Staying in Cocoa - Shuttle Launch

Waiting for the shuttle launch... you know... has been a chore.



Saw birds and rabbits, the usual fare, and then realized that there was a turtle in the yard, and then realized it was actually a tortoise, a Florida Gopher Tortoise. Hadn't ever seen an 'in the wild' tortoise before.

This is the shuttle patch released for this mission.

Launch Day at last! The roads were packed. We would never have gotten very close on the 528 and instead of finding a spot to watch it clear the trees, we headed north on US-1 until we got to the Tiki Bar. Here's our view, about 7x, of the assembly building.

The crowd gathers.

It's a bit small in these thumbs from this vantage point, but spectacular to see none-the-less. You can see the flames leading the way, but not the vehicle itself from this distance.

Click the pics to see them full size.

Click the links, you can see the vehicle in the next two pics.

The smoke lingers quite some time.

So... what did you think of it G.T.?

Put me down... I'm eating.

More Pictures From the Everglades

...and while I lounge around on the beach,



...here are a few more wildlife pics.















Here's a new treat! Moving Pictures!!

Cocoa Florida

Day 20 - 395 miles

The ride out of the Keys was as glorious as the ride in... maybe even better, knowing how crowded it was for those leaving yesterday, and how open the road was for us.









I noted that the Green Turtle Inn boasted a sign "God Bless Fawn Liebowitz" LOL. Yeah! And god bless Fawn's roommate too! Gotta love obscure humor on the road.

We headed up the interior of Florida, towards Lake Okeechobee, which is behind a levee on the eastern shore. I guess the scenic side is the western shore. It was overcast so the quick look we got was unimpressive after the Keys.

We headed to the east coast and drove the rest of the way to Cocoa Beach to stay with Kip's ex-brother-in-law who told us we were just in time for the upcoming shuttle launch... so we'll be staying here a few days for that. Will be checking out the beaches too I suspect.


Total miles: 5387

CORNER # 1 !!!!!

The End of the Road.







The End of the Beach





And the Southernmost Point





...don't ya ever doubt just why I love owning a V-Twin bike!!!



We tried to get into Bahia Honda state park, but it was full, they were letting people in who weren't riding Hondas, go figure! And ended up in a RV Park one island short of the last key. Had a great dinner nearby at a 'locals' spot, the Hogfish Bar and Grill. Kip and I shared some shrimp, he had ribs, I had Rock Lobster Crab Cakes. Mmmmmm-mmmm good!



Backtracking up the keys tomorrow and up the east coast to Cocoa Beach. Kip's ex-wife's brother will put us up and we're going to Canaveral.

Key West Florida via the Everglades

Day 19 - 252 miles

The mosquitos at Collier Seminole State Park were horrible. Even more tenacious than Ocean Pond but at least no meat bees. The Park Ranger informed us that the Off Guys who make and test their Deep Woods Mosquito Spray do their testing here. It needs more work guys, I used it and it only lasts about 15 minutes per application.



We headed east and saw the nations smallest post office in the middle of the Everglades.


Also saw some wildlife, deer and rabbit-sized rodents that I still have to figure out what they were, looking to cross the road, and alligators.

Also... I've seen bear crossings and deer crossings and elk and moose crossings. I've even seen cougar crossings... at the local bar, but I've never seen a Panther Crossing until I saw it in the Everglades.



We stopped and took a swamp boat ride, air boat actually. I highly recommend going on the smallest boat you can find. They're a lot of fun and the pilots are a little more aggressive with fewer people on lighter boats. They all have their favorite spots including one or two "tame" gators that expect a free lunch in exchange for climbing up onto your airboat. LOL.







We exited the Everglades, US-41, don't even bother with Alligator Alley, I-75, just another interstate, and a toll road to boot.

Then we headed south down to the keys. It actually turned out great arriving on Memorial Day, everyone else is leaving, bumper to bumper traffic. The experienced people apparently make a quasi tailgate party out of it.

None-the-less, the going is slow though, with most of the road at 45 mph limit, so it's a fair way to go... 3-4 hours. But we made it and took pictures at the southern most beach, the southern most point (a "buoy-marker" declaring only 90 miles to Cuba, and the official End of US-1, the Zero-mile marker.

Total miles: 4992

Collier Seminole State Park

Day 18 - 413 miles

Whatever happened to 300 miles per day?



So what do you get if you were born in Poland and lived in Ireland long enough to speak with that particular dual accent? It's a Pirish accent. We met a lady, waitress, with just that delightful accent. Go figure... just dumb luck... (Sorry, sometimes I just can't help myself.) But talk about a delightful person. It was lot of fun to banter with her.

I also saw a Floridian Cowboy today. I know because he wore a big cowboy hat, his jeans were tucked into his boots, and the boots still had their nametag hanging from the bootstraps... and we weren't near a western wear shop.

We're beginning to see evidence of orange groves... but no disembodied hands grasping for orange juice containers...



The National Forest is flat and you can see all the trees... So I guess once you're halfway into the forest, you really are halfway out. The swamps are interesting too. The ones we've seen so far aren't all that wet, but the trees were covered with Spanish Moss...



...and there are as many cycads and palms as deciduous trees.





Interstingly, whereever they landscape with palms near here, they're trimmed to look natural, instead of the 'smooth' look favored on the west coast.

I'm told we crossed the Florida Rockies, about 200 ft high. I think I missed them.

A little camera humor at the campsite:







Total miles: 4740