Titusville, Merritt Island Refuge, Johnathan Dickenson State Park
(posted from Palm Beach County Library, Jupiter, FL)
(This post covers 11-13 February 2009)--------------------------------------------------------

Friday, 13 February-

This morning I woke up a bit early and decided to move on. I bought a few items from the Wal-mart, then headed south on A1A. That took me through one beach town after another and to some very nice views of the ocean. I stopped at Sebastian Inlet State Park for lunch, then a bit later at Fort Pierce Inlet State Park for a short walk on their nature trail and along the inlet.
That afternoon I stopped at Jonathan Dickenson State Park at Hobe Sound. I checked out the river area and walked the Kitching Creek Trails. The trails were supposed to be an hour of walking but I did it in a half hour (I suppose because I wasn’t stopping to read the nature-trail signs) so I did it again in the opposite direction to get a bit more of a workout. I’d guess I did five miles total today.
I had supper at an overlook as the sun went down and wondered where I’d find my spot for the night. The state park campground was full and I’m unfamiliar with the Wal-mart at Jupiter Beach but those close to a beach typically have no-overnighting signs. I stopped at the park office on the way out and I believe the ranger lady mistook me for someone else. She asked “Haven’t you found anything yet?” as if we had talked about this before. I said no but then asked if they had any overflow sites. She apparently took pity on me and gave me a nice site in the supposedly-full campground. Nice!
I spent the evening blogging and reading.

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Thursday, 12 February-

I again started out at the library, this time going through their Florida books collection. I jotted down some suggestions from ‘Off the Beaten Path- Florida’, ‘Scenic Drives in Florida’, and “Best Small Towns in Florida”. I also jotted some notes about recommendations for artificial fishing lures for snook—something I hope to need later this trip.
I then drove out to Cape Canaveral National Seashore to see the beaches and I saw the space shuttle sitting on its launch pad. Someone said it’s supposed to go up the 19th of this month (I later learned it was supposed to go today).
I then drove the Wildlife Drive to the Cruickshank Trail. I walked the five miles of dike trail, starting out in hot sun but then a few clouds made it a bit more comfortable.
That evening I again hit the library, continuing through the Florida Collection. I then tried connecting up the laptop, thinking I might talk to Labashi but something was wrong with their server and I couldn’t hook up.
I returned to the Titusville Wal-mart and there had an interesting chat with Rudi from Toronto. Rudi had rented a motor home in Toronto and was touring with his lady friend. I learned he had been to Deadhorse with this same girlfriend and she had hated it. She said it’s just trailers stuck together. With a revolt on his hands, Rudi had had to sweet-talk the hotel manager into giving them a room, this one with a tv and their own shower. And he had had to pay an extra 80 dollars a night for it. Yep—sounds like Deadhorse. It IS after all, a working camp for the oil field, not a tourist hotel.
After saying goodbye and good luck to Rudi, I hit the hay.

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Wednesday, 11 February-

I spent the morning and an hour or so of the afternoon at the North Brevard County Library, updating the blog, video-chatting with Labashi, and reading the various papers.
I went out to the van to get lunch and while I was eating a librarian came out and asked me to leave! It turns out the library has ‘tax day’ three days a week and on those days the parking lot is full. Someone had complained about my van-trailer rig taking up five parking spots. I was just having lunch before leaving so it was no problem for me. But once the librarian left a couple getting into their car nearby told me I’d been “narc-ed” by an old lady who had to circle the lot to find a parking spot. Now that’s hilarious.
I then drove to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and checked out the visitor center. I walked the nice little boardwalk but saw only an osprey and a turtle. I then moved further east to the Hammocks Trails. I walked the two-mile Palm Hammock trail, then the half-mile Oak Hammock trail, then did them both again. The Palm Hammock trail felt more remote and I had a surprise on my second pass. I rounded a turn and there in the trail was a big feral pig. Or rather a feral hog. Its hair was gray—much like mine. As soon as it saw me it bolted for the deep bushes. I walked for a little over two hours at a pretty good pace, so that should be about six miles.
I then returned to the library for the evening (rather than hang out at the Wal-mart). As I entered, a program was announced and I went to see Kathleen Duble, a young-adults author and her program about developing stories and characters. She told us how she had gotten the ideas for each of her six or seven books and how she peopled the stories. She also did an illustrative exercise. She had a kid from the audience come up and she draped a piece of clothing over the kid (a cape) and said “Who’s this?” and led the audience through chosing a name, establishing an identity (middle child, bookish while his siblings were athletic), choosing a problem the kid needs to solve or have solved (turn the cape into a plus rather than a minus), etc. It quickly became clear this could lead to a young-adult story. At the end of the program it was time for the moms and kids who were familiar with her works to get autographs so I slipped out the door, glad I had seen the program.
Afterwards I read, then headed back to the Wal-mart. I rented a Chris Rock DVD (his appearances in New York, London, and Johannesburg) and had a good laugh.

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