Leaving O-TT

Our stay at Orlando Thousand Trails is winding down, in just a few more days we’ll be on the road again. There was entertainment almost every evening of our remaining time here; on Friday we danced to the music from Pure Country Gold. They are one of the better bands that play here. Saturday was Karaoke with the Weavers, truth is, most the Orlando TT singers are pretty bad, but we enjoyed being with our friends Clay and Rebecca. Sunday was a stage show by Amber Waves, a family band that performs folk and Irish music, they were pretty good. 

Clay had more troubles with his motorhome, which we diagnosed as a non operating power converter. This is the big 12 volt power supply that operates all the direct current appliances when you are plugged into campground power. They ordered the part and it should be here before we leave on Tuesday.

Sunday we drove to Harbor Freight in Clermont where I bought a strap wrench. I needed it to remove the warhead from a rocket I was donating to a museum here in Florida. I wanted to remove the warhead so the curator at the museum could see that it was safe with no explosives or detonators.

The part arrived on Monday for our friend’s motorhome and we promptly installed it. Afterwards the four of us went to Logan’s Steakhouse where Clay and Rebecca treated Millie and me to dinner for the help I gave them. They’re good friends and didn’t need to do that but we graciously accepted their thanks.

The main topic of conversation was next years winter plans, Clay and Rebecca start the winter on the west coast of Florida and then start rotating in and out of Orlando Thousand Trails in February. We try to coordinate our two week stays so we are in the O-TT at the same time.

Millie and I have been thinking of going to southern Arizona and we discussed that at length without coming to any conclusion. We decided to forgo any plans until we found out if we could secure a site in the Keys for at least a month. 

Tuesday we departed O-TT for the last time this winter. We drove east using I-4 to get thru Orlando, exiting on Route 50 and taking that to Titusville on the east coast. We have reservations for two days at Manatee Hammock, a Brevard county campground.  It is located on the Indian River directly across from the Kennedy Space Center. 

On Wednesday April 1 we drove the jeep to Cocoa where we were guests of Tyler and Nancy Furbish for breakfast. Tyler and I have a unique military connection. We both served in Vietnam/Cambodia flying with the 195^th Assault Helicopter Company. We both flew the same mission supporting SOG. (The acronym having a double meaning depending on who the audience was; Studies and Observations Group or Special Operations Group.) The unique part is we didn’t meet until 40 years later at a reunion in Las Vegas. Tyler was with the company when it deployed in RVN in 1966. I flew with the company in 1970 at the end of its time in theater, the 195^th was deactivated a month after I left the country.

I’ve stopped to see Tyler several times at his home in Cocoa and knew he was active in a Veterans Center here. On one of my visits I toured the Vets Center and its museum so when I was looking for a home for the rocket it seemed like the best place for it.

After breakfast I transferred the aerial rocket and an authentic “When I die I’ll go to heaven because I’ve spent my time in hell” jacket to Tyler’s truck. After driving hundreds of miles with the 5 foot long rocket in the motorhome it was a big relief to be rid of it. I kept imagining the bomb squad, swat teams, military investigators, etc if it was ever discovered in the motorhome.

We had planned on touring the Kennedy Space center after meeting with the furbishes and Nancy who works at the center gave us two entry tickets. If you haven’t been to the Space Center anytime lately you should go, it is very impressive. Nancy said we wouldn’t be able to see it all in one day and she was right. We spent all day, only stopping once for dinner and didn’t see all the exhibits. We did concentrate on the ones we knew would be interesting and we weren’t disappointed. You will find all the displays and movies entertaining as well as educational, but the big stuff will really grab you. You can’t appreciate the power it took to send a man to the moon until you stand under one end of a Saturn rocket and lookdown it’s 363 foot length.

You cannot appreciate the accomplishments of a space craft that repeatedly trucked men and materials into space until you’ve gazed upon the scorched rugged exterior of Space Shuttle Atlantis.

Just go, you won’t be disappointed.