The children and I got up around 7:30 and got ourselves ready to go, and had breakfast at Einstein Brothers Bagels, down the street from our hotel - yum! Then I bravely drove an unfamiliar car on unfamiliar roads through central Florida...to the Kennedy Space Center!
As we prepared to board a bus for the tour of the facility, a photographer was taking pictures of everyone in front of this picture. Apparently I wasn't supposed to take my own picture, but said policy was not posted, so I did anyway. The woman was so rude to us that I wouldn't have bought her picture even if I didn't have one of my own. You're not at Disney anymore, Dorothy!
The first stop on the bus tour was the LC-39 Observation Gantry where we could look around and take pictures of the launch pads and their contents. We were at the KSC on 3 November, just 13 days before Atlantis is scheduled to launch! Here it is!
LOX - no smoking!
See? Atlantis on Pad A!
Here's the crawler that they use to take the launch assembly (shuttle plus boosters, etc.) to the launch pad from the Vehicle Assembly Building (in the background). It moves along a gravel track (near background) at 1 mile an hour!
How's that for a rocket engine? :)
We spent so much time on the bus between stops, we figured we needed some pictures of us on the ride.
Aidan took our picture. :)
The next stop on the tour is the Apollo/Saturn V Center. It's a huge building.
Corvette - the ground transportation choice of astronauts.
And here's why.
Here's just one section of a 363-foot moon rocket from the Apollo program. Upon arrival in the building, we saw a re-creation of an Apollo launch. Cool.
A lunar rover.
A lunar landing module.
Touch the moon!
Another section of an Apollo rocket.
The NASA van!
We also watched a re-creation of a moon landing in the Lunar Theater at the Apollo/Saturn V building, before boarding the bus to the International Space Station Center. There, we got to see a few Space Station modules - a habitation module, where the astronauts live (complete with toilet and stand-up bed), as well as a research module, showing plants growing in "zero gravity".
Then it was back to the Visitor Center, on which ride we were reminded multiple times that "this ain't Disney". I think the kids enjoyed it anyway, but I personally would have been more engaged in the whole thing if the guides had taken a less whiny lecturing tone.
Here's a big granite ball on a column of water, which if you push really hard, you can make its spinning change direction! It is a model of the stars and constellations visible from Earth.
Back to Earth in the landing pod!
Snoopy - the astronauts' mascot. :)
Two astronauts spent 14 days in this vehicle - they couldn't lie down or even stretch their legs.
I had to lie down to get the whole rocket in the picture!
Cool fountain in the Rocket Garden.
After the Kennedy Space Center, we got back on the road for a short trip to Cocoa Beach. We had intelligence from a local (thank you, Shyam!) that we could park for free at the Ron Jon Surf Shop and walk to the beach. So we did! It was super windy and there was a yellow warning flag next to the lifeguard's chair, but it was a warm wind and quite pleasant there on the beach.
This was our kids' first experience on an ocean beach. Last summer we did experience the Atlantic Ocean in Massachusetts and Connecticut, but while we did touch the ocean, it was on a rocky outcrop and it was way too cold to wade in it!
Our kids are quite used to the "big" water, having spent a lot of their lives near the Lake Michigan coast, but they were surprised at the ocean! They were surprised at the salt sting, as well as the big waves. The "big waves" at Grand Haven or Holland are nothing compared to just medium waves on the ocean! They were mesmerized by the surf, and when the water would pull back after crashing on the shore, they got really dizzy!
I love this picture of the kids - if I could describe their personalities in one picture, this would be it. Aidan - quiet, contemplative and introverted. Esme - loud, exuberant and extroverted. I love my babies. :)
After Aidan lost his balance (watching the water pull back into the ocean) and fell in, we headed back to the parking lot, but stopped by the dune grass to take a few pictures.
We had bathing suits in the car, in case the weather was appropriate for swimming, so Aidan just changed into his from his wet clothes. We had to stop in the Surf Shop, of course. Esme got a Groovy Girl with a Ron Jon shirt, Aidan got a frisbee, and I got myself a neon pink long-sleeve t-shirt, to bring some Florida sunshine home. I think it will help during a long Michigan winter!
We stopped while still in Cocoa Beach for dinner at McDonald's, and then headed back to Orlando. I have to say I did really well, for the first time ever driving a Ford, for the first time ever driving in Florida! I didn't get lost at all and it was a really smooth trip. (Smooth in all senses of the word, I sure wish Michigan's roads were as nice as Florida's!)
Back at our hotel, we took the opportunity to swim in the pool for a little while, since we hadn't been swimming anywhere yet on the whole trip! At first we couldn't find the pool because we were looking for it inside the building...but that is kind of silly in Florida, and we eventually found it outside. :)
Back in our room for the night, I had to begin the task of packing twice as much stuff in the same luggage we came with (fortunately Jim had taken a large amount of dirty clothes with him in a small bag), so I ordered up "G-Force," a Disney movie about secret agent guinea pigs, for the children to watch while I worked. I managed to roll, stuff, and squeeze everything into the required number of carry-on items, and then we hit the sack.
The next morning we were up way early and had breakfast at the hotel. We stopped for cash (tollway on the way to the airport), filled up the car with gas, and checked in at the airport to get our boarding passes. We went through security in the "families and those needing special assistance" line, and of course the bag in which we were carrying seven lightsabers (one we had taken as part of Aidan's Halloween costume, a Mickey-embellished one and five custom-made ones we'd purchased at Disney) was "suspicious" and thus was searched. I had a heck of a time getting everything back into it, but the security guy was friendly and helpful.
We stopped at the Life is Good store to pick up a few t-shirts, and then had lunch at a Famous Famiglia pizza place before heading to our gate. Our flight was on-time and half-empty, and we frantically did homework during the whole flight.
We arrived in Cleveland and found our gate for Grand Rapids, and read books and relaxed for a couple of hours, enjoying some McAlister's for dinner somewhere in there, and then flew to Grand Rapids, where we got everything gathered up and out to the shuttle, into the car, and home!!!!
I was so glad I'd cleaned and done everything at home in advance. I had almost everything put away and even had some laundry started before the kids even got out of the tub. We had our usual bedtime routine and got to bed on time for school the next day.
What a fabulous trip!!! We are so blessed to be a family and it was beyond excellent to have such an amazing time together.