Patrick AFB Part Two

The drive to the Spurrell’s home is lined with beautiful homes – alas, there is no room to pull over for pictures so here are a few that weren’t too blurry.

and an adorable manatee holding a mailbox.

Tuesday we traveled at The Kennedy Space Center.

First they took us on a bus ride to the launch pads.  On the way we passed the Vertical Assembly building where the shuttles were assembled, and now rockets.  The doors are expandable depending on the size of the rocket.  Space X assembles their own rockets in a horizontal building and then turn the rockets vertical at the launch pad.  This building is one of the largest buildings in volume in the world.  3.75 Empire State Buildings would fit inside.

This is the “road” the “crawler” (speed 1 mph) carries the 18 million pound rockets to the launch pad.  One track per lane. each is the size of a 4 lane highway.  It takes about 5 hours from the VAB to pad – it took us about 5 minutes.

The launch pads must be raised because of the low water table here.  Before the rockets launch 410 gallons of water is poured onto the pad. Surprisingly this is not to cool the pad, but to reduce the decibels of the blast.  Without the water, the rocket would be shaken apart by the noise.

How big do you think the International Space Station is?

Only as big as a football field!

The Atlantis has made this her retirement home. Anything she carried had to fit in the hold. “Some assembly required”.

We ate a quick bite at a supposedly stream-lined cafeteria.  So disappointing as it was slow and the food was not hot (or of good quality).  The birds were sure hoping to get a bite though – either that or were there to get an education on what the astronauts ate.

We departed by this lovely fountain with JFK’s words: “For the eyes of the world now look into space to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace.”

Wednesday brought my dear friend Debbie Tracy (Robinson) for a visit.  Debbie was the organizer of all our helpers in Misawa when the quads were born.  We haven’t seen each other in 34 years!  It has been a week of sweet reunions! (and forgot the camera AGAIN!)

We met non-boaters at one of the Marina evening gatherings.  Jeanette and Dan come down every year from New Jersey and stay in a condo.  We enjoyed several evenings together (including teaching them our favorite Jokers and Marbles) and watched the launch of the Space X rocket with them from KARS Park. It was an incredible sight.  Disappointed that we couldn’t see the boosters return to earth. Found out later that we just hadn’t waited long enough.

Ready to watch the launch

Blast Off!

Success!

When we weren’t having fun with friends we worked on getting the boat ready for Joni’s visit.  Our V-berth, where she will sleep, was full of extra “stuff” we had to find other homes for. Bob also put the isinglass back up, as the weather forecast is for lots of rain.

One of our neighbors were home, so I got their picture.  He is a retired Special Forces (and a boxer – note the boxing gloves).  When I thanked him for his service – he laughed and said “Hey, I got paid for having fun!”

We drove up to visit the town of Cocoa Beach.  It is known for its white sand beaches, as well as being home to Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral).  It was established in 1925 but not until the space program started did its population grow.  It suffered dreadfullly when the space shuttle program ended with many families forced to move with unemployment at 14%.  It seems to be recovering today and the beaches are beautiful.

We had planned to leave on Monday so we would have 4 days to get to Jacksonville to pick up my friend Joni, who is coming to visit for a week.  We were ready to leave the marina at 7:30 AM only to find the entrance blocked off by a barrier.

It turned out that a sailboat had a fuel leak of some kind leaving an oily sheen over the water that had to be cleaned up.  They thought it might take as long as 48 hours!  We were grateful that they cleaned it up by the afternoon, but it was too late to leave.  Bob reworked our route and shortened it to 3 days. I was really quite happy about the delay as the expected rain was torrential and we were happy to be safe in the marina.  Between rain showers, I was able to watch the cleanup.

I also had fun photographing some of the marina.

This bench looks like something out of Pirates of the Caribbean!

A beautiful antique jeep.

Little lizards everywhere!

Our boat waiting to leave….

Finally left Tuesday morning, bright and early.  Farewell Patrick AFB, you’ve been a nice host!

Docked on D Dock, Patrick Air Force Base – April 11-April 24th 2018 – with Fancy Free, visited with Jonathon and Rosa, Tomor’s, Spurrell’s, and met Dan and Jeanette.