Monday, December 3
There were tornado warnings in Jacksonville (just north of us) and heavy thunderstorms forecast for the St Augustine area and south for late morning so we had a window of opportunity to hit the road and beat the worst of the weather. As it turns out it was a good choice. As we headed further south down I95 the skies cleared and the high wind held off. It was 85F (30C) at 10AM and the humidity was oppressive.
We made it to our next campground, Sonrise RV Park in Cocoa about noon. The office was closed until 2 PM but they were kind enough to leave our paperwork in the after-hours checkin box. Great! We got set up and fired up the air conditioner. After a bite to eat we headed off to find a coax coupler so I could join two coax cables together and tap into the free cable TV they offered. Turns out their cable is not working so well and we ended up using the over-the-air antennae. Lots of channels!
We managed to miss the heavy showers while we were in Walmart, and made it home just before the next one started. The temp has dropped some and over the next couple of days it should drop to more seasonal. Today's high was close to a record for the day.
Tuesday, December 4
We were excited to hear that there would be a Space X launch at the Kennedy Space Center today! This would be a resupply mission to the ISS (International Space Station). Unfortunately, the mission was scrubbed for today and you won't believe why! It seems they were taking some mice to space and were to use them to perform experiments. You have to feed those mice of course (it was in their contract!) and they were sending food bars along. Well, they found some mold in the food bars and they would have to be replaced before the flight could launch. It seems these aren't just ordinary food bars and they would have to be flown in overnight from California. I would have just gone down to the local Walmart and bought some replacements as I'm pretty sure the mice would have no idea. Anyway, the mice held out for the California bars so the launch was delayed for one day. It now launches at 1:16 PM EST on Wednesday, December 5.....tomorrow.
With no launch to see we decided to head into Cocoa and then on to Cocoa Beach.
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| The historic old area of Cocoa had lots of nice buildings and shops. |
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| Town Square |
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| The sign said 'Do Not Enter' so I didn't! One less shop to visit. |
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| The theater. |
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| Some nice wall murals in the downtown. |
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| City Hall |
Downtown Cocoa was very nice, but there was one other famous landmark we had to see.
The S.F.Travis Co Hardware store was established in 1885 and is still in the family. If you need ANYTHING......they have it! It is a walk through time perusing their shelves. And it's a busy store, not just a museum or antique store.
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| These guys have way more variety and stock than Lowes and Home Depot combined! |
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| This is the hard-hat shelves. Yes! You can buy a 'safety' cowboy hat.....and it's certified and legal as a hard-hat. |
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| Need an Ajax Spring! They have every one ever made. |
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| This is the sandpaper aisle. There are hundreds of types and grit. Amazing! |
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| Huge wrenches. The biggest sell for $1185.00. |
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| Say hi to the owner and president! |
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| Yep!! They sell pink flamingos!! |
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| This is Travis Osborne the current president of the SF Travis Co. It was established in 1885 by his great-grandfather and is the oldest continuously run family business in Florida. |
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| Lots of memories in these aisles. |
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| Note the fire doors between the first and second floor. There is a 'fuse' holding the cable together. See below. |
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| In the event of a fire, the 'fuse' melts in the heat and pulls apart. The cables allow the metal-clad doors to slam shut. |
Cocoa was great to visit. We headed down the road toward the Atlantic and Cocoa Beach. A great tourist destination with plenty of shops and of course.....a beach.
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| Things aren't cheap pout this way. These four chairs and canopy rent for $110 for 4 hours. |
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| This is a great way to cruise the beach. The big tire floated on the soft sand. |
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| This Osprey was enjoying his lunch. |
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| Pheasants at large in the neighborhood. |
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| We headed out to Cape Canaveral where the cruise ships dock. None in port today though. |
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| A condo for boats. |
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| This guy wasn't having a good day. For that matter quite a few days. This one had been here a while. |
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| Time to head home. Interesting alignment of the bridges. |
......and that was Our View From Here!
