CHECKS TO:
GAIL PURTAN FUND KARMANOS CANCER INSTITUTE 4100 JOHN R DETROIT, MI  48201
1-800-527-6266
"IN MEMORY OF MARY LOGSDON" - IN NOTE SECTION OF CHECK

JUNE 29, 2006 -  MOON OVER MIAMI - WELL, TITUSVILLE, ANYWAY……

Wow, 7:30 came early today, it actually came at …. Uh ….. well, 7:30, like it is supposed to. I am at the Hotel complex that is part of the largest Harley Davidson dealership in the world. Yep, it is called "Destination Daytona" and is only the first of what is going to be a rather large establishment. The room was as expensive as the Sands was in Atlantic City, but it was nice to have the bike parked right outside the door. I parked it in the hallway.

Actually, I parked it outside the doorwall. The dealership itself comprises two floors of massive proportions. In fact the service department for motorcycles is on the second floor. There is a ramp that goes up the back of the building to the second floor. There is another store in downtown Daytona, too. That establishment draws other bike related businesses to the city. Arlan Ness has a sales outlet there, as do other custom builders. These bikes are 3 and 4 times more expensive than the one I have. That means that some of these guys are homeless, but the have cool bikes. Daytona ia a pastel paradise. Tall palms line the streets and the causeway is clean and easy to navigate. Cruising through town is an exercise in patience because the lights are timed so that you get MAXIMUM time to look at the shops you are parked in front of. Yeah, like I need ANOTHER Prada purse. 

Traveling down HWY 1 in Florida is SO unlike traveling down HWY 1 in Maine, and Massachusetts. Both experiences are unique but for entirely different reasons. In Maine, you watched out for wild life. In Florida you watch out for old life - who think that they are driving safely. After I left Daytona, I continued to head south on 1. 

I saw the signs for the Kennedy Space Center, so on a whim, I pulled in and bought a ticket for the day's sighseeing tours. Because I had a pocket knife on me, I was asked to "Please go back to your vehicle and leave ANYTHING you m ight want to there, before coming back here". I did.  Once I cleared Nasa customs, I went and waited at the boarding area. Nasa is very aware of its image and does its best to keep it as positive as possible. Each groiup of passengers is offered a combination live narration (by the coach driver) and that is interspersed with narrated video on tv monitors. Once the coach is boarded and off and running the driver starts his talk. I had the most fun with the first guy that was our driver. I was lucky enough to sit behind him. Imagine all of these drivers in these coaches being retirees from other walks of life.

Here is the first guy's narrative. See if you can guess what he did for a living prior to driving coaches for Nasa.

Good morning to each and every one of you. I will endeavour to relate to you various salient points about the massive pieces of hardware that you will be seeing both to your left (with gesture of left hand toward window) and right (with accompanying gesture with right hand toward window). Before you is the V. A. B. The V. A. B. is so named because of the function to which it is most associated. It is the VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING. The V. A. B. was first conceived, designed and built as part of the Apollo project. The   blah  blah blah blah and then it got even BETTER.

The Space Shuttle is really nothing more than a huge Truck. The Space Truck, known as the Space Shuttle is assembled in the VEHICLE ASSMEBLY BUILDING aforementioned. (Yes he actually said that). In order for the Space Shuttle to be assembled, first the solid rocket boosters are brought thereto (he said that too) and travel thereon trucks. These boosters are assembled from the four pieces that have arrived thereupon, and henceforth become as one solid rocket booster. When that is accomplished, the large fuel tank is brought thereto and affixed in a vertical (right hand gesture, straight in the air) position and the rocket boosters are affixed thereto. Thence (I swear he said this) the Shuttle is brought (you guessed it) THERETO AND AFIXED THEREON THE PREVIOUSLY BROUGHT THERETO OTHER APPERTENANCES THEREFORE.. blah blah blah……….. Oh, imagine all of THAT going on in a monotone, like Ben Stein did in Farris Beuler's Day Off.

I was sitting there laughing, I couldn't help it. We got dropped off at Pad 39. Many of the Apollo Missions left from here. Discovery could be seen over at 39A, shrouded from the elements by the steel girdle of webbing that is moved away only just prior to launch. Launch is scheduled for July 1, 2006, but the weather keeps things in a state of flux at Canaveral. Regina put me in touch with a cousin who works for Nasa, Richard Logsdon.

He offered some good advice, and based on his expertise, I chose to head for the Keys in the morning.

I checked into the BEST WESTERN in Titusville and was unpacking, when I met two ladies who happened to be from Germany. I thought they were from the US. When asked why I thought that, I told them that it was because they seemed so "at ease" with what was going on around them. I felt that most Germans were "organized" and somewhat "uptight". They actually agreed with my assessment. They seemed to smoke a lot. They were also having trouble with the rental car. It seems that autos, in Germany, are all manual transmissions. Not so this rental vehicle. I was able to get them to understand that even though the automatic transmission had  P  D  N  R  1  2  3 as indicators on the console, they need not bother with the 1  2  or  3. In fact, they thought that the darn thing wasn't going so fast in either of those, that is why they  liked the D for D RIVING. I sort of explained that they had stumbled on the exact thing and not to worry about the numbers.

With my good deed done for the day, I unpacked and got the bike released from the trailer. On a recommendation from a clerk at the front desk, I headed for DIXIE CORSSROADS, apparently a very good seafood place. It was. I had grilled grouper, and it was fabulous. I took a different road back to the hotel and crashed for the night.