Day 48, Saturday, October 31, 2009 - 440 miles

Happy Halloween!
We were the recipients of a trick as we experienced a second tire blowout, this one on the left side of the trailer. Fortunately, it did not damage the fender as the first blowout did. It occurred about an hour before we stopped for the night here in Perry, FL, so first thing tomorrow will be a trip to a tire store for a new spare.
We left Allen's house this morning about 8:30. We headed straight west and then south to pick up the road up to Lake Okeechobee. It was 4 lanes and straight as an arrow for 40 miles as it traversed the Everglades. Not much to see except sawgrass. As we went north and west of the lake, the land became less marshy and soon cattle were seen. Later, we drove into sugar cane country.
We crossed the elegant bridge over Tampa Bay into St. Petersberg and then we really slowed down. For over 40 miles up US19, we were driving through suburban and tourist areas. With all the stop lights, we probably averaged 25 MPH. It gradually opened up, and we were doing well until the tire blew.
We should make it to Kelli and Larry's in Mexico Beach by early afternoon.

Day 47, Friday, October 30, 2009

Today was a relaxing day with no set plans. After a leisurely breakfast, we decided to go to the pottery shop that Allen bought the items I mentioned yesterday, and to see some of Fort Lauderdale.

First stop was Old Time Pottery. The items we were looking for were no longer in stock, and we didn't find anything else we couldn't live without (except a book), so we left empty handed. Allen bought some glasses.

Then, we headed into town, going east until we met the ocean. We then headed south to the wealthy part of town around Las Olas Blvd. The area was once swamp, so it is filled with canals, much like roads. There are very expensive homes with Bentleys and Porches parked in the drive ways and multi million dollar yachts parked in back on the canal. Some homes had corner lots on two canals so they could have two boats. All homes were professionally landscaped and maintained, so they were impressive to see.

Parking was hard to find due to an annual boat show. It is one of the largest in the world and contains some very large and expensive yachts. We could not find parking to eat at a place we wanted to, so we went back to the area near the ocean that we first went to and ate there. It was a bar/restaurant with great food that faced the beach, so we could enjoy the ocean as we enjoyed our lunch.

After lunch, we came home and spent the afternoon in and around the pool. Allen's friend Angelo came over to visit and dinner. We enjoyed seeing him again.

Day 46, Thursday, October 29, 2009 – 212 miles

We departed the central Florida area today in favor of south Florida and a visit with my cousin Allen Boucher in Orchard Park, near Fort Lauderdale. We got underway about 9:00 taking highway US192 south east to I95. The 212 miles were basically without incident, and Gretchen guided us to Allen's front door flawlessly. Allen, however, was not. He was at the BJ's Warehouse Store preparing for company (us and a new roommate arriving Saturday). A cell call got us in sync, and we waited a short while for his arrival, blocking his two nearest neighbors' driveways.
It was good to see Al. He has a gorgeous home with fantastic gardens around the house and pool. The house is a basic rancher, but very nicely decorated with great artwork and beautiful furniture. On the outside of the house we noticed some pottery pieces we liked. Allen agreed to take us to the store that sold them tomorrow.
We basically sat around and visited for the day and evening. We had a nice salad and ground beef steak for dinner, and relaxed in front of the TV for an hour or so before bedtime.
The trailer was quite warm (no air conditioning), but we toughed it out and decided to sleep there.

Day 45, Wednesday, October 28, 2009 – 35 miles

Today was another of those days where we deviate from plan. We were going to spend 1/2 the day at Animal Kingdom and the other at Magic Kingdom. Almost immediately after arriving at Animal Kingdom, we realized we would be lucky to see this whole facility before closing, so Magic Kingdom will be saved for another visit.

We wanted to see the shows, so we started with seeing the musical show based on the Finding Nemo movie. It was well done and entertaining. Next, we went to see a musical show featuring the Lion King characters. No story, just acts (acrobatics, dancing, singing, human and animitronic characters) and songs from the movie. Again, well done and entertaining.

For lunch, I tried a smoked turkey drumstick, something I have not seen offered in an amusement park before. Tasty and filling.

We spent the rest of the day going on rides which included a ride on a jeep type vehicle through the jungle and savanna of Africa where we saw wild animals (basically a zoo; we went around twice), a water ride during which we all got very wet (it felt pretty good in the hot afternoon), and the Mount Everest roller coaster, a ride that starts out going forward, goes backward for awhile after encountering torn up track, the then forward again for the rest of the ride. Lots of fun!

The Disney company really does everything first class. The architecture, phony trees, rocks, and other structures made of concrete, and the general layout geared for crowd control are all done well. What impressed me the most, however, is the vegetation. They imported plants from all over the world to correspond with the area of the world being represented in the park (the same was true at Epcot, but more so here). It is so lush and beautiful. I would be interested to know how many arborists and horticulturists are employed in these parks.

For anyone considering a visit here, this is the best time because it is between busy seasons. Lines were minimal or non-existent. A couple times, we had to wait a short time to get off a ride as the operators were waiting for new riders.

We were pooped after lots of walking following two days of lots of walking at Epcot and Kennedy Space Center. We finished the day with dinner at the Rain Forrest Restaurant located at the entrance to the park. We caught the last parking lot shuttle to the truck, saving a bit more walking.

Day 44, Tuesday, October 27, 2009 - 145 mles

NASA scheduled the test firing of the Ares I-X rocket for 8:00, so we got up at 5:00, picked up Melodye about 45 minutes later, and headed for Kennedy Space Center. We arrived at the check point about quarter till 8 only to be turned back. Tickets were sold back on the 15th for the privilege of getting a close look at the launch. We decided to find a spot on the mainland beach (Kennedy Center is on an island) to watch. Since we skipped breakfast, we bought some fruit and snacks at a convenience store then found a Brevard County Park with a few other hopeful rocket watchers and began waiting patiently. And wait we did. As the morning dragged on, the launch was delayed first by weather, followed by mechanical problems, and even a ship in the wrong place at the wrong time. As you have probably heard, it was scrubbed about 10:30 and rescheduled for tomorrow morning.

After a real breakfast, we went to the Astronauts Hall of Fame and Museum which is located off the Space Center but run by the same NASA contractor. We were concerned the Space Center would be too crowded due to the people there for the launch, but was told there were only 1700 tickets sold compared to a normal 14,000, so crowds should not be an issue. So we decided to see them today.

We started in the museum. It is well done with lots of memorabilia and history of the various space programs and people involved. There is a fair collection of equipment including a shuttle mock up.

We then headed east across the causeway to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. It has tons of exhibits and displays. We also saw a 3-D I-max film called the Dream Is Alive that promotes future space exploration.

After a tour of the visitor complex, we boarded a bus for the trip to the Apollo/Saturn V Center. An actual 3-stage Saturn rocket is the featured artifact. There were many other items as well.

The second destination is the facility that prepares parts, systems, and modules bound for the space lab. We saw people at work on a couple of the projects. It is winding down as the space station is nearing completion. Our last activity was to ride a shuttle launch simulator. It was loud and gave a cool sensation on what a real launch would be like.

Normally, the visit would include a trip to a launch site, but because the still fueled rocket was on the launch pad, we had to forgo that stop. We caught one of the last buses back to the Visitor Complex where we found our lonely truck sitting in a near empty parking lot for the ride back to Orlando. We were certainly disappointed we missed the launch, but had a good time.

Day 43, Monday, October 26, 2009 - 45 miles

Today, we picked up Melodye about 8:30 and headed over to Epcot, just a few miles away. We got parked just after 9:00 when they open, so we were parked near the entrance. We spent the entire day there, leaving after the fire works at 9:00.

Our kids/grand kids are going to be disappointed with us, but we took very few photos. Everything is phony there, so I wasn't inclined, even though, I have to admit, there are a lot of beautiful and interesting things there.

We were mostly disappointed in the tour of the countries. Each country had a film or display about themselves, some more elaborate than others. Each country had two or more eating places and two or more places to buy junk. We would like to have seen more about the countries. The buildings were mostly traditional for the country they represented, and those were interesting to see.

There is an international food and wine fair going on. For about ten bucks, you can get a small sized portion of food and a small sampling of wine from each country. That would get expensive since there were over 10 countries represented, so chose to not participate. It was also quite warm, so alcohol was not a good idea.

We got home to a very warm trailer. We used the air conditioner for only the 3rd or 4th time we have owned the trailer. When we awoke, it was still cycling as the overnight low was near 80.

Day 42, Sunday, October 25, 2009 - 316 miles

Today was a day of travel with in interlude of sightseeing in the middle. We began the day by getting an early start for the two hundred or so miles down to St. Augustine, FL. It was a pleasant drive. The weather was good and the traffic light which helped us achieve our objective of getting there before noon. Laurel's cousin Melodye McBride is on vacation in Florida for a couple weeks, spending on week in a time share in Orlando and the rest wherever. We met Melodye at a Wal Mart parking lot on highway 1. We decided to take a tour shuttle to see the town, like we did in Toronto and Charleston, and then picked one with adequate free parking for the trailer. We chose one run by the Ripley's Believe It or Not company on the north end of downtown, so we drove there and parked.

The weather was fine, although a bit warm at times. Like Charleston and Savannah, we saw a bunch of old homes plus some magnificent commercial buildings that were originally hotels. Of special interest was this old fort built back in the early 1700's by the Spanish. In it's history, it was never taken by siege. Some volunteers, dressed in period uniforms, fired a cannon to entertain the tourists.

We left St. Augustine after 6 for the drive to our campground in Orlando. Melodye followed in her rental car with Laurel as a passenger. We stopped for dinner along the way and planned our day for tomorrow. For the rest of the trip, Laurel rode with me as our destination was different from Melodye. We will pick her up in the morning for Epcot.