We've Left COLD Illinois - Clarksville, TN

We are finally headed to warmer weather.  Woo Hoo!!!   Hopefully, this will be the LAST winter that we spend in Illinois.  Last year we left in January after a sleet and ice storm.  Today the roads were clean, but it was windy and cold and it snowed last night.  Loading the motorcycle in the truck, cleaning ice off one of the slide toppers and hitching up the truck to the motorhome in cold weather is just not any fun. 

We will be in Wauchula, Florida on January 1st.  Plan to stay at Little Charlie Creek RV Park for 2 months.  Then travel a little further south before heading up the east coast to eventually spend some time with Jennifer and Gene just outside of Boston. 

We spent part of October, November and December at our daughter's in Monticello, IL.  Dan was helping get the cattle barn finished.  I spent a lot of time with Erin and her horse, Mercedes; and cheering Erin on at two horse shows.  Will post some pictures in the next few days of Mercedes and Erin's show pictures.  Mercedes is a grey quarter horse, but Erin rides saddlebreds to show. 

It's been a long day and we plan to be on the road early tomorrow, so I better hit the sack.  Now that we are traveling again, I'll keep up with this blog.  I'm thinking of posting about 3 times a week.  I think that should be more manageable.

More later......

Cleaning, Roadtrips, Pelicans and Armadillos (Scottsmoor, FL)

I woke up yesterday with a mission. Just had to clean up the sand and dog hair which seems to take over the motorhome. After breakfast, Dan left in pursuit of a coffee shop and some conversation. He found Kim's Donut Deli in Titusville. Visited with a man who had been on the Titusville police force when Dan was stationed at Patrick Air Force Base, 1957-59. What a small world. No, Dan had not met the police officer professionally. :)

After lunch, we went for a drive with no definite destination in mind. We found Riverbreeze Park at Oak Hill just south of where we are staying. Very nice little city park on the edge of Mosquito Lagoon. The park has paved trails, and handicapped accessible fishing dock.

Hope they caught something.


This guy posed for us

Isn't this tree neat as it bends over the sidewalk?

Then it was on to Merritt Island, where technology meets wildlife.

This is the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center viewed from the road through the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.
We crossed over some rusty railroad tracks as we approached the entrance booth. Dan commented to the ranger that it didn't look like those tracks had been used in along time. She said the tracks are only used to transport shuttle parts back into the complex. She said that had only been done one time since she has worked there. She said the main responsibility the National Wildlife Refuge has with the tracks is to rescue turtles from the center of the tracks. They crawl over the metal track and then can't get back out.

The only buildings in the refuge are restrooms which are very low profile and placed periodically along the drive through the refuge. People are not allowed to walk on the sand dune which separates the land from the Atlantic Ocean. There are handicapped accessible walkways that cross the dune so you can get to the other side.

Playalinda Beach on the ocean side of the dune

This guy had 5 or 6 poles. Hope he had a good fishing day. :)

Not sure what these boys are waiting for on top of the restroom..... They are the only buildings in the refuge and none are taller than this.

Down on Their Luck

Saw lots of blue herons, white egrets and ducks on the water, but this little guy was a real treat. He was alongside the road. He let me walk next to him for several feet as he foraged for lunch.

Most people think of space exploration when Merritt Island and Canaveral are mentioned. But the miles of primitive beach are where endangered sea turtles lay their eggs and the marshy wetlands are home to numerous waterfowl, alligators, otters, snowy egrets, white ibises, and great blue herons. The barrier island and its waterways are home to 1,045 species of plants and 310 species of birds . Then there are the ancients oaks draped with Spanish moss and sand dunes covered with palmetto and sea oats. The area supports 14 wildlife species federally listed as endangered or threatened, including sea turtles, West Indian manatees, southern bald eagles, wood storks, peregrine falcons, eastern indigo snakes and Florida scrub jays.

We'e Moved to Warmer Weather - Scottsmoor, FL

As you can see by our location, we have moved further south. Larry & Phyllis left us Tuesday morning to head back home to Illinois.

Soooo, since we wanted more sunshine than we have had and Dan wanted to walk on a beach in the sunshine; we spent a lot of time on the weather.com looking for just such a place. Wednesday morning we left Fountain, FL for Crystal Lake RV Park at Scottsmoor, FL. Now there's not a lot to see or do in Scottsmoor, but the RV Park is about halfway between Daytona International Speedway and the Kennedy Space Center.

We really prefer to stay in state parks and Corps of Engineer parks, but Florida State Parks are a little pricey unless you are a Florida resident with senior citizen status. This park is another Passport America park with no restrictions as to how long we can just pay half price for our campsite. Some PA parks restrict the rate to 2 days; some only Monday through Thursday; etc.

And, as most of you know, we like Nascar racing, so we would have to visit Daytona Speedway. :)

And we lucked out as far as racing. The 46th Rolex 24 at Daytona is being run this week. This race is a Who's Who of motorsports names with many of the top drivers from NASCAR, open wheel racing and sports cars. There are teams of drivers for each car and the drivers trade off driving for the 24 hours. There are 67 cars with drivers of all experiences driving around a 12 turn 3.56 road course that includes the high banked 3rd & 4th turns of the Daytona NASCAR track.

There are activities all this week leading up to the race start on Saturday. And the really neat part - we could buy a ticket that included admission all 4 days, parking in the infield, and garage access. Since Gail's NASCAR driver and 2 time NASCAR champion (Jimmie Johnson) is on the 99 Gainsco team, we just had to check this out. We spent the afternoon watching practice and strolling through the garage area. REALLY NEAT. And we spotted Jimmie Johnson. :) Didn't get close enough to get an autograph as he was walking away from us.

This is the car Jimmie will be helping to drive. It's called a Daytona Prototype (DP)

Left the race track and did a little grocery shopping and bought a small gooseneck lamp to better light my counted cross stitch fabric I'm working on. Drove back to the campground. Kasey was sitting in the front window of the motorhome to welcome us back. He is such a good traveler. He slept all stretched out on the couch nearly all the way here yesterday. And he sleeps most of the time while we are gone. There are several dogs in this campground and he's met them all on our walks.

Probably won't go back to the track tomorrow. May check out the beaches, but will go back on Saturday for the start of the race. And then, we just may not do much of anything. We are really trying to duplicate the kind of lifestyle we hope to begin this summer with this trip; trying to slow down and just enjoy life without feeling like we have to DO something everyday like we did when we went on vacations. Of course, we do have things that have to be done; walk the dog, wash dishes, walk the dog, vacuum, walk the dog, fix a meal, walk the dog (eat the meal before walking the dog). You get the picture.

More later........

More Navy Stuff and the Newest Blue Angel (wannabee) and a Link Trainer

January 19, 2008

Getting ready to leave involves considerable discussion. The guy talking to Dan is Ivan Williams, a friend of Larry and Phyllis. He and his wife, Grace, are spending several months on Dauphin Island.

Kasey in his favorite spot in the motorhome, overseeing the "getting ready to go" process. "Are they ready yet?"

Entering Florida

Since we stopped to visit the Pensacola Naval Air Museum on our way to our next campsite, we arrived after dark at Pine Lake RV Park. We don't like to do this, since it seems to be a setup for parking and hookup problems, but all went well. This is a Passport America park, so our Full Hookup (FHU) rate is $15. All sites are pull through. We have plenty of room for the truck in front of the motorhome.

We have a lifetime membership with Passport America; so after paying $300 two years ago, no more annual fees. We stayed in several PA parks since then and have probably saved about half of the $300 so far. When we start fulltiming, we stay in even more PA parks. Many PA parks are off the beaten path, but that's OK with us as we plan to avoid Interstates as much as possible. We also really like Corps of Engineer parks and with our federal Golden Age Passport, COE fees are half price for us. And, some state parks offer senior citizen rates.

The National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola, Florida is huge. Admission is free, so that fits our budget. There is so much to see; we could have spent a whole day there.

The latest Blue Angel Pilot (wannabee). Notice there are no wings or engines and the rear of the plane is missing. I think we are pretty safe.

We did fly the F-14 Tomcat flight simulator. Since the F-14 has been retired, the museum uses the REAL F-14 flight simulators that the pilots trained on. Dan was the pilot and I was the munitions officer. This was just like sitting in a real F-14. Look out, Top Gun Tom Cruise.

Dan really did pretty well with 3 successful airstrip landings in a row. BUT, we never did land on the aircraft carrier. Guess he's not quite ready for the big leagues yet. But, I must clarify -- the control stick was not as responsive as it would have been when the pilots were learning because people have played with them a lot and they are pretty loose.

Link Trainer

I was especially interested to see this Link Trainer. My aunt, Hazel Rishel, was in the WAC (Women's Army Corps) during World War II. She was stationed in Japan, California, Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland and other places that I've forgotten. My mother always said that Aunt Hazel was a "Link Trainer" and trained pilots to fly. I never knew for sure what that involved, so I'll share what I learned about that.

Aunt Hazel was not actually the Link Trainer, but must have been an instructor or operator teaching cadets to fly by instruments. The Link Trainer was used to teach the pilots to learn how to rely on their instruments. Most of the Link Trainer operators were females, part of the Women Accepted for Voluntary Service (Waves), in the case of naval aviation.

The seat in the Link Trainer is about 3 feet off the floor, but once the pilot was strapped in and the top closed, they felt like they were in a real plane. The trainer was designed by a former organ manufacturer, turned pilot, named Edwin C. Link. The trainer could simulate various conditions that might be encountered in real flight, including wind drift, turbulence and radio static. The trainer could also put the aircraft in various flight orientations, including spins that required the student to right his "airplane". Air nozzles even produced the sound effect of the slipstream.

The goal of the Link Trainer was to force the student pilot to rely on his instruments or follow the instructions given by the operator to get his plane back safely to base. The Link Trainer was very cost effective. In 1945 each hour of flight in a training aircraft cost $10; it cost only 4 cents for an hour in the Link Trainer. But most importantly, no cadet could lose his life in a Link Trainer if he made a mistake, or crash an airplane. HOWEVER, an army Air Forces cadet found himself lost and low on fuel during his simulation. Following standard procedure, he threw open the hood, and bailed out, breaking his ankle when he hit the floor 3 feet below. :)

The Link Trainers used at Pensacola Naval Air Station were placed in storage in 1950 in a rodent infested, leaky hangar. In 1990 they were recovered by the museum. They were dirty and many of the wooden components were rotten. But, when plugged into a wall outlet and connected to a vacuum cleaner to provide power to the bellows, they still worked, except for a couple of instruments.

I hope you enjoyed the story of the Link Trainer. Whenever my mother talked about her sister, she always said with a lot of pride, "Hazel was a Link Trainer during the war. She taught pilots to fly." I never asked her to explain to me what a Link Trainer was and I'm not sure she really understood what Aunt Hazel did.

So as we continue our travels maybe we'll come across something else that provides a link to our past and helps us understand it better.