"To just be"

January 15 2016

Outdoor dining in Cocoa Beach

We've been snowbirding in Florida for 15 days now, this year staying in one spot for January and moving to another campground for the month of February. We would be moving by now, if we were using our Thousand Trails timeshare membership. I kind of miss the bimonthly uprooting. Traveling is a big part of the RVing adventure and we enjoy the kaleidoscopic scenery that scrolls past our windshield as we explore new areas. On the other hand, snowbirding by definition is moving south to avoid cold weather and not necessarily a traveling adventure.

There is a concept I first heard about back in my boating days, “to just be”. It is from the cruising community and means, to be content with your surroundings. When you are “Living the dream” of cruising you can't be in vacation mode all the time. Sometimes you have to just be a student of the world around you, an observer of the passing parade without actually participating in it. This is the art of just being. It's the same for the traveling RV'er and when I first get to Florida each winter I struggle with finding that serenity. And so it is that the last two weeks I felt like I should have been doing something or going somewhere. I know the feeling of restlessness will pass, but in the interim we jump at any excuse to go someplace. In two weeks we've been to Walmart three times and two flea markets.

Tyler and Nancy Furbish in 2015, sadly Tyler lost his battle with cancer in August of 2016

 

 

My friend Tyler Furbish lives nearby and we went to dinner with he and his wife Nancy last week. They're both interesting and a pleasure to be with, Tyler and I are alumni of the 195^th Assault Helicopter Company, it was he who found the new home for the rocket that traveled around Florida with us last winter. Millie and I have gone to the Merritt Island Veterans Center and seen the rocket which is now on display.

Me and my rocket

There are flea markets all over Florida, they come in all shapes and sizes. About forty miles south of us is Berringers, a flea market that hosts over 800 vendors, all under one roof. Millie loves browsing garage sales and thrift stores so she had a great time and purchased a few things. The thought that I left with was; there is almost nothing that the Chinese have not copied, reproduced cheaply and sent back here to sell us. BTW, on our return we drove up the coast road and passed the Publix store which two days later would be on the news because one of the winning 1.5 billion dollar Powerball tickets was sold there. We had purchased our losing tickets at a different Publix store, so close and yet so far! Its all good, we had been worrying about having all that money anyway.

Millie loves flea markets!

Before closing this posting I have two interesting sights we happened upon in our meandering around. On the waterfront in Titusville sits what is obviously a fiberglass boat manufacturer, but there was no brand name on any of the buildings. In one corner of the lot Millie spotted this digitally camouflaged boat, which only adds to the mystery of the no name boat builder.

camo boat in Titusville

The other photo worthy sight was at the ATX Center (Astronaut Training Experience) which is part of the Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral. We happened to drive by shortly after a heavy equipment mover delivered and set on pylons the space shuttle “Inspiration.”

 The trailer they used to transport the space shuttle