Spontaneous Human Combustion

While sitting around the fire last night we got to wondering ... can the radiated heat from the logs cause you to catch on fire ???? Maybe but most likely it would be your clothes. That brought up the great debate surrounding spontaneous human combustion. Can a human suddenly just go up in flames without the use of an external ignition source?? Hmmmm. We called our resident go-to subject matter expert, Maryanne Flynn, and she gave us the detailed 411. Check out http://www.howstuffworks.com/shc.htm for more information. Sounds like an unexpected way to get to heaven and avoid the high cost of cremation !!!!

Discovery

Beyond the barb wire under a strong winter sun awaits shuttle Discovery. The orbiter and it's crew will liftoff for the international space station in the near future once a popoff valve problem is solved. This view is from the south end of PlayaLinda beach at the periphery of NASA's Cape Kennedy complex. While all is quiet now when the orbiter roars to life it will take only 8 minutes to achieve earth orbit and a speed of 4.8 miles per second !!!

PlayaLinda Beach

Today Elly and I visited PlayaLinda Beach and were joined by our friend Diana. The weather was beautiful ... mid 70's and sunny. The water, the wind, blue skies, the surfer dude and the turkey buzzard that paid us a visit made the day worthwhile. PlayaLinda is next door to America's gateway to space, Cape Canaveral.

Heading Home

It was quite a weekend. We arrived in Indy on Friday to celebrate mom's (Ed) 90th birthday while the motorhome remained at RV World for repairs and maintenance. Now it's Tuesday and we are on the way home to Tampa via Indianapolis airport (pictured above as we checked in). Home ..... hmmmmm ..... yes the big 40' motorhome is home to us for the year 2009. We made it back in the late afternoon and drove to Lakeland for the evening. All repairs are complete, oil and filters changed; our bus is ready for thousands of fun miles. Tomorrow we head to Titusville, FL for a week on the space coast.

ER

Michael Crichton created the ER series for NBC in 1994; it ran a total of 15 seasons this being the last. He populated it with many memorable characters including Dr. Greene who was the chief resident for eight seasons. Ellen worked with a real life Dr. Greene (surgeon) for eight years in Bloomington, IN. She had the opportunity to visit and catch up on old times with him last Saturday as pictured above.

For more info on the fictional Dr. Greene go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Greene

For more info on the real Dr. Greene just ask Ellen.

Mom's 90th

Today is mom's (Ed's) 90th birthday !!!! We celebrated yesterday with a big luncheon (about 40 people) at Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, IN. Pictured above are some of the festivities at Kathleen's house. Mom surrounded by helpful family members is skyping her grandson Andrew in Colorado and getting a nice video view of her newest great grandchild, Lucille. Happy 90th, mom !!!

Lucille Corrine Flynn

While we've been travelling in Florida Andrew and Erica have been busy having a baby. Welcome to Colorado little Lucie. Parents and baby are all doing fine and are at home. Lucille was born on the 15th. Congratulations !!!!

EngleWood Beach

What is this strange beach creature draped with the Soo Locks hat from Michigan ??? It's Ed and Ellen's radio entertaining them on the beach at Englewood Beach, Fl. Temperature was in the low 70's not a cloud in the sky. Just another crummy day at the beach !!!

Dolphin Delivery

"Neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor snow nor heat of day nor dark of night shall keep this courier from the swift completion of his appointed rounds." In this case the mail carrier is a dolphin located at Casey Key, FL. We came across this feller while walking along the gulf highway. Now that postal rates are increasing to 44 cents per ounce this guy may be able to by more tuna for dinner. Watch out for those nets !!!! See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetacean_bycatch

Daytona 500

Prior to Citrus League spring training baseball NASCAR kicks off it's race season here in Florida at Daytona. Fortunately for Ed, Ellen only packed the Jeff Gordon flag for the 12 month trip. So Ed is happy to root for the number 24 car. Ellen will be rooting for Dale Jr. the 88 car. Keith Urban opened the Daytona 500 ceremonies ... he's a favorite of Ellen. Let's go racing for the 2009 season. Boogity, boogity, boggity !!!!

Sarasota County Bike Trail

Ed took an 11 mile bike ride this morning on the Sarasota County bike trail which used to be the old CSX rail corridor from Venice to Sarasota. While biking he passed this slow critter who happens to be an ancient biological equivalent to the modern day motorhome. He'll be in Sarasota after a few days while Ed will still be in Venice having his repaired. Remember the tale of the tortoise and the hare ???

Venice Beach

We spent the afternoon at Venice Beach, FL. As you can see Ellen was multitasking by enjoying the beach and talking on her cell phone. She missed seeing the UFO just off her forehead on the horizon. Valentine's Day at the beach was pretty nice; next year we'll probably spend it in the desert.

Click image for full size view ..

Friday The 13th

Yesterday we arrived at our new campsite pictured above. The nice people at RV World (Nokomis, FL) have provided a paved campsite for our home on wheels while one of them is being repaired. The rear wheel overheated because of a brake running clearance problem. Since we always have incredibly good luck on friday the 13th I expect the problem will be fixed and we'll soon be on our way.

Don't forget ... tomorrow is Valentine's Day !!!

Ed's Shade Tree

We arrived at the Encore RV Resort (Venice, FL) this past Monday. This is what Ed sees just before he lapses into his afternoon nap. The campground has lots of facilities (pool, computer lab, volley ball ... free beer on Wednesday) and it's located in a stand of pine and palm trees which create a lot of shade. In all this is a beautiful spot and we are enjoying our stay here. The weather has been sunny in the low 80's ... perfect for all the snow birds. The area has lots of biking trails which is good for Ellen's pursuit of the perfect butt.

Full Moon Over Arcadia

Captured at 1/500 th of a second the full moon casts its' light over Arcadia, Florida. This is our second full moon of the road adventure. The moon has the same reflectivity as asphalt (reflects 9% of the light that hits it) so it is easily capable of lighting up the local geography of citrus groves and cattle pastures found around this town.

Home On The Range

This critter ambled over to the fence after Elly's best cow call. Our bovine visitor reminded Ellen of her formitive years on the farm in Lebanon, Ky when she and papa Bickett would grease up their hands with udder cream (http://www.simplybovine.com/products/uddercream.php) and milk the cows at morning's first light. Our new friend is part of the Joshua Citrus Farm operation just outside Arcadia, Fl in the heart of citrus country.

Bogo Light

Pictured in the foreground of the electric palm is our main flashlight. This is no ordinary light; it's solar powered with 6 led's for illumination. This light has been very reliable and does not erase night vision so it's perfect for reading charts while stargazing. No battteries to mess with. Why is it called a BoGo light ??? BoGo = buy one, give one. For each light sold another is given to someone in a third world country. Check it out at http://www.bogolight.com/ .

Siesta Key Redux

Welcome to our little encampment on the beach. We decided to visit Siesta Key once again because it is such a nice spot; this time Mark and Pat joined us. But where are we ? The chairs are empty. Could we all be in the water ??? Stay tuned for the answer.

Click on thumbnail for full size photo ..

King Neptune

Pictured above is the brother of Jupiter (king of the Roman gods) and son of Saturn (god of agriculture) and Ops (goddess of plenty). Who is this regal character from the past ? King Neptune, of course, god of the Seas, rising uncharacteristically up from the bouganvillia with the Gulf of Mexico in the background. All three kings are readily visible in the night sky with the help of planetarium software. Our chance encounter with a daytime Neptune occured at Ft. Myers Beach while visiting our friends Mark and Pat.

Click photo to view full size rendition.

Internet Note - Postings

It should be easier to post comments to this blog. I found out that some settings can be changed so that a gmail account is no longer required. So if you had trouble in the past posting to this blog I suggest that you give it a try once again.

If you continue to have a problem send us an email at edflynn231@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Ed & Ellen

Cleaning The Basement

It is a home as in "motorhome". So today we removed all items from the "basement" (lower storage compartments), cleaned it out and then reorganized our possessions so that more of the weight would be on the front wheels since this is a bus as well.

Click on photo for larger view ...

One Horse Town

Check out the horse coralled in front of Winn Dixie. The location is Arcadia nestled in the middle of Florida citrus and cattle country. We arrived yesterday and plan on visiting a citrus grower and a cattle ranch. Weather was mid 60's, windy and as you can see in the photo sunny.

Day At The Beach

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the beach. Englewood Beach is only about 15 minutes from our campsite; we loaded up the car and got there by early afternoon. Weather was nice ... temperature hit 70 by mid afternoon. As you can see there were a lot of people walking the beach but 62 degree water discouraged most from swimming. The pelicans had fun buzzing the beach; look carefully at the photo there is one doing a wing over on the horizon.

Click photo for full size view ...

Sanibel Island

Yesterday we visited Sanibel Island. Although the island is dotted with multi-million dollar homes more than half of it is uninhabited and serves as a bird sanctuary. Pictured above is one of its' feathered visitors. Only 30 species of bird are indiginous; about 130 species migrate through the area to escape the cold weather up north. Sanibel serves as a microcosm of Florida tourism. Ever see a snowbird ???