Titusville to Melbourne

We got up a little late, I hit the snooze twice and it was heaven.  Around 0730 after checking the weather report and realizing that poor Titusville was going to be drenched most of the day but Melbourne was only going to be "maybe" rained on...off we went.

We went past the Space Center and I could not help but reflect on what was done at that facility--the advances in human space flight, the tragic loss during of brave astronauts and test pilots, the mind blowing accomplishments of those same souls and the engineers and technicians and support staff who made our reach for the stars a reality.  Please tell me that same spirit and drive is out there still somewhere?  Mission to Mars?  Return to the Moon?  Asteroid Initiative?  Yes--Anything please! 

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Seeing this gave me a lump in my throat

How'd you like this!?!  It's Atlantis on her final mission docking with the Space Station over the Bahamas!

Then we came to and passed through our final drawbridge for quite a while.  Another very nice lady was managing the NASA Causeway Bridge.

Always looking for the perfect form.

We had the head sail up for a little bit to help us along and that plus the sun was a fine sight! We did hit a patch of true rain and Jon was a superstar and manned the helm through it -- thank goodness he had his foul weather gear with him!  After that, Jon steered us to clearer weather and before we knew it, we were at our anchorage with Island Khaya and Pamalynn for the night just on the South side of the bridge from Melbourne to the beach (where my sister spent many weekends while here attending Florida Institute of Technology).

We arrived and Mark had to manually set anchor--a good skill to have but maybe not so much when your winds are trending higher and you are in a new anchorage.  But of course the fellas made it happen--Jon and Mark are an awesome team!  After settling in, they discovered our windlass issue was a broken wire.  Why is it that the littlest nits cause the biggest irritations?  Well it was fixed by Mark the wonder Captain in a jiffy and we commenced with the relaxing.

We ate an entire loaf of Italian bread that I had baked on the way--no, we really ate the entire thing.  We also enjoyed the lack of rain overhead (while they are being rained on to the south and a huge rotation is stuck over the north) by relaxing on the "back deck".  Dammit we are blessed...and we know it and truly appreciate such a gift as what this trip is for us.

Glad we are tucked in and protected in case we get weather.

Two happy idiots...thank God Jon is here to keep us classy and in line!

Tomorrow we head to Vero Beach where we will hopefully be able to connect with a very dear friend of my sister's who lives nearby and graciously has offered her assistance, chauffeur services and knowledge of the Bahamas.  Do you hear me talking about you Sheila?  Just fair warning that we will insist on buying you lunch, dinner, both if you'll let us!

Thinking of all our military men and women and our brave veterans with great appreciation on the eve of Veterans' Day.   And a very happy birthday to all the motivated Devil Dogs out there!  Ooh Rah! and Semper Fi! USMC!!  Thank you and Happy Birthday USMC! 

XO Suzanne

PS, last night the boys watched Catching Fire!  I don't think they liked it as much as me but maybe that is because they have not seen it four times like me.  I said this is great because we can all go see Mockingjay at the movies, as a family.  HA!!