Kennedy Space Center

Today, we got up at the crack of dawn (ok, ok, it was only 8 but that is early on a weekend!), and we met Krishan, Mona, and Krishan's dad to go to Kennedy Space Center. I hadn't ever been, and I was really excited. Mike and the kids had baseball and softball all day, so they didn't go. I enjoyed the ride over (only 2 hours - I always forget that it is that short!), and we got there around 11:30. We got the up close tour, so we went exploring until our tour at 1:40. We did the simulator that they said cost 60 million to build. Krishan said he couldn't see how it cost that much. I tried to explain that anything the government does costs 10 times as much (if not more) than it does when non-government companies do something. I used that as a time to exlain why republicans are better because they believe in private companies and people determining how the work is done and the money is spent. Bad Democrats. :) The simulator is fun, but it could have been a lot better.

After the simulator, we went into the model of a shuttle (or orbitor as I found out it is supposed to be called). It was amazing to see how large it is. Then, we went to get lunch. Morgan had chocolate ALLLL over her, so we bought a t-shirt and she changed into jeans.

At 1:40, we went on the bus with BZ as our narrator. He was pretty good and told lots of interesting details. We saw an eagle's nest that was as big as a king sized bed. He told us about the carrier that takes 8 hours to take the shuttle to the launch pad. We saw the launch pad that sent people to the moon and the one that launched Columbia and Challenger. We saw alligators. We heard about the 400,000 gallons of water that rush onto the launch pad to lower the sound waves and to prevent them from bouncing back up to the shuttle and causing damage. We learned that if you are within 3 miles of the shuttle launch that the sound waves will stop your heart and bust your ear drums. We saw where the space station parts are worked on, where the shuttles are stored, learned about the escape baskets and the escape vehicles. We saw the HUGE US flag painted on the building. We learned that there are 14,000 employees at Kennedy. Amazing operation. Great tour.

We then went to see an IMAX on the moon. It was pretty good. I never really thought about the fact that only 12 men have been there. Tom Hanks was a great narrator in the movie. I also didn't know about the moon vehicle that crashed. Glad they made it out. It was interesting to see the astronauts leave their pictures of them and their families behind. I wonder if anyone has ever found them?

We made necklaces for all of the family (they can be luggage tags), and we got some t-shirts. Morgan really liked the freeze-dried ice cream, and she got some freeze-dried chocolate also (SHOCKER).

The drive back was good, and we met Mike and the kids at Vallartes. I am starting to feel like the Vallartes are my relatives.

It is official - college football is over. When Florida and Alabama are both in the top 4 AND UGA, Auburn, Mississippi State, AND Tennessee lose, it is time to focus on the NFL. GOOOO TITANS!