Here I am at Cocoa Beach!

We were going to stop by Ron Jon Surf Shop.

Even if you are from the frozen Tundra of the North, you know about Ron Jon.  Especially if you drove.  I believe the first “VISIT ICONIC RON JON SURF SHOP” signs begin at the Indiana border.

We didn’t end up going, we decided to hunt alligators instead.  I was a little worried because I had eaten some gator the night before.

Gator Fear

My Mom has eaten a lot of Gator in her time.  She was really nervous about Reptile Revenge.  It’s a real thing.

This is a mural in lovely downtown Cocoa.

Please note the guy sticking it to the chick in the yellow dress.  I didn’t realize that in the early days of Cocoa, you could get busy in front of the whole damn town.  Ok, honestly, it took the parents 5 minutes to get me to stop laughing at this mural.  If you get a chance to see it in person, I was NOT the one who added the handle bar mustaches on many of the town’s citizens.  Although, I highly approved of their additions.

Remember how I have such a sweet job that I dropped out of massage school to further pursue my love of science?  At Forensic Fluids, I do drug testing.  One of the drugs we get requests to test for is...K2 or Spice.

Hey!  Don’t buy it!  It’s illegal, you’ll lose your job if I catch you!

Here I am with a falsely tall Ponce de Leon at the Fountain of Youth.  He was really only 4’11” tall.  He made Napoleon feel tall.  No, really.  Napoleon was like 5’6″.   So, here’s my note to you, if you want tall kids, don’t include leon in their name.

You may be asking yourself “where the hell is the photo of Holly at the fountain of youth?”

I’ll tell you why, I was too cheap to pay the $10 to get in.  PK and I hung out in the parking lot, got our photo ops and then, well…I used the bathroom and drank a swig of Fountain of Youth water from the sink.  It’s got to be the same damn well.

You know I’m a super science nerd…but you may need some explanation with the hat, the sweater and the umbrella.

We drove to Titusville to watch the Shuttle Discovery make it’s final flight into space.

Ok, that’s from the Kennedy Space Center’s web site.  Much like the water in the bathroom at the Fountain of Youth, we took the adventurous route, rather than the pricey route.

We still saw it and you didn't

We waited for 3 hours in Kennedy Point Park’s parking lot.  I didn’t realize how important parking lots would be to me while in Florida.   It was a lot like being at a Grateful Dead show.  Lot’s of people, no bathrooms.  I kept expecting someone to pass a joint.

I was shocked, in awe, amazed and holding back tears.  It, along with the miracle of birth, was like the most amazing thing I have ever been a part of.  I felt love toward everyone in the parking lot, the astronauts, space travel and Arthur C. Clarke.

We heard the roar of the take off, saw the fuel tanks separate, then they were gone.

After that, the crowd slowly dispersed.  Most of us were dazed and kept looking back up at the sky.  We shut down the highway.  It was amazing.

After all that adventure, what I wanted most was to share it with the Ogre and the Pigs.