Sat 23rd Feb: Kennedy Space Centre

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created in 1958 to carry out the “peaceful exploration and use of space”. Presumably the word “peaceful” was inserted to remind the Russians that the word “military” could be substituted if necessary. 

The sharp end of the NASA space programme is the Kennedy Space Centre on the east coast of Florida, about 40 miles from our campsite. It is the rocket final assembly and launching complex, and is named after JFK whose enthusiastic support moved the programme forward dramatically in the 60’s, resulting in a moon landing in July 1969. Following on came the space shuttle programme, International Space Lab, Hubble Telescope and numerous satellite launches. There is now a huge commercial aspect to NASA’s operations. 

This is Guiness Book of Records country, so let’s start with one of the World’s largest buildings, the Vehicle Assembly Building. Every name here is reduced to an acronym, so it’s the VAB from now on, and here it is, as we saw it from the tour bus:

 

All the space vehicles are assembled and maintained inside this building and from here they are taken by crawler, a giant caterpillar tractor, to their designated launch pad. The VAB structure is 525 feet tall with an interior volume equal to nearly 4 times that of the Empire State Building in New York.  

The tour bus proceeds to the observation gantry, and we get off. This is the closest location allowed for launch viewing, and on those days it is closed to tourists. The main launch pad is LC39A, as seen from the observation gantry. The white dome on the left is for liquid oxygen storage, the one on the right for liquid nitrogen. These are rocket fuels.

We get off the bus again at the Apollo/Saturn V Center. The Apollo missions were the manned moon landings and Saturn V the rocket that propelled them there.

As a technical description of a fully loaded, 363 feet high, 2,750 tonne Saturn V rocket, I can do no better than copy this Google entry:  

The Saturn V (pronounced "Saturn Five") was an American rocket used by NASA's Apollo and Skylab programs from 1967 until 1973. A multistage liquid-fuelled launch vehicle, NASA launched 13 Saturn V’s from the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida with no loss of crew or payload. It remains the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket ever brought to operational status and still holds the record for the heaviest launch vehicle payload.

 And here it is, the mighty Saturn V, totally impressive. Before being directed to the rocket itself, we were given a simulated countdown and launch in the very control room used for the Apollo moon missions. Very realistic and atmospheric.

The exhibits give some idea of the high risks and cramped conditions the astronauts endured. The re-entry capsule’s exterior shows burn marks from the extreme heat on re-entering the earth’s atmosphere. But you do have to stop yourself imagining a probe on the front and a shrill metallic voice screeching “exterminate!”

Equally prone to flights of imagination are some of the early space suits. Did space knights wear these for jousting?

This one must be for a fancy dress party, right down to the goldfish bowl helmet and bike reflectors!

Even the lunar landing model can’t escape an alternative interpretation. A DIY job for the local carnival. Ran out of nice strong cardboard, so finished off the base with gold foil Christmas wrapping paper. Design based roughly on Kellogs Corn Flakes toy.

These light-hearted asides aren’t meant to trivialise the awe-inspiring achievements of the space programme visionaries. We gained some understanding of the hazards, and of the courage of the men and women who made these journeys, and of the huge commitment in manpower and resources that made it possible. 

The bus took us back to the Visitor Center where there are many more exhibits and facilities to explore, a few of which we did. But that’s another story. We are returning for a further visit which will hopefully include a rocket launch. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday 20th Feb: Airboat Ride

The first question many people would ask is, “what’s an airboat?” A photo of the smallest type, parked on land, best illustrates the basic design.

It’s a flat bottom boat driven from behind by an aircraft propeller encased in a frame for safety, like a fan. It has no keel, rudder or engine screw protruding in the water to get tangled in weeds or debris, so it can negotiate open water, swamp or waterlogged ground without breaking its stride.

Technical Notes

The tourist boats offered by all the airboat ride outfits seem to come in two sizes: 6 or 17 seats, both powered by the same beefy Continental 520 aircraft engine producing some 300 hp and capable of 45 plus mph. Racing airboats can reach 135 mph. Engine noise is high enough for the operators to provide us with ear defenders. Nobody used them.

Steering is based on aircraft principles with two rudders placed directly behind the propeller, swivelling the engine thrust to one side or other in order to make a turn. This can be a rapid skid turn, as our airboat pilot demonstrated.

 

 

We went with Boggy Creek Airboat Rides based at Lake Toho. This is one of their 17-seaters leaving the docking area for the swamps.

 We opt for a 6-seater excursion which is claimed to get  into more inaccessible parts of the swamp with close-up views of the wildlife. Whilst waiting for our departure slot, we get the baby alligator treatment. The object is, of course, to have your photo taken holding the alligator, which is quite docile and appealing.

We learn that the alligator’s 64 teeth replace themselves throughout its life and that it has little strength in the muscles used to open its jaws. The piece of tape holding the baby’s mouth shut is quite sufficient. However, once its jaws are open, the alligator can then exert a huge bite pressure. So keep that tape on!

Now we are in the swamp. In the airboat you sit almost on the surface of the swamp as the boat is so shallow, so it gives an impression of great speed when travelling flat out, much in excess of its true 45 mph. It’s too bumpy to take photos. This is us stopped to look at an alligator.

This is the alligator, an 8-footer according to the pilot/guide. He is very knowledgeable and points out osprey, bald eagle, wood stork, and ibis, just to mention a few. There are around 3,000 alligators on the lake and 1.5 million in Florida.

The swamp and lake water levels are now managed by dams and sluices within a range of 3 feet a year where previously it was some 10 feet. The vast lakes and swamps of central and southern Florida all eventually drain down into the biggest swamp of all, the Everglades, at the southern end of the State.

The guide’s eagle eyes spy a three banded watersnake partly out of the water on a lily pad. We half expect these dangerous creatures to suddenly launch themselves at us, but practically all wildlife will leave you alone as long as they don’t see you as a threat or dinner.

Speaking of dinner, a well-camouflaged limpkin has found a huge fresh water snail which he then vigorously repeatedly stabbbed with his long beak. A limpkin is a long-legged water bird with a metre wingspan, so we can guess the snail’s size at a huge 4 to 5 inches in diameter! Later, a Google search reveals that it is a Florida apple snail, the wold’s largest fresh water snail. Anyone for escargot and fries? Everything comes with fries in America.

The airboats might seem a tourist gimmick, but we got an inside look at a Florida swamp ecosystem in a most accessible way, and it made a very enjoyable and different day out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

KOA Kampground, Lake Whippoorwill, Orlando

KOA is a chain of 488 franchised campsites covering the USA. KOA stands for Kampgrounds Of America. The motorhome rental people arrange a 10% discount at KOA campsites so we stayed at several on our last visit to the USA. Even with 10% off, they still aren’t the cheapest but you do get guaranteed good standards, usually with wifi covering the whole site. So it’s a no-risk, pleasant place to start our adventure. Example: scenic path by the lake in the camp grounds. 

There is also much wildlife to be found in the campsite and the immediate vicinity. It’s different from UK species.  A pair of sandhill cranes is often seen wandering about. These are not camp pets, although they are reasonably accustomed to people, but will fly off if you get too near.

There are many unusual smaller birds, but the larger ones grab your attention first: turkey vultures for example. These are common, and gracefully ride the thermals overhead for most of the day. Sat on a lamppost these birds still look impressive, but actually look like rather sad, lonely turkeys on the ground.

A short distance away is Moss Park where the trees hang with wispy, Spanish moss, creating a kind of fairy tale effect. The enchanted forest. Spanish moss isn’t actually a moss but an air-plant and doesn’t  kill the trees, but may cause them to blow over more easily in high winds. This is typically what it looks like. 





From turkey vultures to wild turkeys. A bit more athletic looking than the Christmas dinner variety, but recognisable just the same.

Moss Park is one of hundreds of State and County protected wildlife areas in Florida. There may be a small charge for parking but in our case that’s an advantage because that means there’s somebody around to keep an eye on the motorhome. It may be a slight nuisance driving everywhere in a 25 foot vehicle, but we can at least fix lunch wherever we go and have cups of tea made with proper teabags brought from England. 

 

One keeps to the nature trails as dangerous animals and snakes lurk in the undergrowth. At least these are visible if they venture onto the paths. However, on this visit we see only cute creatures, for instance, a fox-squirrel and 9 banded armadillo.

Moss Park was a fascinating place, with numerous bird species as well, but these were difficult to photograph properly on the day.

 

We shopped at the supermarket on the way home. An interesting comment on the gun culture here in the States is how many firearms publications there were in the supermarket magazine section. Here’s a shot (!!) of the selection.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Arrival in Orlando, Florida

Wednesday 13th Feb

It’s 6.00 am and minus 3 degrees as we leave Alconbury. Starting a long journey is unreal. We’re perhaps just going to Tesco in Huntingdon. We’ve left in good time for the flight. This is fortunate as we get stuck in a mega M25 traffic jam less than 40 miles from Gatwick. 90 minutes worth of traffic jam. We arrived with just sufficient time to board. Does anyone manage to keep appointments when using the M25?

The theory of flight is well understood, but it’s still a miracle. 400 tonnes worth of Boeing 747 at over 500 mph, suspended on two slender wings. In the photo, the wing looks too flimsy to even support the engines (there’s another engine right, off camera).

From 36,000 feet there can be some wonderful views if it’s clear. Mostly it was cloudy or hazy, but here we are, directly over New York and in focus. The rainbow circle adds to the impression of a stolen glance into another world. Manhattan’s skyscrapers are just above the rainbow and look like a stand of trees. The Statue of Liberty is a matchstick on the smallest island, slightly below the centre of the picture

Now back to familiar territory for us- camping. Today is Saturday 16^th, and Jane is sat outside our rv  (American for motorhome) at KOA campground, Lake Whippoorwill. This is only a few miles from the rv depot and Orlando airport where we arrived. We’ll be here for two weeks, initially chilling out.

It’s exactly the same type of camper as for our last visit to the USA, so we soon settle into it again. Like the last motorhome, it is festooned on the outside with panoramic holiday-style prints. Maybe there’s a problem here, because the main print on the camper this time is of a very realistic road stretching into the distance. Parked side-on, in foggy weather, will we find a vehicle embedded in the bodywork, having taken the printed road?

 

The Last Post: Bavaria to Trier

Our friends Trish and Paul left Bavaria before us to catch an earlier crossing home. It feels strange being just the two of us. We have shared so much together and been such good companions since meeting up on 31^st March, nearly 3 month ago.
We now head for Trier, the oldest town in Germany, on the Luxembourg border. Our campsite is on the river Mosel 8 miles from Trier and is run by a couple whose real business is importing marble from Italy. It’s a lovely setting.

The Mosel here is large enough to take the biggest freight barges of 1500 tonnes, that’s about the size of the one in the photo above. The riverbanks are lined with vineyards on impossibly precipitous slopes. They still manage to maintain the vines immaculately and even use mechanical devices. We saw small tractor-type vehicles driving up and down the rows. The next photo gives an idea of the angle they have to work on. But maybe picking the grapes is then easier as they can roll them down to the bottom for collection.

There’s plenty of wildlife, too. Next is a selection of what we came across on our walks near the campsite. Clockwise: honey buzzard, Egyptian geese, pine marten, field mouse.

Now on to Trier. The Romans were here in force, and the 2^nd century AD Porta Nigra is one of the best preserved Roman gatehouses anywhere. The extraordinary thing is that it has survived, not that Roman buildings don't last for 2,000 years, rather that the stones weren’t pillaged by later generations for their own building projects as often happened. 

Keeping with the Romans, we walked on to Constantine’s Throne Room, also known as Constantine’s Basilica. Constantine was Roman emperor from 306 to 337. In 313 he allowed full tolerance of Christianity in the Empire and was himself converted before he died.

This is a huge hall, originally lavishly decorated with marble and tiles as befits a throne room. It was much altered through the ages but has been restored since the last war, when it was extensively damaged, to original specification (but excluding all the marble). Somehow it doesn’t seem quite the part on the outside: it looks more like a public library.

The market square is a wonderful mix of medieval buildings in different colours. It’s still a market place today and we bought some tasty cherries and apricots there.

From the same era is the Dreikönigenhaus: the Three Kings’ House. It’s 800 years old and was originally accessed by a wooden staircase to the first floor. The style reminded us of Morocco, having seen many such buildings there last year, and the façade had the appearance of one of those false fronts they sometimes put on buildings when they’re carrying out repairs.

The cathedral is dedicated to St Peter and is built on the foundations of a very large Roman Christian church complex. The Church of our Lady next door is built on the same base. In the photo, the cathedral is on the left and about half of the church on the right. With its solid design and turrets it could pass for a castle, and the interior is equally functional but very atmospheric.

The focal point of the interior is a reliquary containing the robe worn by Christ. Religious relics were big business in the Middle Ages for attracting pilgrims, so their authenticity should be viewed with caution; it is said that there are enough pieces of the true cross in the world’s churches to make a Noah’s Ark. It is, nevertheless, magnificently presented, as you see.

Not forgetting the importance of the Mosel River trading to the city of Trier, here is a crane dating back to 1413. They’ve clearly reclaimed some of the riverbank margins over the years because the jib of the crane doesn’t quite reach the river. Doesn’t it have a wonderful fairy tale appearance, and should be made of gingerbread!

Trier gave us a really interesting day out. This was our last stop before Calais; one day’s drive away, and then home. Sometimes we’re not sure which is home- Alconbury or the caravan?

June 18th & 19th: Alpine Walks

Two consecutive days saw us in the Alps close to the border with Austria.

On the first day we went to Oberammergau, which most people will associate with the Passion Play. This is performed every 10 years, in years ending with “0”, and dates from 1634 when the village made a vow to perform a passion play for being spared from the plague. It is said that over half of the 5,000 plus villagers take part. Does that include the programme and ice cream sellers?

Oberammergau feels more like a town than a village because of its many tourist shops and hotels/guest houses. Apart from the play, the village is a tourist venue in its own right, being set in a beautiful valley and with many extraordinarily painted houses. This is an example that reflects the Passion Play

Some of these murals are country scenes, some fairy stories like Hansel and Gretel, and others are elaborate architectural features like balconies and porches. So if you’re thinking of getting, say, a conservatory, save your money and get one painted on instead. The photo underneath shows how effective it is.

The Oberammergau area is famous for traditional woodcarving, with around 120 woodcarvers working in the area, and is the location of the Bavarian School of Woodcarving. Next is a photo of a woodcarving of a travelling salesman of woodcarvings. The shops are full of woodcarvings of all types and sizes many, like the one in the photo, nearly life size. As impressive as these are, where would you put them in the average house? No, our toilet’s not big enough either.

A few miles from Oberammergau is Linderhof Palace. It was developed in its present form by Ludwig 11 of Bavaria, between 1864 and 1886, having originally been his father’s hunting lodge. It is the smallest of Ludwig’s three palaces.

By the time we arrived, the inside tours had finished for the day but just walking the grounds was well worthwhile. Ludwig had been greatly influenced in its design by Louis XIV’s Versailles, which can be seen from the photo.

Day two took us to Garmisch, from where we started our Alpine walk. Not far up the path, when we’d got some height, we were treated to some stunning views of Zugspitz, Germany’s tallest peak.

The day was hot as we toiled upwards and, even with intermittent shade from the pine trees, we were glad to reach the more level alpine meadows. A cold drink would have been most welcome. But wait a minute. And it’s not a mirage: a real life café/restaurant, right here by the meadow

We head straight in. It’s pretty full, but we get a table under one of those white umbrellas. We decide to have lunch including, of course, the cold drinks. Paul rounded it off by ordering the largest desert in the world. Even with the help of the rest of the group some had to be left. So here it is, a true complement to the giant burgers we had in Sibenik.

Lunch over and we needed to carry on with the walk. The meadows were full of flowers, with a mountain backdrop and the path was flat, so it was an easy and delightful stroll. As the trail started its downward run towards Garmisch, we noticed a small chapel to one side of the route.

You can perhaps see from the photo below that the circular, white wall has things attached to it. These are wooden plaques commemorating deaths of local servicemen in the last war. Many perished on the Russian Front where 90% of all German deaths occurred. Each plaque held a faded sepia photo of the lost person: sometimes two or even three sons from one family. They all looked so young.

It was a moving reminder that Germany suffered even more family tragedies than us in the last war and that, regardless of the politics, the rank and file on both sides bore the brutality of the conflict.

15th June: South of Munich

Between Munich and the Alps are a number of lakes of all sizes. Our campsite is on one of the smaller ones, about 3 km by 1 km. It’s a lovely location (I’m running out of different words of praise to use) as the photo shows, with Jane swimming in the lake.

The local town is Murnau, quite up-market and beautifully maintained. It was extensively rebuilt following a fire in 1835, although is first documented in 1150. Some of the buildings have external painted decorations that are a feature of Bavaria. This is the town, with the Alps in the background.

Jane’s sister Ruth lives at Feldafing on one of the largest lakes in the region, Lake Starnberg. The lake is very popular for all types of water activities (perhaps not white water rafting) and on clear days the Alps are visible, as in the photo. The boat is an ancient ferry serving Rose Island a few hundred metres off shore.

The town of Starnberg was celebrating its 100^th anniversary of being granted town status, so we went to see some of the festivities. Here’s a traditional brass band, which I wanted to describe as an oompah band, but they didn’t play any oompah type music when we were listening. When is an oompah band not an oompah band? Were more steins of bier required? Would you believe, some oompah bands now play a type of pop music called oompop.

So, family album time: Jane and Ruth, as we walked in the woods next to the lake shore.