Blue sky, light wind

January 10, 2008

Blue sky, light winds. It was an outside day. We spent the morning working on the rig and planning our February itinerary. Bud helped with the latter. He is our neighbor. He is a happy man and he states that every day is a gift to him. Two of the three ships he served on in World War II were sunk in naval battles in the Pacific. He and his wife have been traveling to Florida every winter for 36 years. He knows, I think, almost every camp ground in Florida and there are many. Bud was a farmer. He still lives in upper Pennsylvania but he has sold his dairy of over a hundred cows. He raised corn, hay, and purebred Jerseys, processed the milk and directly marketed it to homes and business with a fleet of 14 trucks, He slowed down in down in 88 and sold out in 95, At 82, he still makes the trip south each winter. Another octogenarian has helped us on our way.

We spent a warm afternoon on the beach. Barb read and I rode my bike. Just two words: beautiful and comfortable.

Around 5, two cruise ships left from docks nearby and sailed out to sea right by our campground.

Another cape

Our timing could have been better. The shuttle doesn’t launch for another three weeks. When it does launch our campground is said to be one of the best viewpoints. We are now at Jetty Park and RV campground in Cape Canaveral. We are about 40 yards from the water and a beautiful beach is just two blocks away. We arrived here from Orlando at around 2. We walked out onto a 1500 foot pier to watch the locals fish. Then we biked up the beach for a few miles. The weather is a glorious 80 with a slight breeze. For dinner we biked on a path to the local marina area about a mile away and dined on the wharf. My seared tuna was excellent.

Recovery

After a day at EPCOT with Terry and Jan, I needed a day to recover. There was so much to see and experience. Being with good friends made it more special. However, my ankles did not cooperate and I experienced the most painful day of the trip. I am not so sure why. Perhaps they are deteriorating. Perhaps, and more likely, it has been a long time since I have been able to be in a hot tub/pool and/or stretch, exercise and do therapy. But today I began my recovery. Barb and I took a day to enjoy the ambiance of the climate and campground. It was 80 today. We were at the pool by 10 a.m. I swam for the first time in months. I stretched out in the hot tub, later biked and hit the hot tub in the afternoon. We took the time to do laundry, shop, and read in the sun. The days ahead offer much promise. It was a year ago when I golfed with Brian and Kay with minimal pain. The warm climate and exercise brought me to that level. I hope that Florida offers the same balm as Arizona did a year ago. I awoke from my nap this afternoon due to strange noise. A covey of wild turkeys were feeding at the back of our campsite. Thus the picture...

Disney

January 7, 2007

Today we toured EPCOT with Terry and Jan Nealey, friends since childhood who happened to be attending a conference in Orlando. Thanks to the internet, we realized that we were both in Orlando and we rendezvoused at the Disney site. A great day with friends from home in a very special place far from home.

Sunday in Orlando

January 6, 2008

It was cool as we rode our bikes to church at 7:30 this morning. This RV park is the largest we’ve been to. There are 800 spaces and it is basically full. Many parks hold church services on Sunday mornings and this one was quite large, over a hundred people. A Pentecostal family, husband age 60, wife and 4 children ages 17 to 12 lead the service. The wife played the piano well, the kids struggled with violins and a trumpet, and they all sang. The husband spoke fluently, in southern style, skipping from place to place in the Bible to blend a very cohesive message. I wondered at his training as he spoke. He related that he drove truck for UPS for twenty years. Then he shared that his father was a Southern Baptist missionary. Aha, the lessons, style, spirit and a lifetime of study came forth in his delivery. A refreshing experience in this unique environment.

We met Frank and Jan for lunch. They taught school with us in Bangkok. As young childless couples, we explored Asia together several times in our two years there. After 6 years in Bangkok and 2 years in Djakarta, they moved to the Orlando area. Frank, as an industrial arts teacher, quit teaching to build houses here. We had not seen them in 34 years. We sat at a picnic table at a local winery and talked the afternoon away. Precious memories revisited, friendships rekindled.

Arrival in Orlando

The drive to Orlando surprised us. There were a few farms. One was strawberry. Orange groves dominate this area but most of the area we drove through was covered with pines and logging appears to be the main industry. It was 68 degrees as we pulled into the campsite. So we donned our shorts and went for a bike ride. We are near a lake and, yes, we are told that it has alligators. Now we sit in the rig, the door is wide open and we are watching the Seahawks beat the Redskins.

Okefenokee

Florida is famous for its alligators. We read today that Georgia has over 200,000 of them. When we visited Okefenokee Swamp today, we thought we would see a few. We didn’t. It’s too cold and they were sleeping in protected marshes.

It did warm up to the mid 50’s and the wind did not blow. So it was quite comfortable as Barb and I walked out the wooden trail to an above the treetop platform to view the swamp. We saw only a small part of the swamp as it extends close to 400,000 acres.
But we saw a unique biome now a National Wildlife Refuge.

We did consult the ranger before we began our trek. “Do we have to worry about the gators?” I asked. “Honey,” she answered, “you’re more likely to get struck by lightening then get bothered by a gator.” I looked up and saw no clouds in the sky so we walked on.

If it had been warmer, or if we had another day here, it would have been best to rent a canoe and experience the swamp in that manner. We now realize that humans and gators can exist side by side. They have been for centuries. The movies have it all wrong.

The last picture is from yesterday, one of the streets in St. Augustine.