

We pass the Miami people mover 

The baseball stadium

No crossing mishaps!

The ubiquitous graffiti 

Painted buildings

A lively scene 

Moving from an urban setting

Past Hollywood's airport

To the Indian River

With all things related to boats

To the large terminus in Orlando

Miss Macy celebrates our arrival with a celebratory cigar

 It was been 3 years and 268 days since we began our Migration