Melbourne Beach Mobile Park

October 16 – November 4, 2018

Melbourne Beach, Florida

Changing things up a bit this year, we arrived in Florida a full two weeks early. Our motivation was to see if I could get a UPS golf cart route closer to where we live. Last year, I had to drive 24 miles just to get to my pod and golf cart. It didn’t make a lot of sense, as our truck is fairly expensive to operate.

So far, I am on a route that is only 12 miles away. As the Melbourne Beach pods are put in place, I’m hoping to secure one of those. It’s fun to be back behind the wheel of the golf cart, delivering those smiles that Amazon used to tell us about. 🙂

We are back on our site at Melbourne Beach Mobile Park. The vegetation grew like crazy over the summer, so we had a bit of landscaping to do. Nothing as difficult as last year though. It definitely feels like home!

Our first morning back brought us a beautiful sunrise over the Atlantic. Unfortunately for us…

…the next week saw blooms of red tide work their way north on the Gulf Stream, kicked loose from the Gulf of Mexico by Hurricane Michael. We had thousands of dead fish along the shores of Brevard County, and we ended up having to wear surgical masks to go outdoors, due to the smell from the red tide itself. We were concerned to say the least, as no one knew how long it would last. Fortunately, it continued north and left our area within a week.

Slowly, our friends at the park started showing up. Jerry and Linda who we visited in Rhode Island were already here, as they have bought a mobile home and are in the process of fixing it up. We also had other friends roll into the area, so it was great to see them! Bob and Pat (Michigan Traveler) are in the area until December, so we met them for dinner one evening. We forgot to get a photo, but we will get one sometime here in the next month. After that, we were paid a visit by Tessa (aka Fluffy Dog)!

She brought her mom and dad, Jodee and Bill (On the Road Abode), so the five of us made plans to search for the wild side of Florida.

They brought us a gift to keep us busy this winter: a Junior Ranger puzzle. 211 tiny pieces…

…and detailed instructions on how to put it all together! Hopefully we get a Junior Ranger badge if we complete it. 🙂

We had two different natural spaces in mind to visit with them. The first was Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Nestled along the northern border of the Kennedy Space Center, this refuge if filled with all sorts of wild animals.

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We saw multiple alligators…

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…and birds of all different kinds.

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We even saw a wild pig!

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The Great Blue Heron were out in force.

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This beauty was twice as pretty as the rest. 🙂

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Its remarkable how large this preserve is. The views seemed to go on forever.

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To the south, the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center looms in the distance. Every Apollo rocket and space shuttle that ever flew was put together in this building. At 129,428,000 cubic feet, it is one of the largest buildings on Earth by volume.

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And this is how a row of mangroves looks in infancy. Some of the ones along the Indian River are so expansive, a kayaker could easily get lost in them.

The next day, we went to Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge to visit the Barrier Island Education Center. There we learned about the sea turtle nesting efforts along the east coast of Florida. We followed that up with a visit to Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge. This particular wild place is special in that it was the first wildlife refuge ever established in the United States.

They have a unique boardwalk that has slats inscribed for every one of the over 500 refuges across the country.

And there at the top of the walk is Pelican Island, a small 6 acre piece of land set aside by Teddy Roosevelt in 1903. What started out as a 6 acre preserve has grown to a national system of natural spaces covering over 150 million acres. Pretty cool to think you don’t have to go far to find a wild place in the United States. Thank you Teddy! 🙂

It was great to see Jodee and Bill (and Tessa) again! It’s also great to be back in Florida, our adopted home state. Stay tuned to see what other adventures we embark on over the winter. If you are in the area, give us a shout! Until next time, safe and happy travels to all. 🙂

Back in August, Diana’s mom was doing well enough that we thought we could possibly spend the winter in Florida. We put a deposit down on a campground in Malabar, Florida. We also purchased two round trip tickets for Diana to fly back and tend to her mom every few weeks. As time wore on, we realized that Mom’s deteriorating condition would require us to stay, so we planned on spending the winter in Michigan. A special thank you to Southwest Airlines for refunding those non-refundable tickets! When her mom passed December 1, there was no longer a need to remain in Michigan. Our friends from Wild Cherry, Rod and Mary, have a home in Melbourne Beach, just across the Indian River from Malabar. Rod had spotted a place he thought we would like better, right on the beach. Problem was, they didn’t take reservations! Well, knowing we had a place in Malabar definitely helped, so we made a dash to get here, in hopes that they still had a spot for us. They did indeed, and our new home for the next few months is Melbourne Beach Mobile Park!

Our first morning was greeted with a beautiful sunrise. The previous 4 days was all driving, so we were ready to sit still. 🙂

Our site is big enough for both of our vehicles; something that is fairly hard to find in Florida…especially near the beach.

The park spans the entire barrier island, from the Atlantic Ocean…

……to the intercoastal waterway known as the Indian River. There is good fishing to be had off of their dock. A1A, the famous coastal highway, divides the beach side of the park from the main portion of the property.

There are plenty of pelicans, cormorants, egrets and heron that frequent this side of the island. It is also a great place to watch a sunset.

We took a walk to the ocean side of the park this morning and strolled the beach. The gentle slope of the sand reminded me a lot of Daytona.

There was a sea bird convention going on along this portion of the beach.

A good portion of these birds were Royal Terns. Diana also took a video of a group of Sanderlings that you can view here. They were very entertaining to watch!

There were a few Turkey Vultures feeding on dead fish.

This Atlantic Ghost Crab popped out of its hole to pay us a visit.

We saw several Portugese Man o’ War on the beach. Good reason to stay out of the water…and be very careful where you are walking!

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This Great Blue Heron was fishing in an eddy. We were able to walk within a few yards of it when we passed by.

While Melbourne Beach Mobile Park may not be the newest or fanciest park in the area, it appears to be fairly well maintained. We are looking forward to being able to just relax and enjoy the area, along with visiting friends and relatives. Cape Canaveral is just a little ways north of us. The Keys are just a few hours south of here. It is just perfect for what we need right now. 🙂
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