Florida (11th to 18th of March 2019)

On Monday 11th of March we landed in Orlando, FL. We landed at about 9 pm and went directly to our airbnb. We used Uber to get there, it was our first time and we were surprised how good and fast it works. We spent the following day entirely at Universal Studios. Despite being in March and during the week, it was pretty much crowded. However we got to do most of the rides we wanted. It was so much fun! 

The following day we spent some time at the shopping mall "Mall at Millenia", because we wanted to get a new SIM card and data for the phone. Towards the end of the afternoon we moved to Titusville, which is only 1h away from Orlando and where we stayed until friday 15th of March. This little town is known for the Kennedy Space Centre, which we did not visit since we already saw that during our first trip back in 2011. Instead, we got to see this little, widespread town, the beautiful marina and some interesting shops and good cafes. The highlight of our stay was the launch of the rocket Delta 4 Medium+ (5.4). We were very lucky and were able to see the launch from the apartment of our couch surfing host John. His apartment was in a perfect location, just across Cape Canaveral, on the 10th floor of a building right on the ocean. The launch was originally scheduled for  7 pm, but it got delayed to 8.50 pm, which was actually a good thing because it turned into a night launch. It was truly spectacular and a once in a lifetime experience for us! 

On 15th of March in the evening, we moved towards Sanford, a nice little town north of Orlando. A very nice couch surfing couple hosted us in their RV, a truly unique experience. On Saturday our hosts cooked a nice breakfast, with pancakes and hash browns, then they dropped us off in downtown. We visited Sanford, including the marina near lake Monroe. On that day the city was celebrating St. Patrick's day. A lot of food trucks offered a large variety of foods and beverages, life music was playing and there was also the truck pull contest. Different groups of people had to pull a firetruck the fastest possible over the finishing line. A very American activity, funny to watch.

On Sunday we were again spoilt by our hosts, who bought some very good donuts for breakfast. Then they took us to a very nice hike in the nearby Black Bear Wilderness area. All along the hike we saw a lot of interesting birds and different alligators. The hike was in a forest dominated by palmettos and oaks. It looked very different from the woods we are used to, almost jungle-like. 
After the hike we went back home and our host grilled some awesome veggie burgers with "Swiss?" cheese and mushrooms, with a side of grilled asparagus and tots.
We talked a lot, played games and drank wine, a very nice and cosy afternoon. For dinner we cooked for our hosts and continued playing games.

On Monday 18th we unfortunately had to leave and head to the airport for our flight to Los Angeles, CA. Going to the airport, we got to use the new Sun Rail, a new railway line of the area. This was our first experience with the train in the US! Checked :)