We flew into Orlando this afternoon, did a loop up Orange Blossom Blvd. scoping out the festive populace, whipped through downtown and headed due east out towards Cape Canaveral. President Obama himself was here this afternoon touring the NASA facilities. Just a couple hours earlier. The man, in the same town we were racing towards. Obama. Space. That logo of his. That Bicentennial logo NASA co-opted. Our big USA. Too much to think about on a tollway. More on this later.

Driving towards the beach, with dense swamp on either side of us, little inlets and spits and lakes would emerge every now and again and then there’d be a bridge to go over and hell, we even saw a couple signs warning boaters to take it easy as they were in a “Manatee Zone.†That one put a big ol’ smile on my face.

Cocoa Beach, you beachcombin’ lazyboy of a town, you’ve been good to us! First, it’s nice and cool out, with a smooth breeze kind of roaring off the water. Much like looking out over that big goddamn Pacific out west, I look east here and think of leviathan in the deep, Spanish explorers pillaging and slave traders and their defeated cargo.

Driving down the strip tonight I noticed some bar & grill joint with a marquee saying something like, “Comedy Night Michael Winslow Police Academy.†That guy? Yeah, that Michael Winslow. Awesome. We pulled in and he was cleaning up his gear from the stage, having just finished his set. We got a nice handshake and shot the shit about my love for his mouth/sound effects in those ‘80s, his pal Bobcat and his Spokane roots. Nice, nice guy. We bought his touring DVD and will enjoy it upon our return to Portland.

That is, if we don’t just throw it all away and spend the rest of our lives riding bikes around Florida beach towns, sunbaked, with dirty hair, cutoff shorts and beer breath. I’ve seen a lot of hardscrabble types taking shit real easy around here. “The Dude†kinds of guys, right? And I asked Leigh today, “Who’s got more? The guy with the houses and divorces and problems or the guy who just wants a cold beer and smoke?†Fair question.

If you ever come to Cocoa Beach, and are a bit jetlagged and are hungry in the late hours of the night, we’d like to recommend Papa Vito’s I-talian restaurant. Good eats! Open late. There you go.

Tomorrow morning we’re going to look at this. Can’t wait. But of course, I’ll be thinking of this paint job.

Then we’re gonna drive over to Orlando. I’m gonna give VCC all I’ve got in me. Seriously.

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I WAS RAISED ON CHALLENGERS: I miss all the cool stuff. Here’s a project from last fall where all sorts of space folks designed up their best version of the patch to signify the end of NASA’s space shuttle program.

And, in the spirit of “humankind’s spirited conquest of the atmosphere, moon and galaxy at large” I’ll just refrain from any/all snarky comments regarding some of the submissions. I’m more pumped on the overall spirit and gusto. I’m just pissed as hell I missed the boat/shuttle on this one.

Here’s one Ryno submitted. Nice try, brother!

This one got my vote. I mean, at least it’s honest.

So anyway, awhile back on those Twitter feeds, the little pixies from Portland’s dance sensation Yacht challenged me to make my own version of the patch. And that’s what you are seeing up above. I did a pile tonight, unable to sleep here in Cocoa Beach. There’s a couple putting my best foot forward, way after the fact.

Just keepin’ it simple, astronauts.

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THEN I REMEMBERED THIS ONE: The incredible “Teacher in Space” patch from awhile back. So good.