Tornadoes and Car Trouble

This is the sixth in a series of seven posts made during a 2017 US vacation. 

1. Joshua Tree
2. The Desert is Alive
3. Wide Open Spaces
4. Spring Flowers!
5. Gator Bait
6. Tornadoes and Car Trouble

7. Spirits in The Desert

One of my favorite things about traveling and camping around the country is the different natural sounds. Every morning is often started (sometime very early) with that first bird chirp and suddenly there is a chorus of birds, frogs, insects and other foragers starting their day. In rare cases, we’re fortunate enough to hear only natural sounds and no man made noise. 

For example, a few nights ago we camped at Three Rivers State Park on the border of Georgia and Florida on Lake Seminole. As if we were at some sort of swamp sporting event, a dozen frogs begin a song, and soon a hundred frogs would join in. The wave of sound would end in one spot and begin in the next, like a wave, until it made its way all the way around the lake. There must have been a million frogs taking place in the morning and evening ritual. Then, as suddenly as it started, it ends. This makes me smile….

Florida

Jetty Park Campground (Port Canaveral FL)

Jetty Park Campground is a very nice public campground managed by Port Canaveral. The park is within walking distance to the ocean and a port for large cruise ships and other barges etc. It’s the perfect place to stay if planning to go to Kennedy Space Center (approx. 30 min drive).

Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral FL) 

Whaat! So cool to see the SPACEX building!

The Apollo 14 Command Module, nicknamed "Kitty Hawk," was recovered from a successful Pacific Ocean splashdown on February 9, 1971. The lunar landing mission began with a successful launch on January 31, 1971.

"NASA's crawler-transporters, two of the largest vehicles ever built, have carried NASA rockets and spacecraft to the launch pad for the last 50 years. They will continue their legacy as the "workhorses" of the nation's space program as part of the agency's journey to Mars."

Nerd-fest in front of The Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA (built in 1964) is designed to assemble large space vehicles, such as the massive Saturn V and the Space Shuttle. It's still very much in use for at least another 50 years according to NASA's website.

Blue Spring State Park (Where the Manatees Play FL)

Blue Spring State Park is the site of a natural freshwater spring at the Saint John’s River. This park has three main attractions; a Manatee Refuge, swimming hole, and alligator swamp. Most of the Manatees go there in the fall and return to the ocean in the spring (we saw only three while we were there). The Manatees are attracted by the clear water of the spring along with a variety of other HUGE fish like the Long Nose Gar (4-5 feet long), and catfish as big as a house cat. The spring itself sits at the end of a quarter mile long tributary on the St. Johns River. The spring is called “The Boil” because it pushes out 104 milling gallons of 72°F crystal clear water per day making it one of the largest springs in North America. The water comes up from an underground aquifer and serves as a swimming hole and a great place for free driving and scuba diving. Past the swimming area is the Manatee Refuge and beyond that is the river, home to a variety of fish, alligators, and birds. In case you’re wondering, Alligators don’t tend to venture into the swimming area.

All the Manatees were gone except for three. They usually only stay here in the winter for the warm water. They move back to salt water once spring arrives. The Manatees like water above 70°F because they are susceptible to cold water-related disease

Car Trouble (Somewhere in FL)

Traveling is not without its challenges. The trucks heater core went out. We discovered this when we started smelling antifreeze in the cab. After some skilled diagnostics by my personal mechanic and traveling companion, Craig was able to expertly fix the problem by bypassing the heater and saving us $$. However, we now have no heat..not a problem at the moment since the temperatures are ranging from 70-90°F.

OK well, this picture wasn't taken during the "event" (we were kinda stressed so I didn't think about taking a picture at the time). This one was taken a few days later after we discovered more antifreeze leaking. Looks like it's a minor problem.

Three Rivers State Park (Lake Seminole FL)

Three River State Park is beautiful. It’s a mix of swamp and lake. The lake is the convergence of the Chattahoochee River and Flint River into Lake Seminole. We spent only a day and night at this park but really enjoyed the beautiful views of the lake, walking on the trails, and watching the wildlife. Speaking of wildlife, I was walking under a tree and felt something fall out of the sky and onto my shoulder. At first, I thought I had just been grazed by a big bug but soon realized that there was a bit of weight on my shoulder. I reached up, felt something soft and cool, and brushed it off. When I looked down, I realized that it was this adorable little green frog! I posted a picture of him below.

The cute little frog that jumped on my shoulder

Another Beautiful Sunset

Mississippi
Nothing to report.

Louisiana

This is a really cool picture that Craig took when we stopped for moment. It's near Ponce de León, Louisiana

Jimmie Davis State Park (LA)

Wow, what an introduction to Louisiana! We made it into Jimmie Davis State Park in the later afternoon just as the rain began to fall. As we setup, a major storm started coming in, and Craig got a tornado warning on his phone. Whohoo what a storm! It rained a lot, the wind blew, thunder and lightning, it was quite a storm. This was just what we needed since we were feeling a little rain deprived (Florida is in a drought). What we didn’t know was that this was just a warm-up for the real storm that would come in at about midnight to treat us to a dance party quality lightning show and heart thumping thunder. In the end, we got about four inches of rain that night and a hell of a show! Not your California weather.

Lincoln Parish State Park (LA)

We saw a lot of fracking everywhere we traveled (it seemed) but we really got a taste of it first hand at this park. They were draining the lake to use the water for fracking going on about a mike away. For two days the pump ran night and day. In the end half of the lake was drained. (short video below)