Wednesday, November 12, 2014

It's been some time since I've last used my portable heater, storing it with conviction in the rear hold of the back trunk.  At times when I had it going full blast, (which would constantly trip the breaker in my power strip) my mind would wander to warmer days ahead when I would reach Florida.  It's been 9 weeks since I started this journey, and I now get to drop that thermal anchor.

I stop by the welcome center in Jacksonville, an impressive building staffed with hospitality personnel and cool beverages (orange juice and grapefruit juice).  This place really knows how to welcome visitors. Honestly, all they need is some music and chips and they've got themselves a party!
Brochures for every possible thing you ever want to do under 'their' sun is harbored here and each is neatly organized by region on a 40'+ wall.



Kitt and I both drink up, then veer off highway 95  to coastal route A1A.











Sourcing  over 70% of the country's supply of orange juice comes with a price... having to build your home on stilts! The list of hurricanes affecting Florida since recorded history exceeds 480, more than any other U.S. state.  Only 18 hurricane seasons have passed, since 1851, without damage being inflicted. 

In additional to great tasting citrus, Florida's coastal waters have additional advantages as well.  I don't think I've previously mentioned, but I'm a "fish taco Christopher Colombus", opportunistically on a mission to discover the 'best' fish tacos.  My standards are high to be sure but Florida meets the entry requirements so I stop off at Johnny D's in Flagler Beach. 


I might as well go back to Palos after eating these tacos as I do believe there are no better.  These are the "gold and spice" standard, the "westward route to asia" of fish tacos.  In short, the BEST tacos I've ever had, meeting all of my check list requirements.


With tummy and beach front camping sites full, I head inland to spend the night at Tomoko State Park, a 1,800 acre facility located on the Tomoko River, 3 miles from Ormond Beach.








I check in, get settled, then plan my exploration of some of those 1,800 acres for tomorrow.



4 comments:

  1. Sorry about the bad joke...

    And the last thing I wanted to see is all that great looking food! Good thing im' on my way to "Hawk Peek" @ 7630 Ft.

    At any rate the term I was looking for was "Hyperspectral" Imaging. Which can be used to find anything from bad chickens in a processing line, to uranium deposits in South Africa. This is a relativity old technology that is starting to make it's way into commercial viability, I think

    On place thats making a go of it is http://precisionhawk.com/ also u might be interested in http://machinedesign.com/sensors/autonomous-uavs-now-travel-packs


    They even have books on Hyperspectral Algorithm Design and Analysis on Amazon. I found this thing called The Web Coverage Processing Service (WCPS) it is an image processing framework that can run on the cloud that was developed by NASA. Now if the average guy could use this or not who knows, but in this day and age there has to be other open source software out there that is available. What a neat thing to play around with??

    Keep on juice-n

    BOC

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  2. Scenery looks interesting. Fish looks yummy! Campgrounds look different from ours here! Love your stuff!! ♥ aunt judy

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  3. Great looking food. Guess you really love your seafood!

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  4. 7 yrs since a major hurricane made landfall in the US. A record.

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