Sunday

January 13, 2008

It worked out that we could go to church today. The nearest Lutheran church was only six miles away and is located in a unique neighborhood. So we mounted our bikes to the Jeep to explore after the service.

The Church of the Resurrection congregation is about 40% snowbirds this time of year. Also, most of the members who are full time residents in this area have migrated from the north in recent years. Many, as we learned early, migrated from Wisconsin. When they found out that there were visitors from the Seattle area in their midst today, they did not hesitate to ask how we felt about yesterday’s game. It was, however, much easier to deal with than it is to go to church the day after the Cougs lose the Apple Cup.

The local community was built in the early 60's, after the Sputnik scare. Money flowed into the space program and many of the homes date from that time. The area surrounding the church is a community built on a series of human-made canals. The front door of the homes is accessed via the street. The backyards access a waterway. Picture of a canal.

The morning was warm and very muggy. The early morning fog burned off late and gave way to just a few hours of sun. By mid afternoon black clouds loomed and lightening and thunder followed. A tornado warning scrolled across the TV screen during the early football game. Soon a torrential downpour necessitated Barb and I to brave the downpour to retract the awning.

In an hour or so it was over. We heard the horn of a departing cruise ship. We exited the RV to find it sailing out to sea, visible from our campsite. Tomorrow we leave this gorgeous setting to head south and inland. Canaveral has been another wonderful discovery. We came to explore NASA and found so much more.