| Page 25 Day 104 - Sat. 4-27-02 - mileage today 85.6 - climbed today 0 Jupiter Island to Sebastian Inlet Life in the slow "LANE" Once again we had a beautiful day of cycling. It is hot and humid, but if we are riding we don’t feel it so much because of the breeze we get when we are riding. We miss judged the miles today by about 10 miles. But they were easy miles. Florida is flat and we had a slight tailwind. It felt nice to get some miles in. I have been feeling like I'm not getting enough exercise lately because the miles are so easy. I realized that I misjudged the miles and began to try to find alternant places to stay. We were trying to make it to Long point County Park but it was quite far. I talked to a police officer in Vero Beach and they said there is no camping in the city parks. They suggested talking to the fire department. I tried them and they suggested Sebastian State Park. I told them we called and they were full. We had tried to call Long Point Park but no one answered, we left out phone number but no one returned our call. We decided to try our luck and go for it. I got to Long point first and they were full. They only had one suggestion and that was 20 miles back where we came from and it was almost dark. We thought we might try a fire department up the road about 5 to 10 miles they weren’t sure. The park staff wasn’t very helpful and they just wanted to get rid of us. As we were s cycling out of the park a truck pulled up next to us and the driver asked if we were turned away. We told him yes. He said you could stay at my campsite. We introduced ourselves and that is how we met LANE. Lane was a tall thin fella in his late thirties. He was missing most of his teeth and had been drinking. We accepted Lanes offer and set up camp without any hassles. Lane said the like me here and they wont say anything to me. Lane lives at the park for as long as he can find work. Then he moves on to the next park and finds local work. When I shook Lanes hand I found him to be very strong. You know how you shake someone’s hand and they have a firm shake so you kick up your grip a little. Well that is what I did and I quickly realized that I can’t do that again cause Lane could have easily crushed my hand. We enjoyed getting to know Lane. He is a modern day vagabond. He is the type who never has more then two bucks in his pocket but he would gladly give you one. He is always finding some way to help someone without there knowledge. When someone is low on firewood he will go out and collect some and deliver it at night while they sleep. So when they awake they find their chore already done for them. He is an honest good-hearted look you straight in the eye sincere man, whom I'm am fortunate to have met. Day 105 - Sunday 4-28-02 - mileage today 40.8 - climbed today 0 Sebastian Inlet to Cape Canaveral I found that since we have John with us that we could split up and ride separate. Myron doesn’t like to do any map work so he just follows. He has a tendency to get lost if he is cycling by himself. I had a lot of catching up to do on the journal. So Myron and John went ahead of me to find a campsite we were told about in Cape Canaveral. I stayed behind in Coco Beach to write. You remember Coco Beach. That is where major Nelson found Jeanie on the beach. You remember I Dream of Jeanie. You men out there can’t forget Barbara Eden, Hubba Hubba. Anyway when I finished writing I tried to call as planned, no answer. I cycled on into Cape Canaveral and tried to call again. I was able to reach John on the phone. He and Myron had continued on past the Cape because they couldn’t find camping. Myron had pulled ahead of John and got lost. When I called John they had found each other. They were at a Days Inn and deciding what to do. Meanwhile I found camping in the Cape and they found camping! 10 miles further on Hwy 1. We made plans to meet at the space center in the morning. Just after I got here at Jetty Park, I saw a cruise ship pass by. The park is right on the waters edge of a harbor inlet. I could have swam to the ship in one minute, it was so close. When I saw the ship I immediately thought of my sister and her family because, it was the Disney cruise ship. They would love to be on it. I thought I wish I were rich enough to send them, and me too. I said a little prayer saying that I hope everybody on board has a wonderful trip. Maybe one day I could take my family. By the way I miss all my family and friends. Day 106 - Mon. 4-29-02 - mileage 29.5 - climbed 0 Cape Canaveral to Titusville 5-4-3-2-1 WE HAVE LIFT-OFF We were separated last night, so Myron and John met me at Kennedy Space Center. WOW, what a great place. The Space Center is Disneyland for adults. We were very fortunate that the Shuttle Endeavor rolled out of the assembly building to launch pad 39-b late last night. We were able to see her sitting there just as she would for launch. The launch will not be for a month. But the astronauts will be flying in from the Huston training center today. They will begin a month of training and dry runs for launch. They will also spend time with their families before the mission. This one is an international crew. And they will change out the Space station Crew. The crew that is going up will be the longest stay in space for the Americans. We also saw a variety of rockets past and present. I can’t believe the mercury rocket, which carried the first American into orbit. The mercury is nothing more than a 1961 VW bug on the top of a missile. The shuttle is light years more sophisticated. The Satran V rocket is huge; It is the rocket they used for the Apollo missions. I was amazed at the size of the rocket motors. They are very small. They are about the size of an old Volkswagen motor with big cones on the end of them. The satran has 5 motors that create 7 million pounds of thrust. Did you know that all the smoke you see at lift-off is not smoke at all - it is steam? There is a trench under the launch pad filled with water for cooling purposes as well as shockwave suppression. The reason you cannot be closer than 3 miles to the launch pad at lift-off is because the shockwave will probably kill you. The shockwave will kill you before the heat will. If you did survive you will be deaf. The water goes a long way in preventing the shock wave from breaking window in the surrounding areas. If you ever get a chance you MUST go to the Space center. There are many educational programs and guided tours, even to restricted areas. We also had a real treat later in the evening.! We got a visit from David. David spent two hours searching for us and he finally found us. We met David three weeks ago near the panhandle of Florida. He and his girlfriend Dawn were cycling and we met just after crossing the Suwannee River. David told us he is an engineer at the space center and that when we were in the area to email him. I did, but I didn’t know where we were going to be. Dave took the time and sought us out. We had a great visit. David is a fine example of the kind of people we meet, good, friendly people. Thank you David. Keep in touch. |
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