Vacation Day 6 - A boat ride

Continues hot here in FL. Really, really hot. Like Florida hot. So today we decided to stick close to home (well, G&G's home) and do Mt. Dora proper. So we drove downtown and took a pontoon boat tour of the Dora Canal, which connects Lake Dora and Lake Eustis. We were clearly in retirementville, because the boat captain made a big deal about the safety of the boat (he's Coast Guard certified, the boat was Coast Guard certified, life jackets, fire extinguishers, bilge pump (on a pontoon boat, no less), etc.). I have to say it underscored the professionalism of the tour operators, but it also smacked of placating cranky worry-warts.



We departed from the Lakeside Hotel and started across the Lake Dora to the entrance of the canal. On the way we saw a tree where some Bald Eagles nest. One enters the canal by passing under an old railroad bridge, and then you're in a narrow, shallow channel. Much of it is surrounded by houses, but there's a stretch that is a good example of what central Florida looked like 500 years ago.



We saw lots of birds: Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Little Green Herons, Anhingas (including a nest with nestlings), Tri-colored Herons, Wood Ducks (and a cute little duckling), White Ibis (turns out that's plural), and plenty of Osprey fishing. We also caught a glimpse of a crocodile, several turtles, and even a couple of fish.



When we got to Lake Eustis, we simply turned around and went back. When we got back to Lake Dora, the Captain gave the Things a chance to drive the boat. Hobbes jumped at the chance and promptly paid little attention to where he was going. Calvin was tired at this point and didn't want to try.



When we got back, we had lunch at an English Tea Shoppe and then decided to do a little window shopping in town (well, the adults decided to; the Things suffered through it). The economic downturn has apparently hit Mt Dora's shops. My dad said there were quite a few businesses that were no more, but the block we walked around was quite lively.

Then it was back home to, you guessed it, swim in the pool before dinner.

Vacation Day 5 - A Hike

Today we decided to take a hike at a De Leon Spring State Park. It was hot. You can swim in the spring, but there were a lot of people there, and we had that nice swimming pool at G&G's neighborhood to swim in, so we skipped that in favor of going for a walk in the woods. We took the Persimmon Tree Trail, although you were supposed to register with a park ranger before taking this particular trail. I will leave it to Sweetie's hiking blog to capture a full account of the hike, but I will say that it was full of wild life: big spiders,



a box turtle,



poisonous snakes,



regular snakes, toads, toads, toads, dragonflies, a couple skinks and anoles, and even a squirrel. And then there were all the bromeliads and spanish moss and other pretty plants.



The hike was over 4 miles, but very flat (no Catalina hike, this). We were thinking about going to the restaurant in the old sugar mill for a pancake lunch and then renting a canoe, but the wait at the restaurant was 90 minutes and it was really, really hot. So instead, we left the park and went to Gram's Kitchen for lunch (good food and cheap!), and then went swimming at the pool until the thunderstorms rolled in. That night, Grammy made some delicious oven-fried chicken for dinner, and we didn't watch the Princess and the Frog (the Things weren't interested).

Vacation Day 4 - Kennedy Space Center

Getting up this morning was hard (still not quite over that jet lag). We grabbed a quick breakfast and drove over to Cape Canaveral (everyone slept except me). I'm not sure if it was because it was Thursday or if it was the heat, but it was not very crowded there that day.



We started the day with a brief play at the play structure because we had 10 minutes to kill before the Rocket Garden Tour. This was billed as a 15 minute tour explaining what all the various rockets in the Rocket Garden are. However we had the know-it-all docent who launched into a 40 minute, in-gruesome-detail description of the entire lunar program, complete with mild snide comments about what NASA's done since. I have to say he was a relatively engaging speaker, and he was certainly knowledgeable, but still, we had places to go. Amazingly, the Things stayed still for the whole thing.



After that, we took a break from the heat by going into the Early Space Program building. Inside were great displays including a mock Soyuz capsule, a lunar rover you could sit on, those tiny, tiny capsules they sent the astronauts up in, and the actual original Mercury mission control equipment.



We then walked around the Rocket Garden, sat in various modules, walked a gantry, and generally marveled at how short some of the rockets were that put men in orbit.

Next up was the shuttle Explorer. I'm not sure if this was once a test model, but they had it set up so you could see the size of the cargo bay and the crew space and flight deck. Next to this was the Shuttle Experience. This was a simulated shuttle launch. They have all sorts of warnings that old, sickly people shouldn't go on this because of the realistic shaking and noise, which scared off Calvin. He and Mom decided to watch the whole thing from the 'Observation Lounge'. G&G Hobbes and I entered the 'capsule' and we were off. Let me just say, unless you're incredibly frail or prone to motion sickness, this thing is pretty much a cake walk. It was a lot of fun. The best part was that doing this was included in the price of admission (as were both IMAX movies). AND the quarter you spend to put your stuff in a locker while you're in the ride is refunded. I love our government!



After a brief picnic lunch, we took the bus tour. The first stop was Observation Gantry LC 39. This is a tower that gives you a good view of the VAB (vehicle assembly building) and the two shuttle launch pads (A and B). As we drove there, we could see crews putting fresh gravel down in the track that the Launch Vehicle Crawler follows to take the shuttle from the VAB to the launch pads. One of them has been refurbished to be ready for the next generation Ares rockets. You can't go into the VAB anymore. When my family visited here in 1976 (when the space program was between Skylab and the shuttle) you could go in and see the biggest one-story building in the world, but now, since they store the SRB (solid rocket boosters) in there, no more tourists. The Things were not very impressed with this stop, as it was mostly looking a buildings and launch platforms sans rocket ships. Back on the bus to the next stop, the Apollo/Saturn V center.



You enter a large room and see a video describing the Apollo missions - very exciting stuff, from the tragedy of the Apollo I fire to the build-up to Apollo XI. Then the doors open and you enter Mission Control circa 1969, and You Are There as Neil, Buzz and Mike were launched into space. From there you enter a hangar containing mock-up of a Saturn V rocket. It's huge: 363 feet from stem to stern, weighing 6.7 million pounds. Wow. In addition to the Big Rocket, there was a chip of a moon rock there, which you could touch (much like the one in the Air & Space Museum in DC). So now we have touched two a moon rocks. Back on the bus to the last stop the International Space Station Center.

Here there was a movie that talked about NASA's current mission, the ISS. The best part of this was seeing the clean room where workers were preparing the payload for the next shuttle flight. There were also mock-ups of some of the modules, but at that point, we were a little burnt out, so we didn't take too long looking around.



We returned to the main visitor center complex and, after a brief snack, saw a 3D IMAX movie entitled "Magnificent Desolation". This attempted to give the viewer the experience of being on the moon. There were computer reconstructions of scenes of walking on the moon, interviews with some of the 12 men who have walked on the moon, and plenty of archival footage. Tom Hanks and some other recognizable voices from Apollo 13 (the movie) narrated. It was very well done and we liked it a lot.

All in all, a very successful visit. The Things really liked it, and I felt a bit like a Thing myself, seeing all that cool stuff that echoed throughout my childhood, even though I was too young when it was all occurring. That evening, we watched Apollo 13, so the Things would understand what an incredible event that was, in so many ways. And now, I need to go start preparing to become an astronaut.

Vacation Day 3 - Relax Day

This was a rare day by our vacation standards - we really didn't do much of anything. For some unknown reason, the Things awoke at 6:45 local time (having gone to bed sleep at about 11:30. I think they woke up, looked at the clock, it read the time they usually get up on the left coast, and so they got up.

Grampa heard them and got up and helped them with breakfast, then Grammy got up and they all went down to the pool. Sweetie and I slept. Around 11am, Grampa called to say they were ready to be picked up, so I drove down and got them.

They're having a heat wave in FL, which is apparently defined as about 3 degrees above the average temperature. Anyhoo, it's hot. Calvin decided he wanted to play soccer with the ball G&G got for our visit. So I dutifully went outside with him to find that, of course, the ball didn't come fully inflated. We played for a little while until we both were pretty sweaty (can you believe the US Soccer Youth Academy is in Florida?), then went in for lunch. Grampa and I attempted to inflate the ball, which led to the discovery of the air pump, the breaking of the only inflation needle we had, and the subsequent figuring out of how to work the air pump. We ended up with a ball less inflated than before because the needle broke off while inserted in the ball. We did get the needle out, but not before the ball further deflated.



So after lunch, the big activity was a trip to the store by Sweetie, Grampa and I, while the (very tired at this point) Things watched cartoons with Grammy. Lucky Grammy. Our shopping trip was successful, we returned and inflated the ball, and it was about dinner time. We had a lovely steak dinner and conglomerate un-birthday and un-anniversary party, and headed (that's right) back to the pool.



This evening there were lots of stunts (read nefarious attempts to drown either Dad or one of the Things). Again, we appreciated the wonderful pool, and then it was to bed for we had an early start in the morning.

Florida Day 2 - More Travel!

Early morning. Hopped out of bed and jumped on the shuttle to the airport. Then breakfast. We had a direct flight to FL, so that was good. The Things are growing up - we had no complaints about heavy backpacks or hunger or even boredom, really. I guess they were more excited about going than they were whiny. Any way, it was a nice flight. Sweetie sat next to the boys, so I just read a book and listened to music. I would've probably watched the in-flight movie (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) except the woman in the seat next to me took my audio jack, and I didn't feel like making an issue of it over that movie.



We arrived in FL not having had lunch (only snacks on the plane) but our clocks were all messed up anyway, so we left the airport for Grammy and Grandpa's. They apparently live in middle of nowhere. Coming from the density of southern California, central Florida is a vast, empty swampland. But eventually we got there and (after eating), the Things wanted to go swimming in the pool Grammy has been talking up for months. So despite the late hour (East Coast time), we hit the pool. And it was very nice. The water was warm, but not too warm; the pool is big; there was hardly anyone there for us to annoy: perfect.

Florida Vacation

Hooray! It's summer! And that means vacation time for our clan. This year it's off to sunny, muggy Florida. Why? Two reasons: Grandparents and Disney World. Sweetieclan (that's relatives on her side of the family) decided they wanted a large family vacation to Disney World, and my parents now reside in FL, not too far from House of Mouse.

Today we started on our Florida Adventure. It was a series of comings and goings. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Hobbes was at camp for the last two weeks. We decided this year to let him take the boat to San Pedro with the other campers instead of picking him up there since we all needed to go to the mainland anyway. So Sweetie and Calvin took the morning ferry over to SP to collect him. Where was I? Well, we decided to take advantage of being off the island to get our truck worked on, so I drove over to Avalon, and dropped the truck off at the shop. Then I caught a ferry. Sweetie and the boys picked me up. We drove up to the apartment to do some laundry for Hobbes. Sweetie dropped off the clothes she would need for the cruise at the TA's house. In a plan that would do the Nelson clan proud, the other instructor will be driving to SF from SD and pick up Sweetie's stuff on the way north. I had to go out and get a new cell phone because my old one was no longer holding a charge. We also staged Calvin's stuff for camp at the apartment for when we return. Then it was off to dinner and the hotel. We decided to stay at a hotel this evening because we have an early flight, and didn't really want to have that hour drive to get to the airport. (The 5 minute shuttle ride is much better.) So now, to bed. Tomorrow: Grammy and Grandpa's new house!

Summer's here

At least the yachties are. Summer seems to be here late because school got out so late (June 24). Hobbes had a birthday party at school for the first time in his life. However this means that Independence Day occurs on the FIRST weekend of summer vacation, rather than, as it seemed when I was a kid, the middle of summer.

On top of this the southern California weather has been both typically southern Californian and entirely unexpected. The month of June is known to be rather cloudy and chilly around here, but this year "June Gloom" started in mid-May and shows little sign of slowing down. In fact, this evening, as we were heading out to see the fireworks, we were putting on long pants and socks and fleece jackets, and we brought along an extra blanket for Calvin (who, of course, hadn't brought any long pants with him on our trip to the mainland). To watch the fireworks. On July 4th. In the middle of the summer. Now that I think about it, two years ago we were watching the Two Harbors fireworks display from the WMSC dock and it was cold that night, too. How can southern California, the land where it's sunny and hot all the time, manage to screw up the one holiday that's supposed to be sunny and hot? In the past few years, I have been at the beach on Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day and Easter, but I would've avoided the beach today due to the cold, cloudy weather.

Sorry, this is sounding a little snarky. I'm just trying to be funny. We actually had a reasonably good Independence Day. [Editor's Pet Peeve: People who refer to the holiday as July 4th; we're not celebrating July 4th - that comes up in every country, every year. We're celebrating Independence Day. That happened to occur for us on July 4th-ish, 1776*.]

The morning was, as you may have gathered, gray and chilly, so we went over to the Deane Dana Friendship Park. We stopped in the Visitor Center, which captivated the Things with their displays of some local live animals (mostly reptiles and amphibians), then headed down to the playground. This was a little odd because there was a swing there and Calvin jumped on the swing and started swinging.

"Look, Dad, I can swing," he called out.

"Wow," I replied, "when did you learn how to do that?" (We have been trying to get him to swing by himself on and off for a while now.)

"Just now."

"..."

Yes, for some reason, this magical little swing set at the Friendship Park was the catalyst for Calvin swinging. So for the rest of the time we were there, it was a steady stream of "Watch me swing!"; "I can feel the wind in my face!"; "Swinging is fun!"; "I can almost touch those leaves with my feet!". Very hilarious.

After sufficient swinging, we took a short hike (about 1/2 mile - I don't think this will rate an entry on Sweetie's blog), and then it was back to the apartment for some lunch. Afterward, the sun started to break out, so we went to the pool. Hobbes is getting pretty good at swimming underwater, although his crawl is pretty rough. (This was me as a kid.) Calvin's like a little motor boat in the water - he just puts his face down and goes. I got in for a while and let them attempt to drown me in their varied nefarious ways (suddenly I have much sympathy for my Uncle Karl). After a nutritious dinner of Kentucky Fried Chicken - oops, I mean a ND of KFC, we headed out for fireworks.

We were going to the display at Cabrillo Beach, but we didn't want to be packed in with the crowd so a clever use of Google Earth found us a hill overlooking Cabrillo that had an easy route from (and to) the apartment. It was chilly and breezy. We had to park at the bottom of the hill and hike up. At one point we lost track of Calvin, but not for long. We had to suffer through "when are the fireworks going to start?" for about 20 minutes. Finally the fireworks started, and all was right with the Things' world, even though from our vantage point there was a street light in the middle of the display. Because of our clever spot-picking, we were home in about 20 minutes (and that included the walk to the car).

Tomorrow, we drop Hobbes off at the ferry terminal for camp. When he's done, we will pick him up and then leave the next day for Florida for vacation. Coming back from FL, Sweetie will head directly to San Francisco for a class she's teaching, and Calvin will head off for camp. By the time that's all over, it will almost be time for school again. Yeah, summer's here.


*[Okay, since I am related to both Revolutionary War buffs and a Doctor of History, the Continental Congress actually voted to separate from England on July 2, 1776, but the Declaration of Independence was made public on July 4th.]