Caching in Cocoa

Friday, April 29, 2011 (Day 224)

Since the shuttle was cancelled there was a rush to “extend” reservations until the next try (in a couple of days and then changed until Monday). Harris happened to be watching the TV news and caught the cancellation notice early and ran all the way (well, most of the way) to the office. There were only 3 people there, but by the time he extended there were 10+ people in line. He felt sorry for the gal. We were also able to change sites from one that had rv’s crowded all around us to one that was on the outside of the loop and fronted an open space across a creek. It was 300% better with a feeling of being in a public park rather than squished together like many private ones.

Our new and improved campsite




Saturday, April 30, 2011 (day 225)




A regular cache we found today



Yesterday turned out to be a lazy day. The shuttle did not go off as planned. There is a problem with a couple of heaters that they are trying to get fixed by Monday. This day or 2 delay is driving us nuts. If they would say it’ll be a month, we’d give up. When they say it’ll be a day or two or three, we hang on hoping we’ll see it!

We're calling this our 800th cache!
(because it's so cool)



We took one long walk yesterday, then hung around the campground, reading, playing cards, walking, relaxing. So, today we decided to go somewhere new.

The hint on this one was "be a swinger"



There is a quilt store in the town just south of us, Cocoa, so we headed that direction. Quilt stores are an opportunity to look for geocaches, so, of course we did that too. Good thing we did, cuz the quilt store was kind of a bust.

A cache took us to this lunch spot



But we did find 9 geocaches before we got too hot to do any more. It was 83 degrees today. Some were easy, some were hard, some were just not there. (We refuse to think we just didn’t find them!) We knew we were close to a milestone (800 finds) so we took pictures of each one in case that was the magic number. Turns out we only needed 2 more to get to 800, so now we’re at 807!

A heron sharing our lunch spot



One of the caches led us to a very small park at the bottom of a short but steep hill. Judy talked to a woman there while Harris looked for the cache. She was older than us, probably in her 70’s, with a fully loaded pack on her back. Judy asked her where she was hiking. She said she was just going up and down the hill, because it was the only hill around. (true, Florida is soooo flat.) She was getting in shape to join a friend in 2 weeks to hike a section of the Appalachian trail in Virginia. She has done the whole trail once, and is now hiking sections now with various friends. Wow!

Zoom in to see the nano cache
(it's a pinkie nail sized magnet)



After our caching, we returned to camp for a short dip in the pool to cool off. Harris grilled an excellent steak for dinner, and beat Judy at cards. Oh well, he needed some consolation. The XM radio is working great, except for the Mariner station…that’s not coming in so well, so he can’t listen to the game. Darn.

A camoed cache



Total miles driven today=35


Another interesting cache we found today

Titusville

Friday, April 29, 2011 (Day 224)

Launch day! We hope! We woke to cloudy, cloudy skies and some rain, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed everything goes off on time.

Grill master Dwight pondering halibut portions



We left Sana and Dwight’s on Wednesday morning, after Dwight cooked us a fantastic breakfast to send us on our way. We were sad to leave our good friends. We had a great visit with them. They are very gracious hosts!

Dwight's Northern Halibut meets Southern Cajun Hush Puppies



We drove south, back toward Florida, although we didn’t intend to make the trip all in one day. We drove through South Carolina, turning off the interstate to take a highway (321) which took us through some small towns with fun names like Denmark, Norway and Sweden! Who knew you could travel through Europe by car through South Carolina!

Sana and Dwight giving Judy a send off



We stopped for the night at a small RV park in Statesboro, Georgia, which is close to Savannah.

Our campsite at crowded Manatee Hammock



Up early on Thursday, and on our way. We drove most of the day, and watched the temperature rise. We left the comfortable mountains of North Carolina, and now the heat and humidity have returned. It reached a high of 95, a new record for this trip. We stopped to camp outside of Titusville, Florida, in a county park called Manatee Hammock. It is a nice enough park, with some surprising amenities like a small swimming pool, but it is crowded! The spaces are very close together, and the park is full. Everyone came for the launch. There is a large grassy area by the river that is across from the launch site.

A windy cloudy morning on Launch Day



We had a huge thunderstorm last night, just as Harris was getting ready to go outside and barbeque. We waited a bit to see if it would let up…no luck…so ended up microwaving some chips and cheese for dinner. It rained off and on most of the night. When we arrived at our site, we were a little disgusted to see oranges smashed on the ground. Who doesn’t pick up their garbage? Then we noticed there are actual orange trees around us, with oranges growing. Oranges that fall off and smash on the ground in the storms. There are more smashed oranges this morning.

Checking out the vantage point



Total miles driven=620

People laying claim to spots for the launch later in the day



Oh no! Just heard the news. The launch is scrubbed for today, due to a technical problem. It might be rescheduled for Sunday. How many days can we delay???

Taking a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Monday, April 25, 2011 (day 220)


View along the parkway outside Asheville



Today we took a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We first drove about 25 miles up and up to the Pisgah Inn. We stopped to see the view over valleys of trees and across mountain tops. All along the way, trees are very green with new leaves, and dogwood trees are blooming with beautiful white flowers. As we climbed up to over 6000 feet, some of the trees at the top were still brown. They haven’t leafed out yet. The temperature dropped from 75 to 66 degrees.

One of five tunnels we went through



A T-shirt in the gift shop



Another T-shirt



We drove on a few miles more, then turned off to go down to Waynesville. We picked up a picnic dinner of fried chicken and extras, then headed off to see the elk.

The cut off road to see the elk
(notice the width and lack of shoulder)



There is an area not far from here that is part of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

Where the Elk are being repopulated



The government has reintroduced a herd of elk here, and every elk is tagged to keep track of the herd’s growth. We had to drive on some very twisty roads to get to the area where we could see the elk.

One of original 52 which have locator collars



At first we just saw a few, and then more and more came into the grassy meadow. When we drove to another area further down the road, we saw several bull elk, with velvet antlers. Apparently, this area was once a small settlement. We saw the remains of a house that was built in 1860 and a school and church built in 1903. The elk actually wandered in and out of an old barn, and up on the porch of the old house. We also saw wild turkeys and deer in the forest here.

Sana trying to pat the elk




Those aren't earrings, but tags



The boys were off by themselves



It started to rain, so we started home. We missed the real downpour, but were surprised to see a beautiful, intensely colored rainbow on the road downhill. We saw the entire arch, and even a faint secondary rainbow. Great way to end the day!

3/4 of the rainbow we saw
(too close to photograph 100%)


total miles we drove today= 0
miles driven by Dwight= 85

Asheville, NC

Thursday, April 21 to Sunday, April 24, 2011 (days 216-219)


Drum Circle with 20 plus drums



We left the Savannah, Georgia area in the morning and pretty much drove straight through to Asheville, North Carolina. (about 300 miles) We arrived at Sana and Dwight’s house about 5 PM, just in time for a great roast dinner. We’ve been here for 3 days now, and will stay for another 2 before we drive back to Florida for the shuttle launch.

Practicing our strokes



As much as we love our Howie, it sure is nice to take a break and stay in a real house, with beds, showers and different rooms to move around in. We’ve had a great time so far with our good friends!

Easter service at the Asheville Baptist Church



On Friday, Sana and Judy did some shopping and errands. Harris and Dwight washed Howie and put new brakes on Dwight’s Suburban. Then we went to see the new Disney movie, The African Cats.

Duck didn't want to hang around us



After dinner, they took us to downtown Asheville. Asheville is known for its, shall we say, unconventional citizens. There are lots of aging hippies and believers in vortexes, crystals and the like. Every Friday night, people gather in a square and beat their drums. Anyone can come and join in, and lots of people do. There must have been about 20 people hitting lots of different types of drums, and about 200 people gathered to watch them. The rhythm seems to affect everyone. People start bobbing to the beat, then moving, then dancing around the square. No one seems to be directing anything, it’s just a “happening”. It was a fun thing to do on a Friday night!

Typical scenery on the river



On Saturday, Sana and Judy did some more shopping in the art district, and Dwight and Harris rented a kayak and took it to a lake. Dwight’s testing different models of kayaks to take to Alaska for his charter business this summer. Harris is happy to help him out!

Our bailing method



Sunday, we all went to church for Easter services, then Dwight and Harris went kayaking on the French Broad River. They put in by the Asheville airport and went 19 miles downstream to French Broad River Park. On the way they passed the Biltmore Estate with its many outbuildings for horses, winery, and various activities for the new Inn at the Biltmore. The weather was perfect, sunny , warm, and a slight breeze as they took 4 hours to navigate the river.

Our half way stop to stretch our legs



Sana and Judy went for a walk in some woods and then came back to relax on the deck. It rained and was actually a little cold on Friday, but since then the weather has turned beautiful again. Asheville is in the mountainous part of North Carolina, so the humidity isn’t too bad.

One of our floating companions



Total miles driven Friday= 5

Passing the Biltmore Estate



Total miles driven Saturday and Sunday= 0

And the new Inn at the Biltmore

Savannah, Day 2

Wednesday, April 20, 2011 (day 215)

Today was a lot like yesterday, only we walked more.

We parked on the east side of town and started walking toward the squares and tours 2 and 3. Tour 2 is called “The First Squares” and tour 3 is called “Squares of Luxury”. There are many big houses, some of famous people, some of people we never heard of, lots of statues and churches on these tours.


Here is the Davenport house, now a museum, built in 1820, in the Federal style.



Next is the Kehoe house, built 1892, now an inn. Kehoe was an Irish immigrant who worked his way up from an iron apprentice to one of the city’s most successful businessmen.




This is a picture of building material called tabby, explaining how it was used.




Next comes the Owen-Thomas house (1819), an English Regency style home.




We stopped at the Colonial Park Cemetery, which is quite large. It was established around 1750. During the Civil War, Union troops camped and stabled horses here. Many graves were desecrated during this time.



We went into the Lutheran Church of the Ascension (1875) to see the beautiful stain glass windows inside. The church is unusual in that the sanctuary is on the second floor. We didn’t see the first floor, it wasn’t open to the public.



We tried to find out why the church was on the second floor, but didn’t really find an answer.



This is a picture of the fountain in the middle of Forsyth Park, which is much, much larger than the other squares. (10 acres in all). Harris found a cache here, one of only 2 we found today. Our geocaching mojo just wasn’t with us.



The last official stop we made was at the south end of the park, to see the Confederate monument. Erected in 1874 in honor of confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War, this monument was made in Canada and transported to Savannah by ship so that it would never touch “Yankee” soil.



We intended to take the “Dot”, free bus, again, but never found a stop. So we just kept walking and walking and walking back to Howie. Along the way we passed a police station with these old cars in front.



Harris took a picture of this little contraption outside Howie back at the campground. It’s to attract some endangered moth.



A tree next to our campsite showing the living oaks and moss.



Total miles driven today=31

Savannah, GA

Monday, April 18, 2011 (day 213)


Our humongous camp site



Today we drove 193 miles north, leaving Florida and coming to Savannah, Georgia. Harris had made reservations at Skidaway Island State Park, which is only a few miles outside the city. It is an absolutely beautiful park. The sites are huge and far apart, although there isn’t much underbrush, so you can see into other people’s sites. There are huge trees everywhere, which we think are live oak. The trees are draped with Spanish moss. The park is shady and cool on these hot days. There are electrical hookups, and wonder of wonders, even cable TV at the sites! Unfortunately, Harris has to drive to the office to get wi-fi, but he’ll live with that to be in such a beautiful, close in park. We walked around, talking to other campers, especially a couple who had another class B van. When the bugs started coming out, we retreated back to Howie for dinner and cards (Judy won) and planning for tomorrow.

A reconstruction of a Civil War redoubt



Tuesday, April 19, 2011 (day 214)


One of many trains in the museum



We took a walk around our park this morning, then drove into Savannah. We parked at the visitor center and purchased a book for walking tours of the historic district. The city is divided into 4 different tours, and we walked through 2 of them today before the heat melted us.


The oldest RR administration building in US



Savannah is a beautiful city, full of restored buildings and large trees dripping with Spanish moss. There isn’t one central square. There are 24 squares, which are like parks, scattered all over. The streets simply split around them, then join up again on the other side.

Haitian blacks that fought in Revolutionary War



The first tour we walked today was called “The Booming West Side”. It was also closest to the visitor center, so it was a good place for us to start. Our first stop was Battlefield Memorial Park, the center of fighting here during the Revolutionary War. French and American troops launched an attack, but lost the battle. Coincidentally, there was a geocache at the sign. We looked and looked, but didn’t find it. After we had gone on to the next stop, we came back and saw a woman unrolling the log. She told us where it had been, (right where we had looked! Really!), in exchange for using our pen.

Our second stop was at the Roundhouse Railroad Museum, which in 1835 was a train construction and repair facility for the Central of Georgia Railway.


One square had a neat statue called the Haitian Monument. This monument honors a group of 700 free men of color from the island of Haiti who fought beside the Americans and French in the Siege of Savannah in 1779. This group was the largest unit of men of African descent to fight in the American Revolution. There was also a cache here that Harris found. It was a fake screw in a road sign.

One of only 2 world cotton exchanges back then



One interesting building we saw was the old Cotton Exchange, built in 1887. At the time, Savannah and Liverpool, England, were the only two places in the world where the price of cotton was quoted.

Another stop that held a cache (one we found) was the Old Harbor Light, built in 1858. This beacon was built by the US government to guide ships past the hulls of sunken ships in the channel. The British had sunk ships in 1779 in an attempt to prevent the French navy from entering Savannah. The large anchors displayed around the light are remnants of historic ships that have been discovered over the years by dredging the channel.


Inside of City Hall



Judy enjoyed walking past “the Pirate House” and reading about it. It was originally a seaman’s tavern. It is rumored that an underground tunnel connected the rum cellar to the river where drunken men were placed aboard ships to later awake at sea as unwitting crew members. Robert Louis Stevenson’s” Treasure Island” was said to be inspired by events that occurred here.

City Hall’s gold plated dome



We passed the Waving Girl Statue. Florence Martus (1868-1943), became known as “The Waving Girl” by sailors around the world. She spent most of her life on Elba Island (in the channel). From her porch of her home on the island, she waved a handkerchief by day and a lantern by night at ships entering or leaving the port of Savannah. One legend has it that she had promised her sweetheart to greet every ship until his return.

Pirate house tavern



We stopped at a café for lunch and a respite, then started on our second walking tour, called “Along the Riverfront”. The first stop, Oglethorpe’s Bench is a stone bench on the site where Olgethorpe (founder of the colony of Georgia) first camped in 1733. We noticed a man walking slowly around, looking at his phone as he did. We asked, are you geocaching? Of course he was, and together we found a cache at the bench.

Waving Girl statue



City Hall is a gorgeous building, with a gold gilded dome. It was built in 1905, and the inside features an impressive rotunda 30 feet wide and 70 feet high, with beautiful stained glass windows in the dome.

We passed 2 cannons, which are called “Washington’s guns”. George Washington presented them to the city in 1791. The cannons had been captured from the British at the Battle of Yorktown.

Two interesting signs we saw



We walked back along the River Street, until we saw a Dot Stop sign. Savannah has a free bus service. We were so happy when we got on the bus because it was air-conditioned! And, the seats were soft! Which was a good thing, because the first street we drove over was an old cobble street that would have really rattled our bones without that padding. The bus took us back to the visitor’s center and Howie. We drove back to the state park, and had a light dinner because of our big lunch.

Thank goodness for the DOT transport system




Total miles driven today=33