Thursday November 30th 2023

The cold spell was over today. The temperature climbed into the upper seventies under a bright sunny sky. Each day through Sunday is forecast to be warmer with an increasing chance of rain.

Taking advantage of the good weather, I set out to tour Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Most of the Kennedy Space Center is part of the refuge, but the part that is open to the public is north of the space center. I generally stop at the wildlife refuge once a year, so I am pretty familiar with it.

To get to the public area of the refuge I drove north along the mainland to the far side of the city of Titusville before crossing back onto Merritt Island. I was greeted by two huge message boards. They usually contain warnings about closures of the whole area do to upcoming launches. Today, they contained notice about more specific closures. The wildlife drive I expected to take was closed and the bridge that provided access to the northern exit from the refuge was also closed. My visit was restricted to the boardwalk at the visitors center.

It was nice walking along the boardwalk. I saw a few turtles taking the sun in one of the ponds and several colorful wildflowers. Birds and larger mammals were all in hiding. The boardwalk is showing its age. Some of the boards are spongy and the foliage is creeping into the path. The water level under the boardwalk was also a little higher than usual.

Back at the campground this afternoon I noted that there had been a very large turnover today. Many of my neighbors were new and there was a line of RVs waiting to check in. Last week around the holiday most of the sites were occupied by people with Florida license plates. This week the mix is starting to favor out of state plates. There are more than a hand full of Quebec plates. Usually most of the Canadian plates are from Ontario, but this time French speaking people from Quebec seem to be present in a greater number than any other out of state license plate.

There were two cruise ships in port today. Even one is enough to attract lots of cars filled with people in the afternoon to watch the ships set out to see. There is even one woman who live streams the departures on YouTube, TikTok or some social media platform. I’m not sure which. She has been there every day I have watched the ships depart. Today both ships departed in quick succession. Small craft traffic was light allowing them a to depart without any drama. The sheriffs boat didn’t have to chase any boats out of the way.

Tuesday November 28th 2023

I managed to watch the rocket launch last night. A SpaceX Falcon 9 launch carrying 23 StarLink Satellites to orbit happened last night without a whole lot of warning. The launch was “rumored” on the internet Sunday, but wasn’t confirmed by SpaceX until Monday morning. The launch window was 11PM to 3AM just like the one last week. Unlike last week that happened near the end of the window, this launch happened at 11:20PM. It was a nice cool moon lite night for the launch. It was possible to follow the rocket for about two minutes into the flight before it passed behind some clouds. There is another internet rumor that a launch will happen this Friday night too. I have less confidence in this rumor.

Today it was necessary to bundle up to walk along the port channel or the beach. There was a constant wind out of the north to northeast under a thick cloud cover. The actual temperature never reached sixty. With the wind it seemed a lot cooler. I only took one walk around the park today.

In the early afternoon I took a run back to the mainland for groceries. The Walmart in Cocoa is the easiest to get to, but it may not be the closest. It was much easier navigating the aisles now that all the Thanksgiving day supplies have been removed. In a couple of weeks they will be filled again with Christmas dinner supplies, so easier navigation in the store will only last a short time. Perhaps because there was more room in the aisles the store didn’t seem as busy today. I got what I needed and headed for the checkouts. Unfortunately, the checkouts were staffed for a slow day. Done of the cashier assisted checkouts were open. Only the self service ones were open. All twenty plus of them. Self checkout as a solo shopper is not quicker.

There was only one cruise ship in port today. It wasn’t a ship that calls Port Canaveral home. It was a Royal Caribbean visitor out of New York. The ship slipped in around noon when I wasn’t looking and was scheduled to depart at 8PM. I assume that happened, but I wasn’t outside watching. There aren’t any cruise ships scheduled for tomorrow.

Monday November 27th 2023

Things are different today. The temperature has dropped. The high temperature may have reached seventy, but not for long. The activity level around the park has also dropped. Now that the holiday weekend is over, there aren’t as many people in the campground or at the beach and pier.

This blog entry is mostly pictures. There were three cruise ships in port today, but I didn’t watch any of them leave from port side. If you’re looking in the right direction it is impossible to miss them. They tower over everything.

Another Space X rocket launch has been slipped into the schedule for tonight between 11PM and midnight. If it doesn’t keep slipping like the one last week, I’ll walk back over to the side of the port to watch it.

Tonight’s Sunset

Sunday November 26th 2023

The holiday week and long weekend is over. There was a steady flow of RVs out of the campground this morning. Before the new arrivals started to show up, the campground looked to be about half full. Many of those sites were full by evening. There are empty sites tonight.

Today was a three cruise ship day in the port, but there was a brief period with four. A Carnival Cruise ship out of Jacksonville on a three day cruise to the Bahamas came into port around noon long enough to offload a medical emergency. I don’t think it even tied up at the dock. The pilot boat and the sheriffs boat hovered around the entire time it was in port. So there was a little excitement in the port today.

Most of the day was cloudy and dry along the coast. Inland there was a lot of light rain all day. Around the time the cruise ships were preparing to depart a little light rain moved into this area. I hung around the channel in the rain to watch the first two ships depart. The second ship to depart was the Royal Caribbean Wonder of the Seas. This is the largest cruise ship in the world currently in revenue service. Another Royal Caribbean ship the Ion of the Seas is scheduled to enter service next year is bigger. I wanted to see it go down the channel, so I endured the light rain. It is truly huge, but it doesn’t do anything to make me want to take a cruise. Cruising just isn’t my idea of a good time.

I took a couple of walks around the campground and beach today, but my primary focus in the early afternoon was watching NFL Football on TV. The beach and fishing pier didn’t seem to be as busy today. The weather was warm, but not really suited to beach activity. Later in the day the fishing pier started to get more attention, but it still was well short of yesterday’s crowds. The one thing that was more plentiful than yesterday was the birds. There were a lot more sea gulls, pelicans, pigeons and black birds all over the area today.

Saturday November 25th 2023

Oh what a beautiful morning, Oh what a beautiful day. No I’m not in Oklahoma (and I can’t sing), but it was a very nice weather day. It was a sunny day with a gentle breeze that allowed the temperature to reach the mid seventies. Clouds moved in for sunset foreshadowing a wet day tomorrow.

I had a visit with some active dolphins in the Banana River today. I stopped at Kelly park on Merritt Island in search of colorful sailboarders in the water. The wind was probably wrong for the location, but I did find three dolphins that were feeding in the water around the boat basin. They hung around for ten or fifteen minutes poking their heads or fins up every minute or so. It was very hard to get pictures. I just couldn’t anticipate the where and when of their surfacing.

This was a five cruise ship in the port day. The day use and beach part of the park was very busy all day. It was warm enough that the beach got quite a bit of use along with all the opportunities for fishing along the channel into the port. Around 3:30PM more people started to arrive to watch the cruise ships depart. Cars and spectators lined the channel. Each ship sounded its horn as it passed to the delight of the spectators. The Disney Fantasy was the last ship to depart. It’s horn plays Disney tunes.

Between ships I switched my focus from man made ships to natures birds. The pelicans were busy feeding on the fish in the water and the foragers were busy on land. Many of the birds are not phased by all the people. I think other birds just stay away.

Friday November 24th 2023

It was a cloudy and gloomy day. There were a few signs of blue on the horizon during the day, but overhead it was thick clouds. As sunset approached rain arrived. It just persistent enough to necessitate seeking shelter. The temperature during the day peaked in the mid to upper sixties. Tonight it is cool enough that I had to turn on the electric fireplace in my RV home to keep the chill off. It is the first time since early spring that it has been on.

There were four cruise ships in port today. The Carnival Liberty docked at Terminal 3 towers over the western end of the campground. The other cruise terminals in use are further into the harbor. At those docks were two Royal Caribbean ships and one Disney ship. Shortly after 3:30 this afternoon they started to depart. The Carnival Liberty lead the way. The two Royal Caribbean ships followed and the Disney ship brought up the rear an hour later. I watched the first three depart from the side of the channel along with dozens of other spectators. The rain chased me back to my RV home as the second Royal Caribbean ship passed by. I didn’t get to see the Disney Wish depart.

There were plenty of people at the beach and day use area today. The mix was different than earlier in the week. The number of people there for the beach was way down. The percentage that were actually in the water was even smaller. People were dressed much warmer than your average bathing suit. Most of the people were in the park for the fishing. The fishing pier and the side of the channel were line with people with fishing poles. It was a bit dangerous walking behind them. I decided that the elevated narrower part of the pier wasn’t worth the risk.

The party atmosphere in the campground continues. A few RVs departed this morning, but the sites were filled by new arrivals as soon as they allowed new check ins. The cooler temperature and the occasional light rain has quieted things down a bit. There isn’t a party outside my neighbors tonight.

Thursday November 23rd 2023

Happy Thanksgiving!

After a few days of warmer than normal temperatures, today was a little below normal. It was a clear dry day with a very light breeze out of the north. The temperature barely reached seventy degrees. Tomorrow is forecast to be cooler with a chance of rain.

The holiday was in full celebration at the campground today. There are several groups gathered together to celebrate the holiday. One of them seems to be centered at the site behind me. I saw a couple of people that brought smokers with them for cooking. There also seemed to be a lot of charcoal in use. Surprisingly, I didn’t see anyone trying to deep fry a turkey. At various times during the afternoon people gathered at tables to enjoy the results of the different cooking methods. Out in the day use area all of the dining pavilions were in use with good size groups.

My meal today was nontraditional, but something I often do when I have time to dedicate to cooking. I roasted a pork loin in my convection oven. It came out very well. To go with it I cooked and mashed some potatoes. The plan was to heat some frozen vegetables to go with it, but somehow they never made it out of the freezer. I’ll cook them to go with the leftovers of which I have plenty. It was a good Thanksgiving day meal.

The ocean was calm today compared to yesterday. The channel into the port didn’t have any wave action. The pelicans were floating in the water and a few fishermen in kayaks were also working the edges. I even saw one dolphin occasionally breaking the water to breath as it searched for food. Several pelicans were doing loops above its path to look for fish it drove toward the surface. It was a good example of cooperation between species.

As the day went by the number of people fishing along the channel and on the fishing pier grew. Shortly before sun set there was very little space along the rails. People young and old were trying their luck. I saw one medium sized mackerel caught, but considering the number of people fishing that isn’t saying much. Maybe their luck improved after dark.

Wednesday November 22nd 2023

Waiting for a rocket launch disrupted my sleep last night. The original posted launch time was shortly after 11PM. Before heading out to watch the launch I checked the internet to find it had been rescheduled for 1:47AM. I decided to stay in my RV home watching old Hallmark Christmas movies until near the time of the launch. Then I’d watch it from my front lawn. The next time I checked the schedule the launch time had moved to 2:27AM. I gave up on actively waiting. There will be other launches to watch. It might still be possible to watch the launch out the window if I was still awake. At 2:27AM nothing happened. Another check of the internet showed the time had moved to 2:47AM. I went back to bed with no real intention of being awake for the launch. At 2:47AM I woke from a light sleep to the sound of the launch. Looking out the window I didn’t see anything. The viewing angle was blocked. I was finally able to get to sleep just before 3AM.

Gasoline prices are down again in this area. I filled my car at $2.95 a gallon today. I thought I’d hit the price roller coaster just right. A few miles down the road I found gas at $2.65 a gallon causing me to go from happy to sad in only a few miles. The price roller coaster is very hard to predict.

While I was driving around today I had to stop at a railroad crossing. The gates were down to allow the new high speed train from Miami to the Orlando Airport to pass by. The Bright Line train service was extended this fall from a commuter service between Miami and just north of Palm Beach to one that goes all the way to the Orlando Airport. The route takes the train north along the Atlantic Coast to Cocoa then west to the Orlando Airport. Work is underway to get approval to continue west from the airport into the Orlando Resort area then on to Tampa, but that is likely many years out.

Life at the campground continues to be very confusing. There is a lot of vacation partying going on around the park. It feels so much like a holiday weekend crowd that I continue to think it’s a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. The activity level at the beach and the day use area is also at a weekend level.

Tuesday November 21st 2023

It rain a little overnight, but today was filled with a beautiful sunshine and a southeast wind. The temperature peaked around eighty degrees.

For a sunny day, the ocean was not so peaceful. The wave height coming into the port was higher than I remember seeing it. Out at the opening to the ocean the waves were breaking over the protecting jetty. If it was a stormy day I wouldn’t be so surprised to see those conditions, but it just didn’t match the nice sunny day.

The port was the opposite of the sea. It was very quiet. There were no cruise ships in port today. I don’t think they return in a big way until Friday. Other than small craft trying to fish in the channel or just offshore, I didn’t see much traffic in the port today. Looking down into the harbor I saw one big cargo ship that wasn’t there yesterday.

The atmosphere in the campground continues to confuse me. It is very much a party atmosphere. There is lots of loud music during the day. Unfortunately, one of the loud radios is at my neighbors site. That neighbor seems to be the ring leader for a number of campers at sites near by. They often have people gathered at their site or stopped in the road holding a long conversation. All of this has me thinking this is a weekend day. Several times today I had to remind myself it was Tuesday and not Saturday.

There is a rocket launch scheduled for tonight. SpaceX seems to fill in available launch windows with a launch of a set of Starlink satellites with only a few days notice. Last week in wasn’t on the schedule I checked, but it was added yesterday. I’ll be out by the port at 11PM to see the launch.