The Ray Adventures: April 21 - April 27 Tallahassee,KIssimmee & Patrick Air Force Base Florida

We arrived at Patrick Air Force base yesterday afternoon, continuing our tour of north and central Florida. We've been on a golf tour, mini golf that is. The weather continues to be in the mid to high 80's with high humidity. NO bugs though!

Thursday, April 20, We took the All Aboard Capital City Tour, Beth the owner and tour guide, took us on a 90 minute tour around the city of Tallahassee in a 3 seat golf cart. We wanted an overview of the city, what a kick! We started in the Government district, past the Old Capitol Museum and the "new" capitol building 22 stories tall, thru RR Square Art Park, where you'll find at least 50 working art studios and some funky restaurants, the FSU, and by FA&MU, (70,000 students combined) then out to Cascade Park, a 24 acre downtown park which includes an amphitheater, interactive water fountain, and a restaurant in the former Edison Power Plant building, also a rail to trail that you can ride your bike (or walk) all the way to the Gulf, about 22 miles. There is no shopping area downtown, it is all out in the market district. Strange. Beth dropped us off back at the new Capitol Building. Honestly it's the ugliest state capital I've ever seen, looks more like a "high" rise office building. We took the elevator to the observation floor for a 360 degree view of the city and surrounding area. Lots of trees! Now that we are out of the "flats", hills seem strange. Tallahassee was built on 7 hills just like Rome We visited the House of Representatives in session, they did pass 3 bills in the short time we watched. End of legislative session is April 30, no time to doddle. We went back to Cascade Park to have lunch at the Edison, the former power plant. Then home to Luci who was cooped up in the coach all day. After dinner we went to a nearby public park, picked up 3 geo caches.

Friday, April 21, Tallahassee has 28 miles of canopy roads, the huge Spanish moss draped Live Oak, Sweetgum, Hickory and Pine trees reach across to meet in the middle, shadowing the roads. Truly beautiful! The roads we took were narrow and curvy with some beautiful homes along the way. We had a busy day, we decided to take Luci to doggie day care to tire her out. We took a canopy road out to Bradley's Country Store, a family owned store, listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places, it's been operating at the same location since 1927. Famous for their homemade sausage, the place smelled delish!While we were there a man picked up a large order of meat for a family reunion, he drove down from Georgia. The Tallahassee Automobile Museum is filled with some amazing cars, I fell in love with a 1961 Chrystler Imperial. Oh those fins! The oldest vehicle is a 1860's hearse that was used to carry Lincoln. The museum is not only full of cars but just about anything anyone could possible collect. After a quick bite at Mickey D's we drove to the Goodwood Plantion, originally a 2,400 acre cotton plantation. The1830's home is filled with period furniture that belonged to the several families that lived there, the home was occupied until 1990 when it was bequeathed to a non profit to preserve the house and property as a house museum and park. Our tour guide, Margaret, was very knowledgeable in the family history, the home and contents. The grounds and out buildings are in need of a little attention and money. We got to the Mission St. Luis 45 minutes before closing, we really had to hustle to see everything. Another National Historic Landmark, a 63 acre Spanish Mission that includes a Native American Council house, a re-constructed fort, a Spanish dwelling and a Franciscan church and several out buildings. The local Friar stopped by to answer questions outfitted in period clothes. At the fort a soldier filled us in the facts of the Alpalachee Indians and the Spaniards fighting together against the British. It is the only reconstructed 17th century fort in Florida. We picked up a very tired Luci, she had a great day, they have a boned shaped pool in the play area.

Saturday, April 22, We took Luci to doggie day care again, we planned to spend the day downtown. Our first stop was the Saturday market, a variety of arts, crafts and produce. I bought a loaf of jalapena cheddar sour dough bread and some veggies. Delish but the peppers were HOT!! Gary took the goodies back to the covered garage, then we walked to the Old Capitol Museum, the historic building was restored in 1979. The dome and staircase were especially beautiful. The self-guided tours take you through Florida's political history, the House and Senate Chambers, Supreme Court and Governor's office and suite. We weren't able to take a picture of the front of the building, there was a large Earth Day protest for Science. We had lunch at Andrews Capital Grill and Bar, where during session, is filled with legislators. We enjoyed a nice lunch outside, several people had their dogs with them. After lunch we walked down the the Museum of Florida History. It exhibits artifacts covering Florida's history from prehistoric mastadons to the Space Age. We picked up a tired Luci at day care, we were all dog tired.

Sunday, April 23, I was about to cross another thing off my bucket list, but not to be, YET. The Tallahasse Museum has zip lines in 3 skill levels, one for kids, intermediate and advanced. Unfortunately it's not just a zip line but an obstacle course with zip lines. Phooey! I can't physically do the obstacle course, maybe the kids level but I couldn't bring myself to do it. A Blues Festival was happening all weekend at the museum, we could hear music all around the property. Not a typical museum it depicts North Florida Natural and Human history . A nature trail winds through 52 acres of lakeshore (swamp) and woodlands. We saw panthers, owls, bears, deer, an eagle, birds of prey. The alligator section was closed and the wolves must have been sleeping in the bushes. You walk through trails and elevated boardwalk through their natural habitat. Jim Gary, a sculptor, featured more than 15 tons of auto parts into dinosaurs scattered throughout the park. Several 1800 to 1900 buildings were brought into the museum, including a farm house, schoolhouse, church, slave quarters and even a caboose. The zipline obstacle course takes you over the tree tops and cypress swamps. Oh how I wish! Back to the coach and poor mistreated Luci. The forecast rain came, lasting a couple of hours. The cool air sure felt good.

Monday, April 24 Moving day, those 5 days in Tallahasse sure flew by. We left about 10 for our 275 mile drive to the Kissismmee area, arriving about 4:30. We had to put more money on our Sun Pass we purchased 2 years ago before getting on the Florida Expressway to Kissimmee. Tropical Palms Resort and Campground is big, about the same number of cabins and RV sites, almost 800 total. We will be here only 3 nights, it 's very expensive.

Tuesday, April 25 A day of rest although we played 3 rounds of mini golf (72 holes) Gary won all of them! Our neighbor June, from North Ridgeville Ohio joined us for happy hour. She and her husband own a business there, so he's up there running it, he will be back to take her home in May.

Wednesday, April 26 We left Luci at Best Friends Pet Resort, located on Disney property, about 9. A very fancy place, she had
her own inside/outside "suite". We made sure to wrote down our parking row number, Epcot's parking is WAY to big to search for your car. The first thing you see is the iconic Spaceship Earth, an 18 story geodesic sphere that takes you back in time on a very slow moving ride up and down, demonstrating advancements in human communication. Epcot spans 300 acres of Disney's 2,700 acres, it's divided into two sections, World Showcase, made up of 11 nations and Future World made up of 8 pavilions . Things have changed (of course) here since my last visit 10 plus years ago. Gary and his sis Suzanne visited Epcot 2 years ago while I was in Oregon for my class reunion. We were lucky to visit during the Festival of Flowers running April and May. Everywhere you looked your eyes had a feast of gorgeous flowers. Along the way we visited the Butterfly Exhibit, monarchs were hatching as we watched. I've never seen anything like it. We left about 6, a long day but as always it's fun. We picked up a tired Luci, all 3 of us were "pooped" out. Gary and I went to Orlando to BJ"S for dinner.

Thursday, April 27 We left Kissimmee about 10:30, it was already 81degrees, for our 79 mile drive to Patrick Air Force Base, just north of Cocoa Beach, situated between the Atlantic Ocean and the Banana River. Patrick AFB is supposedly on the short list for base closing according to fellow campers we talked to. Patrick AFB is home to the 45th Space Wing, it controls and operates Cape Canaveral and manages all unmanned rocket launches. To reach the Fam Camp you pass the end of the runway, if the signal is green you can proceed, if red, of course you stop and wait for the plane to land or take off.   The Fam Camp is located right on the river, many military retirees winter here, most have headed home, the camp is only about half full. We will be here for 10 days.   After getting settled we drove into Cocoa Beach to go to the bank and Visitor Center, which had already closed for the day, so what to do, we visited Alligator Alley Mini Golf with live alligators in the ponds. On the second hole I about pee'd my pants, several 3 feet long alligators hit the fence close to where I was getting ready to putt. Wholly smokes! I finally won or maybe Gary felt sorry for me and lost purposely. We picked up some groceries at the commissary before heading back to the coach for dinner. It's pretty breezy, a good thing, afternoon temps reached the high 80's with high humidity.

That's it for this week, enjoy the pic's,

TTFN

Gary and Pam