Some Weekends are Quiet...

Todd and I haven't had a weekend in Findlay since early December 2012.  The weather looked iffy and we decided it would be more fun to spend time with our friends.

We had a burger bash at our house Thursday evening (oops, no pictures!).

We went wine tasting Friday evening at our local wine shop...

...the Wine Merchant...

...followed by the specialty at the W.E.T...

...the Queen Veal sandwich with beer.

Saturday we were back at the Wine Merchant for beer tasting followed by dinner at Cheddar's.  We finished off the evening with wine and a picture tour of Ireland with good friends at their home.

Sunday began with services at Trinity Episcopal Church...

...our long time church here in Findlay.

So good to see our church family again.  Good friends had us over to their home for breakfast after services.

Todd and I looked at each other this afternoon and felt so blessed...

• with our wonderful neighbors and friends here in Findlay
• our good friends at Bay Point on Lake Erie
• and now our new friends in Cape Coral

We keep questioning if we can physically manage going between all three places. However we don't want to give up all who are close to us.  Looks like we'll just keep wandering between the three.

Season #9...Splashdown!

I've had many requests to start the blog again for folks who don't use Facebook and want to watch our Lake Erie activities during the boating season.  It all starts with getting Ocean Breeze into the water.  Many, many thanks to the manpower hours from our technicians that keep the old gal running.  Rory and Clay from Mike's Dockside, Marblehead, Ohio know OB inside and out...better than we know her ourselves.  Next up are the fine staff at Bay Point Marina and Resort who transport her to and from the water, year after year after year.  They too are a great group who take excellent care of our Ocean Breeze.

So here we go...season #9 in Ocean Breeze, season #28 in boating and enjoying adventures on the water.  Last year was difficult with Todd's problems in his neck.  Our season was short and mostly spent at our dock.  This year looks more promising.  We plan trips to the Lake Erie Islands, we are considering going into Lake Ontario and the 1000 Islands area, and there is a possibility we may take Ocean Breeze down the Atlantic to Cape Coral in the fall.

Lining up the lift to take Ocean Breeze to the well.

Getting the straps ready to lift OB.

The lift begins the trip to the well.

Pretty good looking old gal...that Ocean Breeze.

A shot of her cute little rump...well, a stern shot.

Setting OB up over the well.

Splashdown...season #9 starts.

Great Loop Date 04.14.2011: To The Moon, Alice...

Thursday (April 14, 2011) Todd and I made an early start and drove the rental car from Titusville to the Kennedy Space Center.  We opted for a tour package that would let us tour the museum area as well as take a bus out to see the space shuttle Endeavor on the launch pad.  It would have been amazing to be able to stay in Titusville for the launch however, it had been moved to the first of May with the possibility of being delayed even longer.  With only Endeavor and Atlantis left to fly in the Space Shuttle program, we knew this tour was important.  We were not disappointed.

Upon entering Kennedy Space Center, we were in the Rocket Garden.  A walking tour with narration starts every 15 minutes.  It looked a lot like the Rocket Garden at Huntsville, AL. but was much more thorough.

The Saturn 1 Rocket was the United States' first heavy-lift dedicated space launcher.

Todd's only chance to send me too the moon!

Soyuz Space Capsule still in use to send astronauts to the International Space Station.  This will become our astronauts transportation to the ISS after the Space Shuttle Program ends.  The astronauts ride in the round ball at the end of the capsule.  It is designed such that it will literally bounce on the ground when it lands in the USSR after re-entry.

The robot from Lost In Space.  That's Todd beside it....not Will Robinson, although Will is probably about the same age (but not nearly as handsome)!

Mission Control in the early days.  It's the Mission Control most of us older folks remember.

Being transported out to the launch pad was so exciting.

 

The Orbiter Endeavor is encased in the service structure on the launch pad.  The enclosure protects it from weather and the environment.  It rotates away from the orbiter hours before lift off.

Shuttle Vehicle Assembly Building.  There are actually doors on both sides.  They assemble the rockets and the orbiters in this building.

The Shuttle Transporter.  It will make one more trip to the launch pad with Atlantis.

These are two tracks from the Transporter.  They are huge!

Soon these track marks will be history.

Launch Pad 39B was already being disassembled.  The Shuttle Program is coming to an end.

The barge that brings the solid rocket boosters back from the ocean.  They are cleaned and reused.

Mission Control and the Media Viewing Area.

The Dignitary Viewing Building.

The side of the Vehicle Assembly Building we are used to seeing in the news.

The Space Center is also a habitat for bald eagles.  This is a mother with her new chicks.

The Saturn 5 exhibit is nearly a duplicate of the exhibit at Huntsville, AL.

 

They did have a very nice presentation depicting the evolution of moon exploration.

Lunar Orbiter from the Saturn 5 Program.

Moon Rock sample.

Back outside we were able to walk through a Shuttle Orbiter Simulator.  This is the cockpit.

Directly behind the cockpit is the Shuttle Cargo Bay.

The Shuttle Arm that delivers the payload to the International Space Station.  It has also been instrumental in Satellite repairs.

The solid rocket boosters flanking the orange external propellant tank.

The Shuttle Simulator.

Todd and I absolutely got what we paid for....the best part of the tour!



It's the end of an era.  All of the orbiters will have new homes.  The Atlantis will stay in Cape Canaveral.  The Endeavor will be at home in Los Angeles, CA.  Discovery is going to Washington DC (actually outside of Dulles).  The Smithsonian is giving up the old Enterprise and she will go to the Intrepid in New York City.  We look forward to seeing Atlantis up close on our next Loop, as well as Enterprise in New York City.

In the meantime, space historians will write that on July 21, 2011, Atlantis, on the final flight of the space shuttle program, landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center. On July 22, 2,800 employees there were to receive layoff notices.

Great Loop Date 04.13.2011: Endeavour...

Day #244 (Wednesday): 3567.7 total miles (41.0 miles)

Port #82: Titusville, FL

The run from Indian Beach to Titusville was along more of the undeveloped urban stretches sprinkled with populated cities (Sebastian, Melbourne, Coco).  We passed Jones Fruit Dock without even seeing it, although I probably wasn't really looking for it either.  It is a popular stop for Loopers that offers an  inexpensive dock.  The 88 year old owner, Richard Milton Jones, passed away in March.  Old Mr Jones dedicated a lifetime to growing citrus on this farm and resisted all attempts to acquire the land for development.  Unfortunately, no one knows what the future holds for this little gem of Floridian charm.

Between the Bennett Bridge and the Merritt Island Causeway Bridge, we came upon this hulk of a ship anchored and aground in the Indian River. 

Princess Grace, the former USCGC MALLOW, WLB-396, seeking safe harbor from Tropical Storm Fay, was granted permission to pass from the ocean into the river via Port Canaveral, Canaveral Lock and the Barge Canal.  That happened in August 2008, and the Princess Grace has been anchored there ever since.  The US Coast Guard has been in contact with the owner.  They are concerned should a storm of large enough size dislodge the ship, cause damage enough fearing the potential of a fuel spill.  Of relevance is the larger amount of fuel aboard!

Todd deviated OB from our course heading just past the Bennett Causeway Bridge.  We moved east in the Canaveral Barge Canal.  Good diesel prices were advertised at Harbor Square Marina on Merritt Island.  The island was full of scrub brush and not much else.



Way down past that bridge is the Banana River and Cape Canaveral.  Cape Canaveral is actually a town located on a long barrier island with many other small towns along it.  The barge canal and a lock separate Cape Canaveral from the actual Air Force Station that houses the launch pads for our space rockets.  We didn't take OB that far.

Of course, we had to be in constant vigil for the ever present crab pots.







I was hoping to see the launch pad with the shuttle, Endeavor, as I looked north from the canal. All I could see was brush.







Satisfying OB's thirst for fuel and back on the Indian River, we could clearly make out the assembly building at Kennedy Space Center.

We passed through the bridge at the NASA Causeway.

Pushing my little Olympus camera for every pixel it could squeeze out, I was able to see the gantry tower and Endeavor as she waited for her launch date.

We took OB into the Titusville Marina and made arrangements for a rental car to take to Kennedy Space Center the next day.  Of course, we enjoyed another wonderful Florida sunset.