Comments

Several people have told us they were unable to make comments. We believe that problem has been corrected and comments are how available to everyone. We would love to hear from all our readers.

Season's Greetings

BEST WISHES FOR A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

As we prepare to spend our first Christmas on the road we want to wish happy holidays to all our family and friends. May the season and the new year bring you joy and happiness.

Jupiter is Out of this World

We are now near Jupiter, Florida at Jonathan Dickinson State Park. The park is only a few miles from our friends, Jack and Mary Lou, with whom we will be spending Christmas. They have been wonderful hosts and tour guides taking us to many sites in the area and just generally showing us around. We have gone out to dinner several times. It is nice to know for sure that the place will be good rather than the usual hit or miss tactic of dining out in a strange place. Their condo here is located directly across the road from the ocean and is really beautiful. We went to Loggerhead Park where a conservancy group nurses injured and ill turtles back to health. It was neat to be able to get this close to them. Several were ill from the red tide, a coral bloom that kills many ocean dwelling creatures. One had been caught in a fisherman's net and had lost a flipper. Another, Jonah, was found in a cooler where a fisherman was putting his catch. When he looked in the cooler one of the fish, which had eaten Jonah, had thrown him up. He has survived for two years and will be released into the wild when he is big enough. Nanc and Mary Lou attended the play, "The Boyfriend," one afternoon while Jack and I enjoyed some guy time together. We went to the Flagler Museum in Palm Beach to see how the other half lives. Henry Flagler, a founder of Standard Oil, is given credit for developing South Florida by building several hotels and a railroad all the way to Key West. The museum is his former winter home where he only stayed eight weeks a year. His private rail car (one of the first RVs) is on display. We walked along Worth Avenue exploring the shops (Tiffany's, Coach Cartier & many others). The street had something for everyone. We liked the area so much we looked at a real estate magazine and found a nice "little" ocean front 61,000 square foot home for only $123,000,000. We are looking for a few partners in this venture. Anyone interested??

OK in Okeechobee

We are now in South Florida at Lake Okeechobee, the second largest lake in the US. The lake, which is natural, has been totally surrounded with a high levee by the Army Corps of Engineers to control the flow of water throughout the area. On the top of the levee is a paved bike path that is over 100 miles long and goes completely around the lake. We are camped on one of many small canals that circle much of the lake. When the water is at normal levels boats can lock through the levee from the canals into the lake. Because of the drought the lake is much lower than normal so access is now limited. The wildlife continues to be unbelievable. We saw at least 25 alligators in one place. Some of them are quite huge and fortunately far away so the pictures don't do them justice. We also have seen a large variety of big birds including herons, egrets, storks, cranes and an eagle. The warm weather continues but we did have rain for much of the day today. This is the first time we have had an extended rain for a long time. Nanc had a full time RVers first yesterday when she had a campground haircut. Our neighbor, a retired hair stylist, cuts hair for people here so Nanc had hers done. When we leave here on Monday we will be staying near Jack and Mary Lou's in Jupiter and will be there through Christmas. We then will be spending two weeks with Nanc's sister Judy and her husband Bill in Frostproof (guess what the temperature won't be?) It will be great spending with friends and family. After that we are going to the Keys for a week. This nomad lifestyle is wonderful.

10,9,8 .............Blastoff

Well it was not the shuttle but we did get to see a missile launch today. An Atlas rocket carrying a spy satellite was launched this afternoon. We were about 15 miles away and could see it for quite awhile before we could hear it. Suddenly we began to hear and then feel the roar as it soared into space. Even though we were that far away, as you can see by the gunboat in the foreground, there was heightened security. (If you click on the pictures they will enlarge. It may help.) It was a perfect ending to another great day. I had gotten up in time to see the sunrise, we took a nice long walk and I went fishing. While fishing, a dolphin surfaced right by the pier. This retirement thing is the best.

Cape Canaveral: Fun But No Blast

We are at Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral waiting in 80 degree weather for the shuttle launch. (We just heard the launch has been postponed until January. Bummer!!!) The park is right across from the Kennedy Space Center and on the port where Carnival, Disney and Royal Caribbean cruise ships come in and out daily. There are many different kinds of birds and they seem to be used to people because you can get very close to them. Also, there is a fishing pier and the beach is only about a hundred steps from the campground. Yesterday we toured the Kennedy Space Center. We got to see the actual mission control room that was used for the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions to the moon. It was really interesting seeing the real thing after watching it on TV so many times growing up. We also toured the room where all the components for the International Space Station are inspected, assembled and prepared for placement in the shuttle. Because the shuttle is on the launch pad we did not get to see it. We went on the Shuttle Launch Experience which simulates what it is like to be blasted into space. It was really great to experience the sights, sounds and feelings of a vertical launch which included the shaking, noise and vibration of the real thing. We also saw the Vehicle Assembly Building which is over 500 feet tall but really does not look that big because it sits on open flat land. The space center covers over 120,000 acres and because most of it is restricted area it also serves as a wildlife refuge. We saw many birds, including a huge eagle, and an alligator. At the space station building the guide told us a gator had been inside the fence that morning. There are 5000 gators on the grounds of the center.

Another Fort Another Lighthouse

We are now in Florida and the weather is wonderful. Nanc said it is the first time she has ever worn shorts in December. It has been sunny and in the 70's for four days. We toured another historical fort, Castillo de San Marco in Saint Augustine. This fort was built out of stone by the Spanish in the 1600's to protect the city from pirates and foreign enemies. During our visit, there were hundreds of reenactors demonstrating how the British would have lived when they occupied the city and fort from 1763 to 1784. They had Fife and Drum Corps, musket and canon firings and a grand illumination night march through the streets which are decorated with over 2 million white lights. Following the night march, hundreds of people gathered in the town plaza under the lighted trees to sing Christmas carols. Yesterday we took a long (7 mile/3 hour) walk on the beach. It was great being outside walking in the surf and enjoying the sunshine. The beach here is very different from Hatteras where we have always gone to the shore. It is wide, flat and the sand is hard enough that people were riding bikes. We also toured the St. Augustine lighthouse. It is exactly the same design as the Corolla and Bodie Island lights in North Carolina. It offered a great view of both the beach and the city. We enjoyed walking the streets of St Augustine, the oldest city in America (1565). Many places including the oldest wood school house and the city gates have been preserved or restored.