Canaveral Seashore and Shuttle Launch, August 8-9, 2007

August 14, 2007 by Rick and Tinka.

Well, we finally made it to Florida.  Our first stop is New Smyrna Beach and the Canaveral National Seashore. 

Our timing was pretty good.  It turns out that we arrived in time to witness the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour.  It turns out that the national seashore closes the park off towards the southern end so that NASA can put out their assortment of camera equipment.  Our plan was to go to the beach to watch the shuttle launch, but opted instead for a shuttle watching party that was advertised under PJ’s restaurant.

Tinka waited patiently for the launch.

Then the launch, right on time.  It took a couple of minutes for the sonic booms to reach us after the rocket was out of site.  We were able to see the separation of the solid rocket boosters.

On the 9th, our 21st anniversary, we opted for the relaxation of the beach.  We’ve learned, from our tour of beaches along the Atlantic, that the walk across the sand can be brutal while carrying coolers, towels, chairs and umbrellas.  We came up with the following solution when we were in New Jersey.  This cart has only 2-3 PSI air pressure in the tires, but the cart can carry 165 pounds.

The “sand” at the National Seashore is really unusual.  It is almost made up of shells.

It can be like walking in dried oatmeal and when you’re wet, it sticks to you like glue.

On our way out of the park, we saw a couple of sea turtles strolling beside the road.

 The Canaveral Seashore is a nesting area for loggerhead, green and leatherback sea turtles. More information about the turtles can be found at the following link: http://www.nps.gov/cana/planyourvisit/upload/seaturtles.pdf

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