121 FLORIDA BOUND

So here I am, waiting for departure.  No, I’m not at the airport yet, I’m on the red-eye tonight.  Over the last few days I have packed, unpacked and repacked my rolling camera bag more than a half dozen times.  I have added lenses and removed lenses, added flashes and removed them, only to add them back in again.  Yet, I had not touched my suitcase, until 9:00 PM last night.

Last time I travelled, I only had a Nikon D-50 and a couple of lenses to choose from as well as a small Sony point and shoot.  Now I’m taking my D4s, a D7100 as backup.  600 mm lens for birds and wildlife as well as other distant things. A wide angle, a macro lens, a 50 mm and a 135 mm a flash unit a macro flash unit, batteries for all and other nick-knacks.  Oh yes, a GoPro which I still haven’t figured out how to use and my iPhone X.  A laptop for editing and my iPad for entertainment.

I am flying Business Class as a result of my VISA card points, I figured I would treat myself.  Not to mention that with my body as banged up as it is, I really don’t think I could fly economy.  I get a little pod all to myself, one that can totally recline into a bed.  I’ll post something from the aircraft tonight.

So, at 9:00 PM when I went up to bed, I finally got busy and packed my suitcase.  A lot of shorts and T-shirts, some jeans and a pair of long pants, plus the usual other stuff.  Oh yeah, a few more pieces of camera gear that wouldn’t fit in the camera bag.  What can I say, my mission for this trip is photography and may include a bucket list item.  I want to be sure to have every conceivable option for getting the shots I want.

I’m also taking sweatpants, a sweatshirt and the warm jacket I’ll be wearing tonight.  Yes, Florida is generally warm, but when I was last there in 1984, we ran into the coldest winter in Florida history.  Oranges were freezing on the trees and they lost something like 50% of their crops.  We had no warm clothes and it must have been funny to see us wandering around Disneyworld with me wearing 4 T-shirts.  This time, I’m ready for anything.  It’s better to have it and not use it than to get stuck again.

The primary goal when I started out is to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  What can I say, I’m a big fan of the books and movies, and to be able to see Hogwart’s, Diagon Alley and all the other things in person will be awesome.  It’s still relatively new, but this is not the bucket list item to which I referred.

Kennedy Space Center is just over an hour away and has a launch scheduled during my time in Florida.  This is the bucket list item.  From my days as a kid, being so avidly into the space program, that I received a nickname of “Major Tom”, think David Bowie, the ability to witness a launch has been something I always wanted to do.  The only stumbling block will be if the mission gets scrubbed because of weather.  I originally planned to rent a car and drive up, but then discovered there are shuttle buses that go everyday.

I have been to the Kennedy Space Center twice before.  Once when I was a teenager, in the middle of the Apollo program, but I was there in-between launches.  The second was a few years after I got married and we went on our honeymoon to Florida.  Again, no launches as it was between Apollo and the Space Shuttle.  This time it’s a resupply mission by SpaceX to the ISS.  So, fingers crossed.

I’m staying in an awesome, 50’s themed hotel called Cabana Bay Beach Resort and it’s in the middle of the Universal Studios theme park complex.  Harry Potter World is right there as well as Universal Studios and Volcano Bay water park.  All within a short walk of the hotel.  I have a 5 day all parks pass.

I will also head over to Disneyworld/Epcot center which is a short Uber ride away.  That will be a first for me as well since we don’t have Uber.  It will be interesting to see the changes and additions to the park since 1984.

It’s not that I haven’t travelled before, and in fact I used to travel quite a bit, mostly for hockey or baseball tournaments, but the last time I travelled was in 2006 to Hawaii.  Things have changed so much security wise and technology wise that I feel like a rookie again.  I’ve been peppering my travel agent with all sorts of questions.  I have also been bugging Trevor and Caitlin as well.  I’m sure everyone is sick of me.

So, anyway, tonight is the night.  A red-eye to Toronto and then an early morning connecting flight to Orlando.  Really early here but a more civilized 8:00 AM EST flight and arrive in Orlando before lunch.  That will allow me to get oriented as to the lay of the land and get rested up to start my Harry Potter explorations on Thursday.  Tally Ho!