How to fill time in retirement

Sometimes it is the small adventures which make retirement easier. My ultimate goal was to visit the Merritt Island National WildLife Refuge and purchase the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass to the National Parks for Seniors. I filled up with gas in Melbourne, for what would turn into a 105 mile trip. As I was approaching Titusville, located in the north end of Brevard County, I noticed it was clouding up. The skies in Melbourne were blue and cloudless with a temperature of 71 degrees. A perfect day for an adventure. I took this photo from my hike, showing the clouds... It was obvious that there were some small brush fires causing the smoke which were turning into clouds. I am sure some of my meteorologists friends could explain, but my goal was to get the pass. I got to the Visitor Center on located on 402. I was seeing a lot of red lights along the highway which were firemen, expected because of the brush fires. The center was open and I went up to the count...

Growing up as a kid, Veteran's Day became one of the five Monday Holidays that took effect in 1971. In 1978, Veteran's Day was returned to November 11, which this year happen to fall on a Monday. So this past weekend was like a traditional three day Monday Holiday weekend. Here is what I did... I accidently stumbled onto a festival on Friday, not knowing it was going on. This was the three-day Native Rhythms Festival being held at Wickham Park near the orchestra bowl. I went home to get my camera but both of my batteries were uncharged. So I started  Veterans Day weekend with a Saturday visit to the Festival. It had rained heavily Friday night and the area where the vendors and food trucks were set up was under water. The stage, a natural amphitheater was well drained and that is where the different performers of Native Rhythms would play. One act I watched was Randy Granger, playing the HandPan in this photo... The festival was good and there were lots of venders, ...

This past Saturday, November 2, was the first Space Coast Music Festival (SCMF) held in the Eau Gallie Art District (EGAD). Like a fool, I decided I could walk the 1.5 miles from my house to the Festival. Like a bigger fool, I decided I would take my good camera along for some photos. Like the biggest fool, I decided to carry my large camera bag since it looked like it might rain. It was 85F and I wished it had rain. After over 10,000 steps, I was able to trudge back into the house, full of sweat and fewer photographs than I wanted. Let me give you an overview of the experience. Coinciding with the festival was another group in EGAD trying to persuade Trader Joe's to come to Eau Gallie. They had some events planned and a web page set up. They even have put misleading signs on the abandoned drug store on the corner of US1 and Eau Gallie Causeway. Lots of people are mistaking the signs for a new store moving in, but the hype is all locally created... By the time I got to the SC...