RV Havin Fun!

Sebastian Inlet State Park, Melbourne Beach, Florida

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.  But John tried to deter Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”  Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”  Then John consented. ~ Matthew 3:13-15     Can you just imagine being John the Baptist and having Jesus – God Himself in human form – telling you that you need to baptize Him?!?!?  Remember, John’s baptism was for repentance.  This is Jesus we’re talking about.  He certainly doesn’t need to repent.  So what’s really happening?  Well, first of all, Jesus is changing baptism.  It is no longer a cleansing of sin because now that Jesus is here, cleansing is no longer needed.  We need His Righteousness.  What does that mean?  I found this definition on Christianitytoday.com:  “Righteousness is the quality of being right in the eyes of God, including character (nature), conscience (attitude), conduct (action), and command (word).  Righteousness is therefore, based upon God’s standard because He is the ultimate Lawgiver (Isaiah 33:22).”  The other thing going on here is that all God’s righteous requirements are met in Jesus and what He’s about to do (life, death and resurrection) so that, as we accept the gift of salvation, we are seen as righteous before God.  Are you righteous?  Have you ever thought of yourself in that way?

We drove about three times as far as we’ve been moving lately!  Plus the wind, traffic and length of drive, made today’s 3 ½ hour, 201-mile travel day tiring and a bit nerve wracking for Blaine.  Especially because he’s not had to drive this far for quite a while, nor has he had this much traffic to try to be aware of.  Crazy drivers!

So to explain a bit for future reference if nothing else, Blaine has to make Florida reservations eleven months to the minute in advance, vying for a spot along with thousands of other people trying to do the same.  You have to use the internet to do this, so no phone calls. 

In this case, he was unable to get a place along the coast for the time slot we needed to fill, so he came inland a little but just for two nights.  So here’s where we are . . .

Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park, Keystone Heights, Florida

One of Florida’s first state parks, Gold Head Branch became part of the Florida state park system in 1935. The initial property was donated by Martin J. “Mike” Roess (pronounced “Race”) and developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

The CCC was launched in 1933 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt to combat unemployment during the Depression.

In 1935, twenty-five seasoned craftsmen from Company 2444 were sent to the Gold Head site where they were joined by hundreds of CCC youth and established Camp SP-5. Together they planted trees, cleared areas for campsites, built roads and constructed many of the buildings still in use today at the park.

The state park was officially dedicated on April 15, 1939. For years the park was simply known as “Gold Head Branch,” until 1966 when the Florida Board of Parks and Historical Monuments changed the name to honor the late Mike Roess. He died in 1952. ~ Floridastateparks.org

According to local lore, there are a couple of stories for the Gold Head part of the name, none substantiated. The most popular is that Union soldiers were bringing a gold shipment through the area during the Civil War. Supposedly, the gold was buried at what is now the park.

And supposedly, the soldiers were ambushed and killed. Another version puts it during the Second Seminole War, which took place from 1835-42, though not much credence is given to either story.

Others claim that its original name was Cold Head Branch because of its cold spring-fed water, and the name changed over time from cold to gold. ~ Jacksonville.com

So.  Don’t you find it odd that something spelled ‘r-o-e-s-s’ could possibly be pronounced ‘race’?  I did.  So I Googled to find the nationality.  Seems no one really knows, I guess.  The first said France; the second, US, UK, Canada and Scotland; the third, Yorkshire England; the fourth, Irish Gaelic.  Hmmmmm . . . . .

Anyway, we’re here for two nights and one day.  It seems like a very nice park and we’ll only have tomorrow to check out everything there is to do here.  Should be a full day!

Sebastian Inlet State Park, Melbourne Beach, Florida

I (John the Baptist) baptize you with water for repentance.  But after me will come One who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor, gathering His wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” ~ Matthew 3:11-12    Sometimes we read things like this and we just don’t understand, but the people John was speaking to would know exactly what he was saying.  He’s speaking of repentance. Not just saying “I’m sorry”, but admitting what you said or did was wrong, apologizing and changing your heart.  He’s saying that Jesus will be coming as a judge.  That He will separate those whose hearts are turned towards Him and those whose hearts are not.  A winnowing fork was used to lift the grain.  The good part was heavier and would fall to the floor, but the chaff (the casing around the edible grain), the part that wasn’t good, would blow away in the wind, or sometimes be burned.  Thus, the good and edible part of the grain would be saved, and the undesirable part would not.  So where do you stand today?  Are you grain, or are you chaff?  We are so blessed to be loved by a Father Who will allow us to become grain instead of chaff!

It’s Blaine Day! 

He had the desire and the opportunity to get closer to a NASA launch today, so we made the drive to Cocoa Beach, where we expected to see Jeannie, but she and her bottle were nowhere to be found.  ☹

He looked into visiting the Kennedy Space Center, but they now charge $75/person!  In lieu of that, here’s some information I discovered on atlasobscura.com about NASA’s Vehicle Assembly building:

THE VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is the world’s fourth largest building by volume. Completed in 1966, the VAB also holds the record of the largest one-story building in the world and is the tallest building outside an urban center in the United States.

At an astonishing 160 meters (525 feet) tall, 218 meters (716 feet) long, and 158 meters (518 feet) wide, the VAB covers an area of eight acres and encloses a volume of about 3,665,000 cubic meters (129,428,000 cubic feet). To get an idea of how large that is, the total volume of the VAB is about 3.75 times that of Manhattan’s Empire State Building. That’s enough space to fit the volume of Pentagon inside and have plenty of room left over!

The VAB is so large, in fact, that it has its own weather. On humid days, rain clouds can form below the ceiling, requiring about 10,000 tons of air conditioning equipment to control the moisture. With this setup, the total volume of air in the building can be replaced in only one hour.

The records held by the VAB are not limited to its interior, however. The exterior boasts one of the largest American flags, completed with 6,000 gallons of paint. At 64 meters (209 feet) high and 33.5 meters (110 feet) wide, the stars are six feet across, the stripes are nine feet wide, and the blue portion is approximately the size of a regulation basketball court.

Originally built to accommodate the vehicle assembly for the Apollo and Saturn missions, the VAB underwent renovations to support the Space Shuttle. Following the shuttle’s retirement in 2011, the VAB was modified to handle assembly of the Space Launch System, a heavy-lift rocket that is designed to carry the new Orion spacecraft beyond Earth orbit. From this building, NASA’s space-bound vehicles leave through one of the building’s four doors. The doors, which are the largest in the world, each measure 139 meters (456 feet) high. While tall enough to easily fit the Statue of Liberty, the doors take 45 minutes to open or close.

From these doors, the six-million pound Crawler-Transporter begins the slow process of moving the space vehicles to the launch pad several miles away. At a mere one mile per hour, and a gas-guzzling 42 feet per gallon, the Crawler can position the vehicle for launch with an accuracy of one inch.

While the exterior of the VAB can be seen regularly on guided tours of the Kennedy Space Center, opportunities to view the building’s interior are a much rarer occurrence. However, the space center is a crucial part of life for most locals. In fact, in honor of the traditional blastoff countdown, the region’s area code is 3-2-1.

Before the launch time, we were able to visit Ron Jon Surf Shop.  It was huge, and I would’ve loved to share pictures with you, but every time I considered it, there was a stranger’s face in my way.  It was difficult to even move around, let alone look at things.  However, Blaine eventually managed to find a t-shirt that suited him. I’m certain it’ll pop up in pictures of him now and then.  😊

Because it was so crowded, I couldn’t get a picture of their history that was mounted on the wall.  If you’re the curious type, check out their website at:

https://www.ronjonsurfshop.com/the-ron-jon-surf-shop-history

It has pictures which are pretty interesting depicting how they’ve developed from the mid-60s until today.

There’s an actual designated area for people to watch the launches!  And we could see the Assembly Building twelve miles away because it’s so humongous! See it, but not close enough to take a picture with our measly phone cameras. There’s designated parking, including attendants to make sure the lines stay close and straight; and across the street, should you desire, there are bleachers.  They offer an unobstructed view, as from the parking area, you must look through power lines.  When we saw the number of people arriving, Blaine opted to remain at the Jeep, so we could exit quickly.  That was fine, because we’d stopped at Publix and picked up sushi and donuts to while away the time.

There were some clouds, but we were able to watch the lift off, only ten miles away! It really was pretty cool!

This particular launch was carrying a payload of 56 Star-Link satellites, supposedly sent by Elon Musk to improve communications.  I couldn’t even begin to tell you how that works.

And that’s all she wrote!  Tomorrow we move further north, but will still be in Florida – miles from the beach.

Sebastian Inlet State Park, Melbourne Beach, Florida

But when he (John the Baptist) saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees (the religious leaders of the time) coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.  And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’  I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.  The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. ~ Matthew 3:7-10      I didn’t forget my end quote.  John’s message continues for another two verses.  I just decided this was enough for today.  Boy, with talk like that, and in front of a bunch of other ‘common’ people, it’s no wonder the religious leaders got their feathers ruffled!  They knew and followed all their rules, but their hearts weren’t tuned to God.  This is what John is referring to.  They cannot claim God’s favor just because they are children of the promise, aka God’s covenant promise with Abraham. (Genesis 17:1-9).  Do you practice what you believe are ‘all the right things’, but harbor an unyielding heart?  Repent and give all of your life over to Him and see what happens!

Today was yet another very interesting day as we visited the Navy SEAL Museum.

I can’t begin to tell you all the ways these men have worked to protect us and our nation.  Nor can I convey the physical, mental and emotional exertions they submit to and train themselves for.  It seems inhuman.  And yet, a few of them manage to become part of a very elite group.  At any given time there are approximately 2,000-2,500 active SEALs in our military. The odds of completing SEAL training are one in four.  Each year, approximately 1,000 recruits make it to SEAL training, but only 250 complete the training.

Fewer than 10,000 men have ever been SEALs. No woman has ever been able to complete the training.

If you’d like to see a portion of what these men need to accomplish in order to succeed, check out this site:

https://www.military.com/military-fitness/navy-special-operations/navy-seal-fitness-test

And there’s soooo much more to endure than what’s listed there.  Besides extraordinary physical fitness, there’s a ton of learning and memorization, as well as sleep deprivation, training to be calm in war situations, and mental testing.  Their initial training includes Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL BUD/S School (this is how the SEAL program began during WWII – underwater demolition), Parachute Jump School and SEAL Qualification Training.  Then there’s 18 months of pre-deployment training and intensive specialized training.  We learned that outside of the initial training, live ammunition rounds are used for the remainder of their training.

I’m certain there’s more, we just can’t remember. 

SEALs began during WWII when the US needed men to clear the beaches of Normandy of mines and obstacles so the Allied Forces could land on the beach.  A man named Draper Kauffman was the first; going out in nothing but his underwear and carrying a knife.  He became known as the ‘naked warrior’. He’s the one who determined that there would be more needed, so they formed teams, but I forget how many volunteered for the mission.  I do however remember that 52% of them died at Omaha.

This Naval combat demolition unit was the precursor to SEAL teams; its acronym standing for Sea, Air, Land.

After WWII, the powers that be determined these specialized teams weren’t needed anymore, so they were downsized, but re-emerged for the Korean War and have continued to grow and prove their importance ever since.  Two examples?  It was the SEALs who invaded and killed Osama bin Laden.  It was also the SEALs who rescued Captain Phillips (the movie Tom Hanks starred in about Somalian pirates kidnapping him).

We finished up our tour by venturing outside – even attempting parts of the obstacle course they have for people to try.  Let’s just say, they won’t be trying to recruit us anytime soon.  But there was a guy who looked to be in his mid-fifties who was running through the entire course (minus the climbing wall) and a friend was timing him.  He was very good!  Maybe a retired SEAL?

Back home, it was only early afternoon, so we walked the beach again.  We could get used to this!

Tomorrow, we’ll be checking out Ron Jon!