Space Coast Adventure

A new day, a new adventure. Jetty Park RV Resort. Port Canaveral, Florida
May10 to May 14, 2021

A three and a half hour drive across the State of Florida, takes us to the East Coast, and the Atlantic Ocean. Jetty Park, in Port Canaveral, is right smack dab on the edge of Cape Canaveral, the home of Kennedy Space Center and NASA. Looming in the background of our Rv Site, are sights of the Atlantic Ocean, a beautiful beach, a submarine port facility. The Cocoa Beach Pier can be seen along with the launch pads at the Space Center.

One more time, we passed along waterways we traveled along on our Great Loop Adventure. I so enjoy reminiscing of our time on the water. We crossed a bridge which overlooked the Indian River, which is part of the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway. 3 years ago, almost to the day, we were outrunning Hurricane Eduardo right on this stretch of the waterway. We passed by Cape Canaveral, I snapped a few photos, none of which were any good and we stopped in Titusville to wait out the storm. Remembering these times bring me great joy. ❤️

By Land or By Sea

Jim has been working long hours at his Boat Captaining job in Tampa. As much as he loves it, long hours on the water are exhausting, and I know he was very happy to be going camping. A good week of R&R is just what he needed.
I spent time on the beach, which I love! The Atlantic Ocean is a much different vibe than the beautiful turquoise waters of the Gulf, where we live. It was a bit stormy on our trip here, which kicked up the waves on the beach. The water, however was warm enough, and cooled me down, as it was very hot and humid, even in the cloudy weather. All in all, any day at the beach is a great day!

Canaveral Lock

As always, we took our bikes with us and had some great rides! I love, love, love my electric bike! I’m pretty lazy, by nature. I’m not an avid fan of strenuous activities. Riding an electric, pedal assist bike, is however, the way to go. Our bikes will go about 20 mph, so without much effort, I can ride fast, and in the heat of the day, the breeze that creates makes riding a bike pleasant. We explored the port area of Cape Canaveral. We came upon the Port Canaveral Lock, which, unfortunately, was closed to visitors. After traversing 99 locks on our Loop Adventure, I was happy to have a close up look at another one!
There are many little tiki bars and restaurants here at the port. In the waters we see a lone cruise ship, many tug boats and huge cranes for unloading ships. For those of you in California, it looks a lot like Long Beach ports, but much cleaner!

Another interesting building we came across is called Exploration Tower. It basically is a welcome center for people visiting the area and those getting on and off cruise ships. It’s really nothing more than a gift shop, observational deck and it looked like they had a restaurant. The center was closed, so we obviously didn’t get the full picture of what it is exactly, but the structure itself, was impressive.

Exploration Tower

As we continued our bike ride, we came upon Cocoa Beach Helicopters! There stood a bright yellow helicopter with a “Join Us” sign! I pointed to Jim, probably with a big smile on my face, and in we rode. Fifteen minutes later, we were flying!

Wooooohooooo

I’ve never been on a helicopter. Jim says he was on one many moons ago. We took off o a 20 minute aerial tour of Cocoa Beach and its surrounding areas. I, so exited, had my phone ready to video the whole adventure. We flew high in the sky! Over the port where we could see the launch pads at NASA. Interesting fact. The “No Fly Zone” around this area is a 12 mile square that extends 18,000 feet into the sky. No one but the Space people can enter this very secure zone. We saw Elon Musks SpaceX tower and the tower that belongs now to Jeff Bezos, the former CEO of Amazon.
Our pilot Kevin spoke to us through headsets and pointed out many points of interest and fun facts. As we flew over the ocean, we saw a pod of Dolphins. The boats in the water, from the sky, looked like toys. I thought of how Jim and I must have looked when we were out in big bodies of water on the Happy Destiny. The ocean is very, very big! As we flew over Cocoa Beach, we saw many beautiful homes, shallow waters, and a herd of at least 20 manatees. I’m taking it all in, all the while, using my phone to video this awesome experience. As we started to head back after the tour, Kevin told us he would do a fly over the campground we were at so we could see our camper from the sky! I was so excited! I looked, for the first time, down at my phone and discovered that from the time we took off to this point that I had never pushed the record button! I was so bummed out! I just couldn’t believe it! So, the video you are about to see is just a snippet of what we got to see on this grand adventure! Oh well. The memory of this day will always be with me.

One day we drove up to Cocoa, Florida and went on a walking tour of the downtown village there. A quiet little town. Most of the stores were closed and the ones that were open were just your every day touristy joints. I did find a cute windsock for our home. I really like it. We also drove down to Cocoa Beach and went to the Ron Jon Surf Shop. I know there is one in California. Buena Park, I think. I’d never been in one, so wanted to check it out. I was not impressed. People seem to think expensive shit in a tourist trap is worth the money. I don’t. I’m a cheap ass. I did buy a tiny sticker for our collection that I’m starting in the RV. Two bucks!

After a rain one day we took our bikes out on the beach and rode several miles down to the Cocoa Beach Pier. It is so fun to ride on the beach. You’ve got to stay in the wet sand. Our bikes don’t do well in the dry sand. I have fallen a few times trying to ride in the dry sand. I no longer do that. I took some Kindness Rocks with me on this trip and left them along the way at several of our stops. This one I left in the pier piling.

Kindness Rocks

One of the joys for me leaving my rocks in places for people to find is when this happens. I belong to a few rock groups on Facebook. On the back of my rocks I write “if found post a pic to # Venice Rocks or #Sarasota Rocks. Some people do, most don’t. I have probably left 100 different painted rocks in a 600 mile radius and maybe 15 people have actually posted their finds. Obviously, it’s not my intention to get recognized for my art. I hope my rocks make people smile and brighten their day. But, when it does happen, it makes ME smile😊

There were no Space Launch's while we were here at Jetty Park. I’d love to come again one day when there is one scheduled. This campground would be the perfect place to watch it. Fortunately, for me, I was at the beach one afternoon and saw a ship coming in to the jetty. I asked a lifeguard what it was. He told me that the previous Sunday, Elon Musks, SpaceX Falcon was launched. He proceeded to tell me that the object coming in was the first stage of the the rocket that returns to earth after the launch. He told me that it was the 10th successful landing on its platform. I’m not a big “all things space” person, so I had to Google what that all meant. This booster actually delivers it load into space, and with very high technology, returns back to its mothership, which is in the ocean, and perfectly lands on its mark, upright, without crashing! It really is amazing! I watched some videos of when it didn’t make its mark, and it just a big explosion.

As it got closer, I hopped on my bike, left the beach and went to the jetty to watch it come into the port. It was very cool!

Jim and I had an awesome adventure. I looked at him when we were at the pier and said “ I just can’t believe how blessed we are. We have the coolest life”!
I do not take any of this for granted. I try to give as much as I take, and I thank my God every single day for dragging me along, not giving up on me and allowing me to live a life beyond my wildest dreams.

I continue to write this blog because of a promise I made when we returned from our Great Loop trip. I wanted others to know that there was life after the loop. That our adventures don’t have to end because we completed that amazing accomplishment. I write because it is a constant reminder of the journey I am on, and with Jim by my side the best is yet to come!
We are looking forward to Aimee and the grandchildren coming to visit at the end of June. Disney World, here we come!

We hope you are happy and well.
peace and our love

❤️