Jacksonville boat views

We stayed at an RV park, for two weeks, near the entrance to the Jacksonville harbor. This was a nice break from all our travels before heading down to the Keys. The best part, besides the wonderful weather, was the daily ship traffic we got to watch coming in and out of the harbor. The Mayport Naval Air Station is right at the entrance so we got to see many Navy ships as well. Here's some of them:

Container Ship arriving

Navy destroyer heading out

Cruise ship on the way to the Bahamas

A couple of these were at Ro-Ro Ships. (Ro-ro is an acronym for Roll-on/roll-off. Roll-on/roll-off ships are vessels that are used to carry wheeled cargo. The ro-ro ship is different from lo-lo (lift on-lift off) ship that uses a crane to load the cargo. The vehicles in the ship are loaded and unloaded by means of built-in ramps. Normally these ramps are made towards the stern (backside) of the ship. In some ships, they are also found on the bow side (front) as well as the sides. The vessel can be of both military and civilian types.)

Ro-Ro Ship

Ro-Ro Ship...auto transport

USN New York arriving

What an unusual configuration

Used for personnel transportation

Canadian submarine arriving

Canadian sub conning tower

U.S. Navy submarine arriving

U.S. Navy conning tower

One of the most spectacular arrivals was the U.S. Naval Hospital Ship, COMFORT. All of her crew were on deck the entire time they arrived in the channel, got turned around by tugs, and pushed into dock! Over and hour!

In she comes...accompanied by three tugs

The entire crew is on deck

Right by us

The DockMaster at work

Captain of the ship

As soon as they were released from Parade Rest, the hopped on their cell phones to call loved ones.

At the dock....finally.

Now for some other photos of our visit and location....

Nattie in her favorite location

Our "Front Yard"

I leave for a moment to take a photo and what happens to my beer !!??

Our front yard view

Went to visit the Atlantic Ocean

My Sweetie

From "the patio"

Out in the morning in my robe relaxing

Took some photos on a morning run

Took some photos on a morning run, Atlantic Ocean

Took some photos on a morning run, sunrise

Rocket Science Ice Cream !

There is an ice cream shop in Nappannee, Indiana that sells Rocket Science Ice Cream that is delicious!

We stop in this town because this is where Newmar, our coach's manufacturer, is located. So, every year or so we drop by to get major work done. And....we come to get the ice cream!

The Secret is in the Science! Flash frozen with super cooled liquid nitrogen! This makes the ice crystals much, much tinier than regular ice cream. The result is super smooth ice cream with a texture like velvet. Its out of this world!

LOTS of menu choices

Adding the nitrogen

Rocket Science at work

Freeeeeeeeze

Ooooooo and Ahhhhhh

The finished product. This is a Small !!

You must watch this movie.....to see the "steam" come out and all over the counter.

Oh....one last thing.


Nappanee holds the distinction of having the longest city name in the United States containing each letter in its name twice.


Steve and Kim

Life-sized Dinosaurs in Louisiana

A couple of years ago, when we were last here in Louisiana, the owner of Cajun Palms RV Resort, was in the process of building a Prehistoric Park with life-sized dinosaurs. He had them made in the Philippines and shipped over here. We watched them unpack them and put them together before placing them in the "jungle".

This time, the Park is all done so we ventured out to take a few photos. I like the High Voltage sign....nice touch.

T-Rex

This is how they were packaged and how they arrived.

Big, Big foot

Inside construction view

Yikes

Allright...whose feet !?

No fence...I can escape

All lined up in a parade...ready to take their positions

How would you like this bad boy coming after you?