Lunar Eclipse December 21 210

Today in the early hours of the morning, 1:30 to be exact we got to witness a rare spectacle. A total lunar eclipse which coincided with the winter solstice. The last time this occurred was December 21, 1638 - 372 years ago and will not occur again until December 21, 2094.
I had to borrow the photo above because our camera would not capture the beautiful copper color of the moon.
The skies were clear here in Daytona Beach and it was a rare and beautiful spectacle which lasted roughly three hours.

Goodyear Tire Test at Daytona Speedway

Since the opening of the Daytona Speedway in 1959 the track has only been repaved once in 1978 and at that time it was only resurfaced. The 2010 paving project took all the existing asphalt off down to the limestone base. The track base remained true to Bill Fanace Sr's original plan.
Paving began on July 5th 2010 and was completed enough today to host The Goodyear Tire Test. Eighteen drivers are taking advantage of the two day tire test getting a preview of the track surface before the big race February 20 2011.


We got to watch some of the testing today and it was amazing. You could litterly feel your chest compressing as the cars passed by.

Canaveral National Seashore

Today we went to see Turtle Mound which we discovered was located in Canaveral National Seashore park. The park located on barrier island is home to many species of plants and birds. The park has the longest undeveloped stretch of beach (24 miles) on the east coast of the state. The north portion of the park is connected to the southern portion by the beach only and has no through road.


Turtle Mound consists of more than 33,000 cubic yards of oyster and other shells, and covers nearly two acres (8,100m2) This prehistoric mound stands nearly 50 feet high and was constructed by the Timucuan Indians as far back as 800 to 1,400 AD.
There was a wooden walkway leading to the summit of the mound and on our way up we encountered this vulture who held his ground until we got very close.



On our drive we stopped to see what remains of the once thriving town of Eldora. The town was settled around 1877 with the settlers clearing the land, installing cisterns and planting crops. Some of the crops included pineapple, citrus, olives and vegetables.
Two years of killing frost in 1890 destroyed most of the citrus industry causing many of the residents to leave and by the turn of the century almost all business on the island had ended.
A few of the remaining residents kept their homes as vacation homes for many years but eventually this too ceased.
The Eldora State house has been restored and is now a museum to offer an example of the homes during the era when Eldora was a thriving community.
We drove out as far as the road extends on the north portion of the park and stopped for a short walk on the beach. During and for 48 hours after a successful space launch this section of the park is closed to the public. NASSA positions its northern most tracking device in this area during launches.

Daytona Speedway

Today we took a tour of the Daytona Speedway, home of the Daytona 500, one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR. The track was built in 1958 to host the former Daytona Beach Road Course race and opened in 1959. 1958 was the last year that Daytonas race was held on the beach.
The track was designed to give spectators a better view of the race and to allow the cars to reach higher speeds.


The track features multiple layouts, the primary being the 2.5 mile (4.0km) high speed tri-oval. The tracks 180-acre infield also includes the 29-acre lake Loyd which was formed when millions of tons of soil was removed to help form the high banked turns on the track. The high water table in the area resulted in the hole quickly filling with water forming Lake Loyd.
In July of 2010 repaving of the track began and is expected to be completed by December 15 2010. Goodyear has scheduled a tire-test on the new surface for this date.

This tunnel runs under the track and is used to get people and vehicles to the track and infield.

Multiple garages are available for the drivers and their crew members and are assigned by the speedway.
This is one of the inspection stations where everything is weighed and measured to ensure that it meets the racing standards set by Daytona Speedway. The car is weighed with the driver inside it so even the drivers weight has to be accounted for.
We got to visit Victory Lane....notice the black marks left by the last winners tires.
We got to view the track from the press tower.



This is the official pace car for the Daytona 500 race in 2011.