Wednesday April 10th 2019

There were a few light showers overnight, but it was just cloudy by morning. It took until almost noon for the clouds to part enough for the sunshine to reach the ground. The temperature peaked in the mid eighties and a few afternoon showers passed through parts of the area.

The launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket was scheduled for the window from six thirty five in the afternoon until eight thirty. To get a decent place to watch the launch I left my RV home shortly after 1PM. I choose to watch the launch about an hour from home on the beach south of the Kennedy Space center in Cape Canaveral or Cocoa Beach Florida. I could have chosen areas in Titusville across the Indian River from the complex that were closer, but there was less to do while I waited in that area.

I parked at the Cherie Down Park on the beach in Cape Canaveral. I’m familiar with the area from my previous stays at Jetty Park just to the north in Port Canaveral. The beach is in much better condition than it was in November thanks to a beach sand reclamation project. Contractors are dredging sand north of Port Canaveral and piping it through two foot diameter pipes onto the beach south of Port Canaveral. I spent most of the nearly five hours I spent waiting for the launch walking on the new beach sand.

To kill time I walked up the beach to Jetty Park. As I feared, it was already full of people waiting to see the launch before 3PM. One of the television channels showed people arriving at Jetty park on the morning news. People lined the side of the Port Canaveral channel watching the boats and birds to pass the time. Many people had fishing lines in the water. I even saw a few small fish caught from the fishing pier. While I was wandering around the Jetty Park area the word spread through the waiting crowd that the launch time had moved from 6:35PM to 8PM. It wasn’t a welcomed thing to hear for people like myself that were already getting board.

By 5:15 I was back down the beach at my car. I had water and a snack in the car to keep me going for the next few hours. The small parking lot at Cherie Down Park was completing full and the sheriffs deputies were keeping people from parking on the road. To keep busy while I waited the remaining couple of hours, I walked south on the beach toward the Cocoa Beach pier. The pipe line for the beach sand reclamation project continues south along the beach. I turned around at about six fifteen and returned to my car at Cherie Down Park to recharge my phone.

With enough charge in my phone to check the SpaceX twitter feed, I learned that the latest launch target was 8:32. They were waiting for the strong winds at altitude to subside, but weren’t optimistic. I got ready to leave. The launch was postponed until tomorrow. I get to walk the beach and wait all over again.

Tuesday April 9th 2019

The day began with a little rain and ended with a lot of rain. In between the rain the sun came out for two or three hours. It was just enough to add plenty of heat to the humidity. Around four the sky opened up and a deluge came down accompanied by a little lightening and a lot of wind.

The first thing on today’s agenda was figuring out where I was going to be located tomorrow night. My week at the Seasons in the Sun RV Resort ends on Wednesday. I had been putting off the decision on my next stop. In the end I decided to extend my stay here for another week. Now I have another chance to see the Space X Falcon Heavy launch tomorrow or whenever it ends up launching during the next week. My big challenge now is finding a good viewing place without thousands of other people already there.

During the sunny part of the day, I returned to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Preserve. I wanted to see a manatee or two at the Haul Over canal. Last spring I saw about six near the viewing area. Last week I only saw a couple swim by. I hoped that I might see a few more today, but instead I only saw one. Instead I was entertained by the Pelicans that call the area around the nearby drawbridge home. They use the height of the bridge supports and protective pilings to spot the fish in the canal. The noisy splash as the pelican enters the water after a fish is impressive.

I spent the rest of the day scouting possible locations to watch the launch tomorrow. All I really achieved is a knowledge of where the possible viewing sports are located. I’m going to have to play it by sight tomorrow. Sometime in the early afternoon I’ll pick a spot and wait for the launch window which opens shortly after six thirty until about eight thirty. That’s going to be a long wait, but it may not be enough if some of the estimates I’ve heard are to be believed.

Monday April 8th 2019

Today was another summer like day in Florida. It was sunny, hot and humid during the day. The temperature peaked in the upper eighties with a nice sea breeze in this area. Inland it got even warmer causing strong thunderstorms to develop and drift into this area after dark this evening. It rain hard off an on for about an hour. A front with more severe weather is due in the area tomorrow.

Today I drove the Black Point Wildlife Drive in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The seven mile one way dirt road follows the dikes that surround shallow marsh ponds. There were plenty of birds and a few alligators to see in the animal category. They were complimented by many blooming wildflowers. According to the literature, April is a little late for the peak of the bird viewing season.

As you slowly follow the road as it winds around the marsh ponds you need to be on the look out for wildlife. Most of the birds are a good distance back from the road so binoculars would be helpful. Mine were back at my RV home. I tried to take pictures with my camera zoomed to the maximum of the optical zoom, but they didn’t provide great detail. Most of the gators were in hiding today. I saw a couple of small ones mostly submerged. It was still a very enjoyable drive.

I took one hike about two thirds of the way around the drive. The Allen Cruickshank trail has a number of observation platforms to watch the wildlife. It was a little too warm to hike the entire trail without a good water supply. I really wasn’t prepared for a hike in the heat and humidity. I checked out the area from the two observation platforms nearest the trail head. When the clouds started to build on the western horizon, I ended my explorations and returned to my RV home. The rain didn’t arrive for a couple of hours.

Sunday April 7th 2019

Last night there was a severe thunderstorm to the west of here. It produced an impressive light and noise show, but never came this way. Today was another warm day in the high eighties with a nice sea breeze. As long as you were in the breeze it was comfortable.

I spent most of the day relaxing and watching TV at my RV home. My one excursion was a drive over to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Reserve for a walk along the Indian River. There were many other people out enjoying the River and the NWR. They were doing everything from riding personal water craft to sun bathing along the causeway out to the island.

I walked out one of the access roads along the side of the Indian River. There was marshes with plenty of little ponds and natural canals on one side and an impressive view of the Titusville shore line across the river on the other side of the road. There was a lot of small bird activity in the area, but they were continuously moving so my camera never caught them. It was a fun walk, but I needed to get out of the sun after a while.

Today was the day the Space X Falcon Heavy launch was tentatively schedule. On Saturday it was rescheduled for Tuesday evening. The current weather forecast calls for thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon. I hope it happens before I move on Wednesday. It may be a little crowded in the area. The TV indicates that up to one hundred thousand visitors may flock to the area to see the launch of the current worlds biggest rocket. I’ve been scouting out viewing locations, but I expect I’ll have to be very flexible.

Saturday April 6th 2019

Today was a sunny warm to hot day in Florida. The temperature got close to ninety with a decidedly summer weather pattern. Strong thunderstorms developed in the core of the peninsular late in the day and moved toward the coast. The worst of the storms passed to the north of my location. The pattern is forecast to repeat tomorrow with a couple of degrees added to the temperature reading.

I had busy day of watching today. I watched the wildlife at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, the people enjoying water sports in the Banana River and the Cruise ships departing Port Canaveral. Most of my wildlife watching was along the Haulover canal which connects the main Indian River with Mosquito Lagoon closer to the coast and part of the north branch of the Indian River. The canal is popular for fishing and home to a number of Manatees. I only saw a couple manatees today, but lots of weekend fishermen.

The second part of my day of watching was on the other side of Titusville in the Port Canaveral area. I wanted to watch the cruise ships depart. The schedule I found on the internet indicated they would be departing at 4PM and 5PM, so I stopped at Kelly Park on the Banana River on Merritt Island to eat up some time. Today the people enjoying the wind and river were having more success than yesterday. There were half a dozen windsurfers on the river moving at a good pace. Along with the expected pleasure boats there were a few kayaks and personal water craft. The most entertaining use of the water was a kite surfer.

I got to Port Canaveral in plenty of time to watch the cruise ships depart. There was a lot of action in the Cove restaurant and entertainment part of the port. The charter fishing boats were returning from their day fishing in the Atlantic. People and Pelicans were gathered around to see the catch and watch the fish get cleaned. A few lucky pelicans got an easy supper out of the deal. The main channel of the port was busy with returning pleasure boats and the far side was busy unloading big cargo ships. The four cruise ships in port were patiently waiting to depart. In face so patiently that only one ship departed a little after 4PM. The Carnival Breeze got escorted out of port by the harbor police and the Coast Guard. The other Carnival ship, the Norwegian EPIC and the Disney ship showed no sign of moving. I got suspicious and checked the Marine traffic web site from my phone. The other three weren’t leaving until after 6PM. The Disney ship was scheduled to leave closer to 8PM. I chose not to wait.

Friday April 5th 2019

Today began with rain. A front moved across the area from the northwest to southeast. It rained from just before sunrise until just before 9AM. It gradually cleared and warmed up into the eighties as the day progressed. The forecasters warned of an additional front around sunset, but it never materialized.

The Seasons in the Sun RV Resort is full during the winter with Snowbirds. If I had tried to get in last week I wouldn’t have succeeded. Many sites became available last Sunday on the 31st of March. When I arrived on Wednesday there were a hand full of sites available in each of the three areas. Every morning additional RVs depart the resort. The number of empty sites today looks like it is more than tripled the number available on Wednesday. Other people are getting ready to depart. They have stuff spread out on the grass as they repack their storage bins or they have a Mobil RV service company in to help them with aspects of getting ready. Some of the residents don’t look like they have the physical ability or skill to get their RVs ready for travel. Others will probably have a transport company move their RV to storage. It is an interesting process to watch.

I did some more touring of the area today. I spent some time at Kelly Park on Merritt Island watching the activity in the Banana River. A number of Sailboarders were attempting to get out on the river, but the wind strength and direction were against them. Of the four people trying, only one seem to find the correct angle of tack to get clear of the shore.

The other nice thing to see at Kelly Park were the birds. After yesterday’s absence of birds, I found a good number of avian creatures to draw my interest. There was a Pelican floating in the boat basin that seem to be very proud of its presence and I sure enjoyed watching it. The birds also made an appearance back at my RV home this afternoon. This Ibis that visited on Wednesday afternoon was back with a few friends.

Thursday April 4th 2019

Today’s weather was very similar to Wednesday’s. It was sunny and windy with a high temperature around eighty. A beautiful day for a wandering drive around the area.

I spent most of my wandering experience in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. It is across the Indian River from Titusville and shares the island with the Canaveral National Seashore and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Today I walked the trails around the Merritt Island NWR visitors center.

Yesterday on the drive to the coast from the Orlando area and here at the RV Resort I saw lots of birds. For some reason I didn’t see many birds today. The wildlife refuge and the causeway across the Indian River should be ideal areas for the shore birds, but not today. On the trail at the visitors center I heard several song birds but didn’t see any. There must have been something about today’s wind direction or other weather condition that kept the birds out of sight.

There were many nice blossoms of wild flowers along the trail and a few cultivated flower bushes at the NWR visitors center to keep me interested. I took a few pictures of the better colors. Last spring I saw a few turtles and fish in the pond, but not today. The most interesting creature on today’s walk was a dragon fly on the boardwalk. I’ll look for more wildlife tomorrow deaper into the NWR.

Wednesday April 3rd 2019

The temperature got down into the fifties overnight. I had to wear a sweat shirt this morning while I was getting ready for travel. There was a strong wind all day that kept the temperature down and made for some travel challenges. The temperature peaked in the high seventies.

There were a couple of weird challenges getting ready to travel this morning. Both of the challenges were caused by the slope of the campsite. First, water and the stuff in it doesn’t flow up hill. There was not a good angle from the holding tank drain to the sewer opening. The tank was above the hole in the ground so it emptied. However, the hose had some uphill slant to it so the hose didn’t drain. I had to work the fluid through the hose by lifting each part of the hose up as I walked along the hose from the RV to the pipe into the ground. I didn’t have any disaster, but it took more time than usual.

The second problem the slope presented was connecting up the car to the motorhome. Normally with a pull through site I can just connect the car. I’ve learned the hard way that trying to get the tow bar to lock into position on a down grade is a losing battle. This morning I needed to bring the motorhome out onto the exit road before connecting the car. I was still concerned about my chances of success in the new location, but I got lucky and everything locked into position on the first try.

The distance I had to travel was less than 100 miles, but it took about two hours on the route I chose. Rather than fight the highway congestion and pay the tolls, I chose to fight with all of the traffic lights on route 192 through Kissimmee and St. Cloud. It is a longer route, but once you get east of St. Cloud on the county routes there is very little traffic. I arrived at the Seasons in the Sun RV Resort in Mims FL just before 1PM.

The park is located just north of Titusvile. The Canaveral National Seashore and the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge are nearby. I also plan to find a good viewing spot in the Titusville area to watch the scheduled launch on Sunday. I will be here until next Wednesday.

Tuesday April 2nd 2019

The weather made for two distinct days. This morning was a continuation of yesterdays cloudy and gloomy conditions and the afternoon was sunny and bright. In between the two a quick line of rain showers went through the area. My day followed the same pattern; slow in the morning and active in the afternoon.

The first order of business for the active part of the day was to replenish my food supply. I fought the traffic south on US 27 to the Walmart in Haines City. It proved to be a good choice to fulfill my shopping needs. It wasn’t too busy and had everything I needed.

Later in the day I made one last visit to Disney’s EPCOT for supper at the British Pavilion. The Fish and Chips are good and reasonably priced by Disney standards. The crowds in the park today seemed to be a little less than last week. The longest wait time I saw was only 100 minutes. I only waited in one fifteen minute line for the Living with the Land boat ride. Other than the food my primary focus was on all the bright colors of the flower and garden festival. I think that EPCOT looks its best during the International Flower and Garden Festival. It looks good decorated for Christmas too, but the rest of the year it isn’t as bright and festive. After one loop of the World Showcase and about two hours I fought the traffic back to my campsite. This was my last visit for a while, my annual pass expires next week and I don’t plan on renewing it for the next year.

Tomorrow is a moving day. There is a launch of a Space X Falcon 9 Heavy rocket scheduled for Sunday. I’m going to stay on the east coast so I have a chance of watching the launch. Check out time here is 11AM, so I’ll have a busy morning.

Monday April 1st 2019

The day began cloudy and cool. The warmest part of the day was just after midnight. It cooled into the low sixties by morning and never got much warmer during the day. Rain threatened most of the day, but only interrupted the cloudiness once with a brief shower.

I planned this as a transition day from tourist mode back into normal living mode, but the gloomy weather had an impact. The weather has a big influence on my activity level when I don’t have concrete plans. I really dragged all day. Most of my focus was on the TV with a little reading thrown in. I never made it to the store for groceries.

After the brief period of rain the sky started to brighten. I used the opportunity to get some exercise by walking around the campground. The campground seems to be a depot for a Class C motorhome rental business. There are dozens of Winnebago motorhomes lined up around the campground. They are all registered out of Colorado with appropriate signage identifying them as rental units. My guess is they were here for the winter and will return to Colorado for summertime rentals.

Tomorrow is also forecast to have a rainy start to the day, but is supposed to end sunny and warmer. Forewarned, I should be able to push my self into doing the things I need to do in the morning rain. Maybe I’ll even do something interesting in the warmer evening.