This year's Tour of America began last Friday. We made our first stop at Wallaby Ranch. Just west of Orlando, it is one of the premiere hang gliding schools in the country.
The 500-acre facility is fantastic, a summer camp for adults that's open year-round. While most folks go for the flying, they also have hiking, biking, and a pool-with-a-view. If that's not enough there are climbing walls, beach volleyball, almost every other fun thing imaginable.
Hungry? Chow down in the dining hall.
Francesca opted for a quiet place to read.
Getting in some practice
We had stopped by to drop off a painting that the owner, Malcolm Jones, had purchased. He is not only a connoisseur of fine art but an exceptional pilot. The Tampa-native has taken over 30,000 people for tandem flights in his gliders. His safety record is perfect.
For a little more than the price of admission to Disney World (ten miles east), you can be towed up by a little Dragonfly plane until you are one with the clouds. Malcolm will be next to you to take care of everything.
He has been doing this for nearly forty years. In 2012 a woman celebrated her 100th birthday with Malcolm-in-the-Sky (see this and everything else on their beautiful website, www.wallaby.com). A half-mile up, the Dragonfly's cable is released and the two of you are as free as a bird. It's one of the coolest things that you will ever do.
People come here from all over the world for the great flying. When I brushed my teeth in the community bathroom, this tube of Russian toothpaste was looking up at me.When Francesca brushed hers,
this curious tree frog was staring at her. 
We were invited to stay for the night. We parked the camper between the tree house
and the landing strip.
In the morning we were awaken by our barking dog. She didn't like balloons floating through the sky.
That's annoying as it gets at Wallaby Ranch.
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