Space, Race and Turtles....Again???

After moving from the state park to New Smyrna Beach, we drove to Orlando International Airport to pick up the oldest grandsons for a visit with us.

When we first extended an invitation to the oldest grandchildren to join us in our adventures, we told them they would be hanging with us and doing what we do.  We are truly blessed the grands are willing to spend time with the ‘old’ fogies.  When I was their age, I doubt I would have considered or even entertained the thought of spending a week with my grandparents.  Truly a blessing, especially since the oldest one will be graduating high school next year and this might be the last opportunity for us to share time like this.

The first morning together, we got them up to tour a boat factory nearby.  The Boston Whaler factory; where we met our tour guide and two other folks for a very informative and personalized tour.  The smells and sights brought back many memories for me.  I worked in my college years at a factory where tub/shower enclosures were made from fiberglass for hotel and motel building projects.  Taking factory tours is part of our bucket list and regular routine when opportunity arises.

Dashing group in their factory tour togs 

The factory makes small boats and very large boats with a number of models in between.  It was very interesting to find out they only start making a boat whenever it is sold and never make one for an inventory.  Also interesting was the fact that the largest boat is their chief money making line.  These units are priced easily at $1 million plus per unit depending on accessorizing options.  Even more amazing was the amount of manual labor involved from start to finish in producing all sizes of boats.  There is quite the artistic skill required in many of the processes.  Boston Whaler owners should be proud of their American made purchase.  One of the better claims to fame is a picture showing a Boston Whaler cut in half between bow and stern that is still afloat and navigable with a motor or oars.

Our next adventure together was attending a NASCAR race at the famous Daytona International Speedway.  Florida was in drought conditions before we showed up but since we have been here we have seen rain almost daily.  This week was no exception.  In fact there were two races scheduled, one for Friday and one for Saturday.  Friday was rained out so it ran on Saturday before the main event on Saturday night.  We got to see the end of the first race and the entire second race with fireworks (4th of July weekend) following the night race.

A very fine day for a race.

Pre-Race Summary

Trucks used in driver introductions to transport to cars lined up.

Pole Sitter Dale Jr following red pace care out of pit road onto track.

Since this was Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s final appearance at Daytona, there was special emphasis on him.  In fact, he actually attained the pole position for the start of the race.  Unfortunately, the fairy tale ending eluded his effort to win due to a number of mishaps and collisions during the race that eventually forced him from the field.  Since this was the boys’ first NASCAR experience, it was fun to watch their reactions and feel their excitement with great seats right across pit road and not too far from the finish line.

Dale Jr. not too happy after leaving the race!

The pre-race activities focused on honoring men and women either serving or formerly serving in the armed forces since we were close to July 4.  The track handed out placards and pens to use in honoring these people.  The boys were happy to include their mother and father on their placards.  The race winner was Ricky Stenhouse Jr number 17.  Here he is doing the obligatory burnout in front of the stands after taking the checkered flag.

National Anthem!

Honoring our heroes!

Pace car leaving

They're off and underway

Three wide some of the time

The checkered flag for end of the race

and the Winner is

Celebrating the win.

Having never taken an airboat ride ourselves, we wanted to experience that before leaving the area.  There are a number of ‘tours’ via airboat to view gators (and other wildlife) in the area.  This time of the year is not that great for viewing the gators due to the heat.  Gators are cold blooded and spend most of their time in the water when it is hot so they can regulate their body temperature.  The best time to catch them out of the water is during the fall or spring when they move between water and land to keep body temp at certain level.  Nevertheless, we did spot several gators including one fairly large one.  Since Florida is getting a lot of rain right now, the land is full of water so having an airboat is necessary to go where the gators go when moving around for their food.

A fairly big one - could not get closer, that is how they stay big.

Here's another one, not as big but much closer.

The airboat ride was very enjoyable and as long as we were moving quite comfortable.  It only became warm whenever we stopped to view the wildlife.  I would go on another airboat ride again because it was fun.  This was another first for not only the boys but us too.

We included a couple of beach visits while they were here as well.  New Smyrna Beach is one of the beaches in Florida that allows vehicles to drive onto the beach in certain areas.  We chose not to drive but it is fun to see the vehicles all lined up and parked on the sand.  It is also fun to stop, look and listen before crossing the ‘driving lane’ on the beach which is not usually a consideration on most beaches we visited in the past.

Like any red-blooded American boys, these guys had a great time in the water.  The waves were big enough to provide some good body surfing with the boards we are still carrying around with us from the younger grands’ visit.  What a great $20 investment in fun these things have been.  Bibi and I have enjoyed every minute of watching both sets of grands try to catch the best wave and ride all the way into the beach.  You cannot put a price on that kind of memory making!

After body surfing a little diggin' in the sand

There is a Minor League Team in Daytona named the Tortugas.  We have grands that love the game of baseball as much as I do and we decided a night time game on the Fourth of July with a hot dog and fireworks afterward was a good way to celebrate Independence Day.  The Tortugas’ mascot is a turtle.  Tortuga translates from Spanish to English as a tortoise or turtle.  The boys thought the logos on the hats pretty cool so they each purchased a hat as a souvenir of their trip.

National Anthem time on July 4th

Sheldon - the Tortuga mascot - and his drum

I kept calling the team the ‘Dry Tortugas’ so the oldest asked me why.  I guess it was the unconscious linking of the name to the islands by that name in the Caribbean.  Or….perhaps the linking of their dismal second half season win/loss record of 1 – 12 at the time of the game we attended.  Unfortunately, the win/loss record after the game is 1 – 13.  I still call them the Dry Tortugas, but we had a lot of fun and enjoyed the festivities during and after the game for some fond memories.

Spacex had a rocket launch scheduled so we drove down towards Titusville one afternoon to get a better vantage point to watch the launch.  We found the public park that had a great view of the Cape so we settled in for the countdown.  After waiting about one hour, the launch kept getting pushed back for reasons unknown, they finally entered the final minute with a go to launch.  All went well until 10 seconds left when the computers shut everything down and aborted the launch.

There was a collective groan from the assembled crowd and then a gradual exodus by everyone as we left the area since the launch window was now closed and there would not be a launch.  The boys overheard one little girl (probably a six or seven year old) exclaim, ‘this is the worst day,’ as we left the area.  Then she added, ‘today is the worst day of the year for me.’  Both of which became the funny comment for the rest of the trip for the guys.  Anything that went wrong from that point forward became the ‘worst’ day event for them and we all had a good laugh remembering the little girl’s words.  We are thankful to find humor in any situation no matter how disappointing or inconvenient to our plans.

The day came for them to return home but they got to experience the packing up, driving the motorhome to a different RV park and setting up prior to leaving as we moved from New Smyrna Beach into the Orlando area to Kissimmee RV Park.  Their last night in town with us allowed us to have a special birthday celebration meal at Benihana’s restaurant for our next oldest grandson.  We remarked how this is the first year we could celebrate his birthday and he not be playing in a baseball tournament.  He thought that was a good thing too!  Our chef’s name at the restaurant is Mark, which seems pretty American and not Asian to me, just sayin’.  Nevertheless, he was very entertaining and made the night memorable for all of us.

Happy Birthday Kaden, you'll be driving soon.  Cannot believe that!

The next morning, we delivered the grandsons to the airport and got them through security.  They would land back in Texas a couple of hours later.  We then headed back to the rig to do some cleaning in preparation for our next set of guests which arrive later in the evening.  There is more about that in the next posting.

Bon Voyage Time at the airport

'A-Weigh' we go!

We have landed in Titusville, FL after our Disney Experience.  The place we chose as our R&R is named Willow Lakes RV & Golf Resort.  It is a 55+ community with an electric security gate and a 9 hole golf course.  The places are extremely well maintained and appear to be basically a snowbird community with a mixture of houses, RV Port houses, RV pads with small buildings or just RV pads.  There is a swimming pool, community building, tennis courts, shuffleboard area, bocce ball courts and has a small tight knit Homeowner’s Association feel to it.  Of course there are numerous golf carts and bicycles that regularly traverse the streets.  Apparently autos are only used when exiting the gated community.

While we have been in the area, we have received the following question multiple times.  “Why, Titusville?”  It makes you laugh (at least inside) when you hear it and you cannot help but think, why not Titusville?  We chose it for its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, Kennedy Space Center and an area with just enough things to do (if we choose to do them) while recuperating from the latest ‘pell mell’ pace so we would not get bored.  We have enjoyed the peaceful and quiet time in our location while visiting Titusville.

We have taken a few driving day trips to scout the area and sample the local cuisine.  We had lunch one day on the beach at Cocoa Beach, drove the spit of land known as Merritt Island where the Space Center is located and scouted the area north of us for our upcoming move northward.  Our immediate aim is to witness a rocket launch at Cape Canaveral but the weather is not cooperating.  A Falcon Spacex rocket launch has been rescheduled twice while we have been here.  There is one last potential launch date on Friday before we leave on Sunday.

The beach at Cocoa Beach was pretty crowded for a weekday.  A good sign that summer is officially here.  Bibi has to dip her toe in the water whenever she is in walking distance.  After lunch at the beachside restaurant, we walked over the dunes to the actual beach area.  After tentatively standing in the edge of the water (see picture below) we can officially declare that Bibi has been in the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and now the Atlantic Ocean.  Her comment upon returning to me, ‘that water is a lot colder than the Gulf.’  Yep, that is definitely the case.  It takes a huge desire or a strong constitution to handle the water temperature usually associated with the Atlantic Ocean.

Middle of the week

Atlantic Ocean Toe-Dipping

We ate at a local restaurant literally just outside the entrance to our RV park the other night.  The restaurant’s name is Honeysuckle and proudly displays its message of ‘southern style home cooking’ on its sign.  It is definitely a place that satisfies one’s innards.  Our waitress was very attentive and when she brought us our ticket, I noticed a ‘Q’ following her first name.  After studying on it for awhile, I caught her attention to ask her if that was the first letter of her last name to which she replied, ‘yes.’  I told her that was the first letter of my last name too.

I also told her it was so unusual for me to find another person with a last name that begins with ‘Q’ I had to ask. ‘what is your last name?’  When she replied, ‘Quinn’, I grinned real big and said, ‘that’s mine too.’  She immediately smiled a big smile too.  During the subsequent conversation, I found out that Quinn is her maiden name and her dad comes from a big family of Quinn brothers originally from New York.  Life is full of twists, turns, bumps, bruises and yes, even very pleasant surprises.  We both thought it great fun to find one another, meet and now claim to be related (at least in the sense of the mother country of Ireland) as cousins.  Don’t miss Honesuckle in Titusville; it could just make your day as sweet as mine was this day.

The last few days have been a whirlwind of activity.  As I wake up and look out through the early morning misty fog in the state park it makes me want to ruminate a bit on the events.  First of all, we did get to witness the launch of the Spacex rocket on Friday.  Quite a spectacle to see in person hearing and seeing the actual event makes you marvel.  It was also quite a feat to land the first stage of the rocket on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean which we watched live via streaming on the internet.  Amazing is all I can say about that!

There she goes!

On Sunday we left to go to St. Cloud to keep an appointment with RVSEF (RV Safety and Education Foundation) to have the rig weighed by wheel position.  Then on to Wekiwa State Park for a set of new shoes for Pooh (Winnie the Pooh) since he needs five more.  It is from this park I am writing today.

The weighing went well and only took about 20 minutes.  We found out we are overweight by 550 pounds.  Reckon it is time for a purge of stuff.  We are pretty well balanced side to side as there is only 50 pounds difference between driver side and passenger side.  We are overweight on rear axle area and this means we need to move some things forward and remove some things entirely.  You will recall our blowout from a previous post which prompted us to schedule a weighing session.  Two of the most frequent causes of tire failure have to do with overloading and overheating.  Both involve proper loads and proper inflation to allow the tires to do their jobs effectively and safely.

It is very important to watch the age of tires as well.  I had noticed my seven year old tires were beginning to show their age with some crackling showing up in the sidewalls.  Hence the decision to replace the five remaining tires for Pooh.  We were very lucky our blowout experience was not severe or traumatic.  Family Motor Coach Association has a program with Michelin that allows you to purchase their XRV tires directly from Michelin for a discount through authorized tire dealers.  To take advantage of the program and obtain access to other FMCA benefits, you must become a member.

Interesting to visit this park during our two day weighing and tire change rendezvous.  We are in a highly populated metro center around Orlando within a 700 acre oasis of wildlife.  We literally can see across a fenced area adjacent to the RV camping area a lot of residential housing.  Yet inside this park is a plethora of wildlife, including Florida Black Bears.

Popular park with the locals - turning them away because full

When we checked in I was handed a sheet about bears.  It contains info about do’s and don’ts when it comes to bears.  We have not seen any here yet.  When driving to our weighing we did see a gator (a big ‘un) on the side of the road entering a ditch filled with water.  After setting up the rig our first day in the park, we saw Tommy the Turtle a.k.a. Lightning McQueen grazing on the grass on our site.  I call him Lightning because he must have afterburners he uses when no one is looking.  I glanced back outside about five minutes later and he was gone.  Visually scouring the area, I discovered he was on the vacant RV site across the street (a pretty fair distance away, especially for a turtle).  I could see how he could easily defeat a rabbit in a race with speed like that to draw on.  As it turns out, Tommy is not a turtle but a Gopher Tortoise.  Regardless, he is FAST!

Tommy the Turtle - grazing on our grass

We have also seen Limpkins and squirrels aplenty while in the park.  There is still time and we might even see a bear before we leave today.  Amazing these places exist in the middle of so much urban development.  Until next time, stay safe and get those rigs weighed and tires replaced when needed.