Aaron's blog

Monday was an early morning. To make it to Orlando at a reasonable hour I departed at 6:40. It is 160 miles there and I met Nick on the Epcot end of the monorail by 10:30. I remember when I was probably 8-10 years old my dad had gone through the Epcot sphere thingy and absolutely would not tell me what was in it. Now I know and it is pretty cool! So that was the first ride, and the rest I did included: around the whole country lake thing, Mission Space, Splash Mountain, People Mover, the paddle-wheel ferry, haunted something, and Carousel of …Innovation? Oh and also it rained constantly from about 2:00 on. For some reason we did not spring the $5 for a rain poncho; I think we got a little bit wet at first and decided to deal with it, and then when we started really getting wet we didn't want to give in. After thinking that maybe my jeans were finally wet enough to pose a risk to my phone, I put it in Nick's backpack.

All the rain and it being a weekday in the off-season meant that I spent a grand total of about 10 minutes waiting in line. That and having and experienced guide meant I was able to pack a lot in but I really barely scratched the surface. I had to leave before the parade and fireworks so I could meet Dan so I said goodbye to Nick and walked out the gate while he went back a different way. 50 yards out of the gate I reached for my phone and realized it was still in Nick's backpack. Hurrying back, I could not see him. So I ended up in guest relations calling all the numbers I have memorized-Mom, Dad, and their landline. My mom has Nick's number so it would have worked great but there was no answer on any of them. So I walked back outside to see if Nick had thought of my phone and come back, and I remembered that I knew my sister's number too (she would have had to think of someone she knew that had Nick's number so I wasn't real hopeful on that) but as I was going back to try that Nick came walking up waving my phone around. So here's to Nick's memory--it is pretty darn good. (At one point I was planning how I might have to call 1-800-MEDORA1 and persuade someone there to give me some numbers such as Sarah or Kinley.)

Then I dried out, found Dan at his hotel, and got him all caught up on my trip. It is pretty silly that he and I both live in Fargo and don't see each other much besides an annual hunting trip, and then we meet up in Orlando. But it was great to see a familiar face. Two for the day actually, because Nick counts for that too.

Another late start on Sunday morning--they should just make motel check-out times 8:00 so that I am forced to enjoy the morning. Or I could not stay out late at the karaoke place but hey it was a lot of fun. Anyways, I spent pretty much all afternoon cruising down A1A to West Palm Beach. It is sort of a difficult road to follow because it jumps between mainland and the barrier islands several times and sometimes I missed the turn signs.

West Palm Beach was part of Walter's must see list, including checking out Peanut Island and Clematis Street. For Peanut Island all I could do was look at it from a bridge. If you plan ahead and have some time to spend there I think you can take a boat out to the island and camp. Then I got a place to stay near Clematis Street, which is the nightlife part of WPB. It was a neat old hotel and the clerk said that most of the rooms are continuously rented by the same people, some going back 10 years.

There is a free trolley that drives around the Clematis Street area so I did a loop on that to get the feel for the area. I stopped at a few different places for drinks and food and had some good conversations with a couple people. There were a surprising amount of people out for a Sunday night. Back at the room by midnight, I heard from my godfather Dan that he was going to be in Orlando the next evening. So, remembering that Nick LeTang had offered to take me around Disney World and had Monday off I quickly made plans to head up there the next morning.

I went surfing today! I did a two hour lesson rather than struggle through learning on my own. I quickly became exhausted from all of the paddling and fighting my way back out against waves. The instructor said the conditions were really good as the waves were bigger than normal (about 4-foot swells), and of course the weather was beautiful. I managed to get a few decent runs in but most of the time I fell over right away or missed the wave so there is plenty left to learn. Also she totally used the word gnarly a couple times which really made the experience authentic. :)

After that I swam in the waves and laid on the beach for a while. I had some fish tacos for supper and then hung out at a bar that had karaoke for the rest of the night.

I arrived at Kennedy Space Center shortly after 9:00 and spent the whole day seeing so many cool things that I didn't even stop to eat. On the bus tour we drove out to the Vehicle Assembly Building and walked inside of it. This is where they assemble the external tank and boosters to the space shuttle (and assemble other rockets). After that we drove over to one of the shuttle launch pads and looked at it from maybe 600 yards, and then drove around and walked right up to the flame trench at the base of the pad. I had never imagined I would stand that close, or walk in the VAB either.

I also saw the Saturn V rocket display and the shuttle Atlantis. Both are enormous. Also I checked out the shuttle launch simulator, ISS IMAX film, multiple museums, and the rocket garden. And there were still a few things I missed. It is a very cool place.

I am spending the weekend in Cocoa Beach. So tomorrow should be a full day doing beach related stuff.

I headed south on Florida State Road A1A ,and if I knew any other words to the Vanilla Ice tune it would have been nice but I was stuck just thinking, "A1A, beachfront avenue!" all day. The lyrics are no lie though--the road pretty much follows the beach for a decent amount of what I have driven so far.

First I stopped about 25 miles south of St. Augustine because the waves looked really big, I couldn't see the beach itself from the road, and there were walkways down to the beach about every 1/3 mile. So I pulled into the sandy area next to the road by one of the walkways (opposite side of my southbound lane) and immediately saw a sign, "No driving on dunes and vegetation." Looking down, I saw some tire tracks where I was, but it seemed like maybe I shouldn't park there. I looked back up just in time to see a cop pull up in my mirror with his lights on. "What the heck are you doing on this side of the road?" he asked. "I just pulled off and now I see the sign and I'm guessing it means don't park on this side at all?" I said. It was true and he took off. If they would make the signs face a direction other than straight south I would have been able to see that before I stopped. Or maybe my pseudo U-turn wasn't exactly legal. Anyways, it was a good bit of excitement. I parked across the road and walked to the beach. The waves weren't as big as they had seemed from the road (15 feet higher).

Then I got to Daytona Beach. Walter had been quite insistent that I drive on the beach though I was leery of how well that would work. Some reading I did indicated that the sand was pretty well packed so I was going to try it. Unfortunately all the ramps to the beach were closed when I arrived because the tide was up. At this point a decent rain storm was developing so I decided to stay dry and had lunch. After lunch the ramps were open so down I went. I rode 5 miles to the north. Keeping control wasn't really a problem, so yes the sand is quite firm. It was pretty early on a weekday so not many people were out but I bet that is quite the deal on a summer weekend.

From there I headed south on the real road again. I zipped down to Kennedy Space Center but got there around 3:00 and realized that I wouldn't have enough time to really enjoy it. So with that thought, and in addition the words of a few people who keep urging me to take my time and enjoy the area as this trip is a very unique opportunity for me, I decided I would camp nearby and then for most of tomorrow I can fiddle around KSC.

I got a campsite 100 yards from the water and out my tent door I can see the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC and a couple other things. I think that is pretty awesome! It is about 10 miles away. Since it was pretty early when I set up camp, I had time to go for a swim in the pool. Then I walked down to the water and talked for about an hour to a fisherman. He told me how the local economy was crippled after the Challenger disaster ("former NASA engineers were looking for jobs at the 7-11") which I did not know, how I had missed a 3:00 AM missile launch the previous morning from the nearby AFB, and how his dad died of a heart attack in the Apollo 11 capsule (tall tale alarms were going off on that one, but maybe). Anyways, he was fishing with a rod and reel and caught a small catfish while I was watching, but he also taught me how to use a casting net to catch the surface fish. I think they were called mullets, and they are vegetarian I guess and jump out of the water a lot.

It was raining for most of the morning so I didn't get into town until 11:00. First I went south of town about 10 miles to Fort Matanzas which included a short boat ride on a big pontoon boat over to the fort itself. On the way back we saw some dolphins about 100 yards away.

Back in town I parked downtown and walked for the rest of the day. First I went to the Ripley's Believe it or Not! Museum. There were a lot of dumb African skulls and skin and carvings that I didn't really care for but a ~20 foot tall Ferris wheel built using Erector set pieces was among the things I did like.

Then I went over to Castillo de San Marco and walked around the outside of that but didn't go inside because it was about to close. I ate and then walked around town for a while, including across the lifting bridge from which I could get a good look at big boats in the marina.

I went over to the beach for about an hour this morning to walk in the waves and enjoy the sand between my toes. The water was pretty comfortably warm. Then I packed up my campsite and headed south. My parents' friend Walter who lives in Miami had recommended that I spend some time in St. Augustine and it was about 250 miles south so that is where I am tonight. I went through some heavy rain on the way here but now the weather is nice--cool and breezy.

So I am at Anastasia State Park, where there is a very nice campground (the sand in my campsite was raked!) and a public beach area. I decided I would stay two nights here so that I can do some tours or museums in town, do some laundry, and enjoy the beach.

There are lots of nice cars and big jacked-up pickup trucks in this area which I like looking at.

--

I wrote that using the Wi-Fi from the restaurant they have near the beach. Afterwards I walked ~300 yards out to the ocean and it was cool to see part of it lit up brightly by moonlight. Then the clouds moved and I was lit up and it seemed bright like daylight for a moment. Very fun.

Then I looked closer at the clouds and noticed what definitely looked like a rain cloud out over the water...straight in the direction from which the wind was strongly blowing. So I set off at a brisk walk back, threw my helmet on, and zoomed away. Of course I missed my turn so took longer than I should have, and just barely made it into my tent before it started raining.

The ants were mostly gone from the tent when I woke up. I headed south and stopped in Georgetown. I found the Rice Museum there and learned about South Carolina's rice days and how rice is grown and processed. It was all very interesting and they also have what's left of a 1700 boat on display. "The oldest boat built here that is on display" or something.

After realizing that I could have spent the night at Myrtle Beach State Park right on the ocean I looked further south for other state parks on the beach. I got a place at Edisto Beach State Park but unfortunately I am in the inland campground instead of the one right on the water. Still, I think I will head over in my swimming suit in the morning.

My tent is in a "rustic" site that I have to walk in to about 50 yards through a bunch of creepy overhanging live oaks and little palm trees and all sorts of other growth. This is fairly unnerving but as I know nothing about what threatening wild-life lives here I have nothing to fear...I think. 😀 The mood was brightened when I saw some cute little crabs that were in my site. Somehow one got on top of the picnic table which I don't quite understand.

After dinner I went for a walk along the beach and then sat there and wrote this. Someone launched a luminary which was cool. It rained for a little bit as I arrived in the area earlier this evening, and now it is very humid but starting to cool off a bit.

I surprisingly didn’t have any new sore body parts this morning and now in the evening I am pretty much feeling normal. For lunch I tried some fast food place I have been seeing often called Bojangles. They claim to be famous for their chicken and biscuits. It was like KFC pretty much. I don't think I'll be going back as big hunks of chicken aren't really my style. The biscuits were decent but nothing special.

I took state and US highways towards Myrtle Beach for most of the day. As I approached Myrtle Beach I became quite un-excited at excessive commercialization/tourism vibes I was getting from all the billboards. So I turned off and headed towards a campground in Georgetown, which is about 30 miles south from MB. The campground was at the end of a 1/2 mile gravel road, or so I thought. Actually about 200 yards in it turned to very loose sand but I was committed so on I went. It was hard work staying upright, and then when I finally got there it was more of a long-term camping place for big campers owned by people who also use the attached marina to moor their yachts. So I took the sand road back out. At least on the drive through Georgetown I saw a nice historical district that I might spend some time in tomorrow. One of these days I would like to find a big power plant or factory to tour too.

I didn't see any campgrounds reasonably close further south so I resigned to visiting MB. My searching is typically done using a phone while I sit sweating profusely on a hot machine in a heavy jacket in the sun in any handy parking lot, so there is plenty of room for error and I'm sure someone could find a campground that would have worked perfectly for me. :) Predictions were mostly true as it is indeed pretty much a long strip of intense commercialization--tons of uninteresting stuff like t-shirt shops and mini-golf amusement parks. I stopped at one of the "family campgrounds" which have beach access I think but bailed out of there after the people in line in front of me paid $110 for two nights. I found a KOA not on the beach but I could have just as well stayed at the first place since the KOA price is $45. So my tent site prices have ranged from $10 to $45, with most of them at $20-25. $25 seems steep to me but I guess supplying hot showers doesn't happen for free.

I did find some pretty cheap pizza for supper and it was really good. Also I tried Cheerwine--a cherry flavored pop out of Salisbury, NC (which is where the Bojangles I stopped at was). It's pretty good.

--

I just noticed about 200 ants have found their way through a tiny seam gap in the corner. I plugged the hole with toothpaste and the ones stuck inside seem to be riled up now!

I left Hot Springs and found a Waffle House a few miles down the road. Pretty cool place, and I tried grits there. They aren't really that good, just a corn-based malt-o-meal essentially. I guess if you put tasty flavoring in them they would be good.

Then I spent many minutes making wrong turns in some smallish town, trying to get to an interesting-looking road that I wanted to go on even though it headed NE while I would rather go straight east. I took a crappy loose gravel road with switchbacks but finally made it. Turns out that the road was the Blue Ridge Parkway. So I set in and had a nice cruise for a while.

But then I came around a corner and was presented with a 3" high ridge running parallel to the road for about 15 feetright in the middle of my lane. My attention was momentarily distracted as I glanced at an oncoming car, and seemingly instantly I found myself sliding on the ground. First off, I am 99% fine and healthy. It all happened very fast so here's as well as I can remember it: I hit the ridge, the handlebars whipped back and forth once or twice, I was sliding, I think I tried to lift myself up while I was still sliding (a common phenomenon reportedly), and then I rolled once and came to a stop on the side of the road about 10 feet from the bike. I think my speed was 45-50 mph as I was accelerating out of the curve (I hadn't been trying to "drag a knee" or even been doing much that would have earned me a speeding ticket, but evidently a little slower would have been safer). I slid about 30 yards. It was a really good test of my protective gear!

So the old lady who's car I had glanced at turned around and came back to check on me. By the time she got there I stood up and turned off the bike and was double-checking myself for injuries. She was pretty surprised how good of shape I was in after what she watched. A group of other riders helped me pick stuff up and make sure the bike ran fine (nothing functional was broken). The side-case on the road side had popped off but only the latch that holds it on was bent so one bungee cord worked to secure it. I rode to a nearby pull-off spot and called insurance and police (only got a warning!).

My right thumb is pretty sore but it will be fine. My left knee has a pretty shallow wound the size of a nickel, and my stomach has a 2 square-inch light abrasion. That's it, which I think is pretty good considering the speed, and a bit lucky because not much would have had to change for me to go over a guard-rail or get some impact or crushing injuries.

All-in-all, I wish I could place the blame on a crappy road but obviously thousands of other motorcycles have ridden through there safely. So it is a lesson that some more caution would be good.

I made it 60 more miles to Hickory, NC, and went with a motel for the night so I can hopefully sleep a little better as I'm sure some soreness will really start to set in tomorrow.

Also, I shit you not: the song playing on my Bluetooth headset at the time was Chumbawumba…I get knocked down, but I get up again, etc….