Saturday, March 7, 2009
Melbourne Fla.
We’re movin’ north and neither one of us like it! “North” means heading home, but . . . we’ve only moved as far north as Melbourne and are parked down the row from H’s brother Ron and his wife Nancy who have been in this park already for 2 weeks. It’s good to see them and spend some fun time together again. We’ll be parked together thru Sunday before we edge our way farther north - - county by county.
Thanks to R&N, we have met some neat folks from British Columbia- Terry and Barbee. They are the caretakers of a VERY elderly, partially blind, incontinent, sweet little dog named Charlie. They must keep him in a little male doggie diaper but only had one, which cost them $20. N and I went to Joann’s and $6 later - Charlie is the almost proud owner of TWO new dapper doggie diapers made out of very soft flannel in the cutest little doggie print! With the scrap of fabric that was left we made him a neckerchief with a bright red bow on the front!
When we were parked at WP Franklin, H and I made a nifty light tan sunshade for our awning. R&N liked it, so this morning we picked up more fabric and made one for them. H likes the color of theirs and thinks theirs is made better than ours so now he wants a new “better” one too.
Friday is laundry day (done!) and moving day – but only from spot #41 to spot #53. In this park it’s called the “Wickham Shuffle”!! This afternoon H and I went to a neat flea market up the road in Palm Bay. H’s big purchases were marbles and a remote control helicopter. He gave $10 for it and I am giving him 10 minutes (tops!) before it’s broke! From there we met R&N at the beach and got some rays!
The rocket launch was on time at just before 11pm! According to the local paper, it is a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket that is carrying a Nasa Keplar spacecraft on a mission to find distant earth-like planets. R&N let me ride with them to go down and park by the intercoastal waterway to watch the whole affair from lift off. The sky lit up and from as far away as we were, you could hear and feel the roar just like at the 4th of July fireworks, except the “fireworks” never did spray the sky with millions of sparkles and blasts of dazzling lights. It did all that at take off! As each part of the rocket engaged, there was just a spit of sparkles and a long thin trail of jet stream. And, like a brilliant shooting star it stretched out over the ocean to the southeast and disappeared into the collection of stars already dotting the dark night sky.
Saturday we move from this spot to the overflow area, along with R&N. Barbee and Terry because there are no spaces available in the electric/water areas. The weather is fantastic so having no electricity for 2 nights is NO PROBLEM! .
Thanks to R&N, we have met some neat folks from British Columbia- Terry and Barbee. They are the caretakers of a VERY elderly, partially blind, incontinent, sweet little dog named Charlie. They must keep him in a little male doggie diaper but only had one, which cost them $20. N and I went to Joann’s and $6 later - Charlie is the almost proud owner of TWO new dapper doggie diapers made out of very soft flannel in the cutest little doggie print! With the scrap of fabric that was left we made him a neckerchief with a bright red bow on the front!
When we were parked at WP Franklin, H and I made a nifty light tan sunshade for our awning. R&N liked it, so this morning we picked up more fabric and made one for them. H likes the color of theirs and thinks theirs is made better than ours so now he wants a new “better” one too.
Friday is laundry day (done!) and moving day – but only from spot #41 to spot #53. In this park it’s called the “Wickham Shuffle”!! This afternoon H and I went to a neat flea market up the road in Palm Bay. H’s big purchases were marbles and a remote control helicopter. He gave $10 for it and I am giving him 10 minutes (tops!) before it’s broke! From there we met R&N at the beach and got some rays!
The rocket launch was on time at just before 11pm! According to the local paper, it is a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket that is carrying a Nasa Keplar spacecraft on a mission to find distant earth-like planets. R&N let me ride with them to go down and park by the intercoastal waterway to watch the whole affair from lift off. The sky lit up and from as far away as we were, you could hear and feel the roar just like at the 4th of July fireworks, except the “fireworks” never did spray the sky with millions of sparkles and blasts of dazzling lights. It did all that at take off! As each part of the rocket engaged, there was just a spit of sparkles and a long thin trail of jet stream. And, like a brilliant shooting star it stretched out over the ocean to the southeast and disappeared into the collection of stars already dotting the dark night sky.
Saturday we move from this spot to the overflow area, along with R&N. Barbee and Terry because there are no spaces available in the electric/water areas. The weather is fantastic so having no electricity for 2 nights is NO PROBLEM! .
Monday, March 2, 2009
Miami Beach
Saturday was our last warm February day in southern Florida. A cold front is to blow in on Sunday, so we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and hopped on the Tri Rail in Lake Worth and rode the rails all the way to Miami. From that train we transferred to the Metro Rail and got off in downtown Miami at the government center. A block away we climbed on the “S” bus and rode it out to Miami Beach. YES - the water is as blue as it is on TV when we all watch CSI Miami! We kept looking for Horacio or his Hummer but he was nowhere to be found. Maybe it was his day off and his “team” was busy at the office. The bus’s route took us near the famous Lincoln Ave where all the people who want to be seen are! IF it’s to be seen - you’ll see it there. ALL kinds, shapes, styles and colors – and not just the clothes! “Lincoln Ave” is a 3 to 4 block section that has been closed to traffic and filled with trendy shops, fountains, gardens and sidewalk cafes with big squares of colorful patio umbrellas to protect their dining patrons from the noonday sun. Our lunch was an Italian style pizza, baked over a wood fire, at one of the sidewalk café’s that had pretty royal blue and white chairs and tables. Each table had a cobalt blue bottle with a large sunflower bloom in it. In spite of the look on my face – the pizza was really good!
All the roads from downtown Miami and out to the beach were lined with bumper-to-bumper cars and the beach itself was wall-to-wall bodies. This picture that H took does not show nearly the amount of flesh that was in different degrees of undress out on that huge long section of sand. The open area is where the lifeguard station was and must be kept open all the way to the shoreline. We took another bus back across the Intercoastal and then rode the People Mover back past the line up of all the mammoth cruise ships patiently waiting to depart from port. Back to the government center and the Metro: back to the Tri Rail and finally back to the “mobile motel” way after dark. Even after H pushed the wrong button on the ticket machine, the whole day’s travel for both of us only cost $10.50! The day was quite an experience – you’ll have to ask us for more details!
And now Sunday is just about over. At noon it was a warm 80 degrees but windy and it got more cloudy and more windy as the morning turned into afternoon. At 2pm the big black clouds rumbled in and it sprinkled but never really rained. At 9pm the temp was down to 59. All the awnings and sunshades in the campground are down and tucked away for safekeeping, including ours. We’re packed and ready to move north in the morning to Wickham Park in Melbourne. Ron and Nancy are there waiting for us!
All the roads from downtown Miami and out to the beach were lined with bumper-to-bumper cars and the beach itself was wall-to-wall bodies. This picture that H took does not show nearly the amount of flesh that was in different degrees of undress out on that huge long section of sand. The open area is where the lifeguard station was and must be kept open all the way to the shoreline. We took another bus back across the Intercoastal and then rode the People Mover back past the line up of all the mammoth cruise ships patiently waiting to depart from port. Back to the government center and the Metro: back to the Tri Rail and finally back to the “mobile motel” way after dark. Even after H pushed the wrong button on the ticket machine, the whole day’s travel for both of us only cost $10.50! The day was quite an experience – you’ll have to ask us for more details!
And now Sunday is just about over. At noon it was a warm 80 degrees but windy and it got more cloudy and more windy as the morning turned into afternoon. At 2pm the big black clouds rumbled in and it sprinkled but never really rained. At 9pm the temp was down to 59. All the awnings and sunshades in the campground are down and tucked away for safekeeping, including ours. We’re packed and ready to move north in the morning to Wickham Park in Melbourne. Ron and Nancy are there waiting for us!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)