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Published: September 14th 2006
Spaceshuttle Atlantis
Take off was delayed due to Hurricane Ernesto.Well Tropical Storm Ernesto has been changed to Hurricane Ernesto and Chris and Shane are now trying to work out whether to flee Florida or try and survive the beast.
After our Airboat ride we headed to Miami and drove around the South Beach area. There were characters everywhere and traffic was hurrendous. We ended up staying at a Walmart about 10 miles out of town but briefly stopped at a Motorhome Park nearby to slyly fill up our freshwater tank that was in dire straights.
That night we headed to an internet cafe to try and see the latest on Hurricane Ernesto. After much deliberation (and being worried as the locals fled to Walmart for canned food and bottled water) we decided the best bet would be to head up the West Coast... and quickly.
On Monday the 28th of August we drove to Kennedy Space Centre located at Cape Canaveral and spent the day there. Spaceshuttle Atlantis was on the launch pad as there was an expected launch the following day however the take off was delayed due to the Hurricane.
Our pass included a tour of the International Space Station Center, LC 39 Observation
Gantry, and the Apollo/Saturn V Center which were all very interesting. We then raced back to the main entance and watched (or more like party slept) thorugh an IMAX film 'Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D' narrated by Tom Hanks.
We also headed to the interactive centre where Shane was harrassed by young kids as he tried to play with the toys and eventually we decided to leave.
We then drove to Daytona Beach and had dinner at a cafe on the main street and crashed at Walmart for the night.
On Tuesday the 29th of August we woke early and Shane spent the morning at Daytona USA racetrack whilst Chris tried to entertain herself in the car. Although it was a tempting offer for Chris to come inside (only due to air conditioning), Chris decided to read one of her many books purchased along the trip so far.
Shane, inside, spent 5 hours on the interactive games, a tour of the racetrack, stands and pit lane, and also the many features inside the centre. Daytona track is the first race of the Nascar season each year in March and the track is an amazing
Captain Shane in the shuttle
Shane waited in line for 10 minutes along with the other 8 year olds to see if he would fit... 33 degress in the corners.
As Shane got back to the motorhome we both decided it was time for a swim at the beach which was a very pleasing 86 degrees. It was amazing to see that the cars actually park on the beach in Daytona. It costs $5 to park your car right beside where you can sunbathe...
As we were still running scared of Hurricane Ernesto we decided against heading to Seaworld Orlando and we drove that night to St Augustine (the oldest town in the USA) and stayed in the State Park.
We woke on the morning of Wednesday the 30th of August to hear rain but still decided it was worthwhile to check out the township. We headed first to the visitors info and were both quite easily sucked into buying some gelato after tasting a few for free. We went and checked out the oldest house in the USA and the oldest wooden school. On the way we stopped at the plaza and the government house to take a few photos.
We then went to Castillo De San Marcos which is a fort built by the Spanish in the 16th Century.
The man at the entrance tried to make us pay as we are not married, he said we could not use the National Park pass to get us both in. Chris reprimanded him accordingly and we were granted access to the fort. We toured the grounds and met a friendly man working as a leather craftsman, using all the old tools. He was making a bag for his grandson which was very cute.
We headed to Starke for the night, approximately 50 miles west of St Augustine. We both agreed doing this would avoid any sort of high winds and torrential rain from the Hurricane that was to pass by and we could then follow it up the coast and be carefree again.
We woke on Thursday the 31st of August and with only a little bit of rain we were both wondering if this Hurricane ever even existed. Either way we figured that it would be safe to head back towards the coast and we drove to Savannah that afternoon which took approximately 4 hours after a quick visit to the local library.
We spent that night in Walmart and we woke on the morning of
The track
The corners are at a 33 degree angle and the cars have to maintain a speed of 95 mph or they slide down. Friday the 1st of September to find that our battery had gone dead... yes both of them, so not even the emergency switch would work. With Shane throwing around his usual profanities he found the book from the hire company and went to give Chevy a call for a jump start.
A few minutes later Shane arrived back and although being told the wait was 45 minutes, less than 5 mins later we were greeted by a young man who started the car for us. After being laughed at when we told him the motorhome gets 10 miles per gallon mileage and then sending him on his way, we headed to a campground for the night to do some much needed planning and for a swim in the pool.
On Saturday the 2nd of September we checked out the local Savannah scene... Although Lonely Planet (a backpackers handy trusted guide - even though we aren't backpacking) states that you will fall in love with Savannah and spend hours roaming the streets we both agreed after a mere 2 hours we were ready to leave. We headed to city market but found it to be full of food stores,
not being hungry we didn't buy anything. We then headed to River street and strolled down along the water and checked out the local market stalls. We ducked into a number of shops (mainly food ones to test the freebies) and then stopped in a park on the water with the lovely sea breeze blowing away...
That night we stayed in a motohome park nearby where despite our agreement to go for a swim, we never left the lovely air conditioning of the motorhome.
We headed to Myrtle Beach on Sunday the 3rd of September and checked in to a motorhome park. This was by far the biggest one so far we have been in. Normally they have 50-100 sites but this one had nearly 700. We both found it amusing to see the residents driving around in golf carts and even the young kids were behind the wheels. Shane headed to the pool for a swim whilst Chris (the book worm) kept on reading her novel. Shane then went in search of the local area on the 'pushie' and came back drooling at the mouth at the site of a nitrous powered Kawasaki motorbike. After quickly grabbing
Daytona Beach
The sand is so hard cars drive and park along the beach. the camera and heading back out he shortly returned with a sad face as the bike had gone and he didn't get to take a photo (which he assurred Chris that Scotty McShane would have drooled over as much as him).
We woke on Monday the 4th of September and drove to Cancun Lagoon Putt Putt... Ever since Chris was humiliated at Narrabeen she has been wanting revenge. Despite controlling her anger, after a slow start Chris had some great putts over the 18 holes but was still defeated in an embarrassing manner. Upon leaving the putt putt Chris managed to stop at the cafe for a slurpee which made the loss a little more bearable.
Our next stop was a PGA store where Shane drooled over the equipment whilst Chris waited patiently in the car. Shane was trying to find out whether it would be worthwhile to update his golf clubs while over here and send them home. After trying a few clubs and picking out a few favourites he headed back to the car and went in search of one of the local waterparks.
We finally found it and after realising it was their last
day of the season Shane almost broke down into tears. He had missed the USA's best waterpark 'Schlitterbahn' and was desperately hoping to be able to ride the slides at another.
We headed for another motorhome park and went for a dip in the pool where Shane posed as a lifeguard. Fortunately this pool had a slide (which we both believed was meant for adults also...) and we proceeded to have numerous turns riding down the whole 2 metres.
On Tuesday the 5th of September we were woken by a hostile Grandpa banging at our door saying that we had overstayed our visit and either needed to leave or pay for another night. Shane in a fit of panic rode the pushie upto the front desk and handed over some money. The woman behind the counter then radioed the 'checker' that we had paid for another night. Pheeeew, that was close...
We were planning on going jetskiing but due to the huge storm overnight, and the threatening grey sky we decided against it and went in search of the 'free' local internet site. (The library, which we have become so acustomed to.)
Chris was delighted later
that night when she claims that she found a grey hair on Shane's head. Shane assurred Chris that it was a blonde one and disposed of it quickly.
On Wednesday the 6th of September we left the motorhome park and stopped to get some propane at a motorhome dealer where Shane managed to 'drool' once again, but this time over the large motorhomes.
We headed again to the library and due to the applications for jobs in Canada opening we both applied, Chris for a Food and Beverage Office Assistant and Shane for a Workers Compensation Claims role. We also applied for the staff accommodation and discovered that we would have 2 single beds if thats where we were going to stay for the 6 months. We decided to check out a few long term accommodation options but thus far none have looked any good...
It was then... that we decided... to head to... Cedar Point Amusement Park!!! Shane became so excited in a matter of minutes and was ready for the long drive to the top of the country.
We left that night and stayed at a Walmart in Rockingham, approximately 200 miles away.
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Dad
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Laptop
Hi Kids...lap top dispatched this arvo the 20th Sep should take 3 to 4 days to arrive.