Astronauts & Atlantis

I have always enjoyed learning about space, watching the stars, and seeing pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope. I used to think being an astronaut would be so cool. I find it to be magnificent, amazing, and awe-inspiring. The fact that God went to such great trouble to create the beauty of outer space and places seemingly out of reach is always such a marvel to me.

Since we moved to Florida several years ago, I have been wanting to make a trip to Kennedy Space Center. Over Labor Day weekend, we finally had time and money to go. I was motivated by the fact that Little Bear was working on a NOVA award, for Cub Scouts, that required a visit to a place that investigates or teaches about space. While we were there Little Bear had to ask several questions to people who worked there.

We arrived at Kennedy Space Center in the morning and the first place we stopped was the rocket garden. We took a short tour and learned about the different types of rockets NASA sent up with satellites and astronauts. In the rocket garden, we had the opportunity to sit inside of capsules. Sitting inside of the capsules I learned, that I would never want to be an astronaut. The capsules are VERY close quarters. You are trapped in a small space with no real way to move around. In capsules with more than one person, you are stuck in basically a bus seat with someone next to you for hours or even days. I don't like anyone enough to be in such close proximity for that long. Between watching Howard on "The Big Bang Theory" and how much he didn't like being in space and sitting in the capsules I no longer think being an astronaut is so cool or at least not cool for me to want to do it.

Our next stop was the Mars exhibit, where we learned about what NASA and Space X are doing to work towards getting people to Mars. This was one of Little Bear's favorite exhibits. He thinks working for NASA would be really cool. He does not want to be in a rocket hurtling through space for two and a half years. His proud Mama Bear thinks he could be an engineer or something. I don't think he needs to be a pilot though, or at least not yet. His lunar module landing skills and capsule docking skills leave a lot to be desired according to repeated crashing in the simulations.

One of my favorite parts of the day was our lunch with an astronaut. The food was delicious. There was a wide variety of things in a buffet with a few things I could eat and tons of things my guys scarfed down like hungry animals. The astronaut that came to lunch was Jack Lousma. I had never heard of him prior to deciding to our arrival. I did a quick google search before lunch to learn a little about him. He spent time on Skylab and piloted the space shuttle Columbia. My favorite part of the meal was listening to him talk about landing the Space Shuttle Columbia at White Sands, New Mexico.

We had seen the Space Shuttle Discovery in Washington D.C., so I was not really that excited. Little Bear did not remember seeing the shuttle in D.C. though so this was something we had to do. The display at Kennedy Space Center beats the Smithsonian. You enter the building and are ushered into a moving video then you move into another room where they start a video that makes you feel like you are watching the shuttle fly. As the video ends the wall lifts up and you are face to face with the Space Shuttle Atlantis. I will say I was disappointed at first that we had to sit through two movies to get to the Space Shuttle, but the videos were so moving that they are well worth the wait to see the Space Shuttle Atlantis revealed in such a magical moment. The space shuttle is up off the floor and at an angle that makes it seem to be flying through the air. It was nothing short of awesome.

The Kennedy Space Center is not Disney World, but it is an amazing place that everyone needs to visit. There are people from all walks of life, from countries far and wide. There is more to see and do than you could possibly get through in one day. If you or your kiddos are interested in space science, NASA, or anything remotely related this is a wonderful place to learn and get some real-life insights.

Why Can't We Be Friends?

I have always loved going to zoos and wildlife parks. I love to look at the animals. My problem is that it does not seem like animals like me. I have been bitten and attacked by all sorts of animals.

The first occurrence of my bad luck came when I was about five years old. We were at Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch, which is a drive through wildlife park where you can feed the animals. When you enter the park they tell you that feeding the animals is at your own risk. They also tell you to drop the food onto the ground and do not feed the animals out of your hands. Well, I was feeding the animals out of my hands and it was all going great until we got to the zebras. In case you never knew, zebras bite, often, and one bit me right in the palm of my hand. To this day I am still frightened of zebras and their giant faces and teeth.

My fear of zebras is nothing compared to my fear of cheetahs. Most people probably think this is nuts, but I have a legitimate reason for my terror. We were visiting the zoo when I was around eight years old. I vividly remember that I was wearing a bright yellow shirt that day. The cheetahs enclosure could be seen from above as well as from a window at ground level. My family had walked down the stairs and was looking at the cheetah that was laying down a long way from the window and I had stopped at the top of the stairs to look at another animal. They had been watching it for a while when I walked down the stairs. When I reached the window the cheetah had seen me and run all the way across the enclosure and slammed into the glass window right where I was standing. I am pretty sure I cried or screamed or both. To this day I do not wear yellow shirts. I have bought yellow shirts a couple of times only to wear them and remember the cheetah. Those yellow shirts quickly got donated to the Salvation Army.

Then, there were several times I got bit by birds. Birds are mean and they hurt. Landa Park always has ducks and geese that people feed. When we would go to the park we occasionally fed them. The bad part comes when you quit feeding the geese or when they think you should start feeding them. They chase you down and will bite you. You may think getting bit by a goose is not painful, but it does not feel good. My other most hated bird is some kind of crowned something or another from Africa. I got bit by this bird at the zoo and it really, hurts. I won't lie and say that this was the birds fault. I was a dumb child who did not listen to my parents or obey the signs that told me not to put my fingers in the cages. So, I put my childish fingers in the cage to touch the beautiful crowned bird and instead of touching fluffy feathers, I got bit in the finger by a sharp beak.

The last bad animal encounter comes from my adult life. Let me just say I did not really learn my lesson from my past animal encounters. When I was pregnant with Little Bear, we went on a trip to Texas and went to Fossil Rim, another drive through wildlife place. I was feeding the addax and when I quit feeding one of them it made him angry. He somehow managed to get part of his horns IN THE CAR and was bashing me in the head with his horns and the top of his head. It was scary and painful. When he whacked me in the head, Popeye said I had a strange and confused look on my face. He asked if I was okay and I responded with something like, "Yeah, I guess so."  I was yelling at Popeye to "Go, Go" and he said something along the lines of "I can't his head is in the car," as I got whacked in the head again. I kept yelling and finally Popeye started driving. What felt like a long time later with a combination of Popeye driving and me shoving the mean antelope away we got away and I was safe again.

Since then, I really try to be more careful with wildlife. I have successfully taken Little Bear to a drive through wildlife ranch without any injuries. I don't stick my fingers through cages now. I don't feed birds. I roll the windows up when we get close to zebras. I don't wear yellow shirts. I hope my awful animal encounters are over.

In Honor of My Mom's Birthday - A Funny Story

In honor of my mom's million and third birthday (she is really not very old, I just love to pick on her), I am going to share one of my favorite stories. I am sure she would rather me share about the time we went to Alaska and flew in a helicopter to land on a glacier, but that is not my story for today.

A long time ago, when I was in high school, we went to North Carolina. It was a sort of last minute trip. My dad was going for business and had been gone an awful lot so he took the family with him. While he worked, my mom, my brother, and I went to see the sights.

One of our trips was to some kind of zoo or animal refuge. It was a small place that took in retired circus animals and animals that had once been pets. They had a lot of bears, monkeys, and apes. When you paid you could get food to feed the animals. They didn't come up and take the food from your hand, you kind of had to throw it into the cage.

We walked up to a cage of some type of monkeys. It has been a long time and in my old age, I cannot remember what type they were. We stood there and fed them for a while.... and then, my mom got tired of feeding them. When she quit one of the monkeys was not happy with that and he spit.... Right on her.

My brother and I found this to be the funniest thing ever and were laughing hysterically. My mom threw him another piece of food and then started to turn away. When she did he spit again and hit his mark. And let me tell you something about monkey spit, it is not as much like people spit as you would think. It is horribly stinky, it is slimier, and it has visible particles of monkey food in it, and I won't lie, all of those things made it seem even funnier that my dear mother got spit on by a monkey and not just once. Sometimes I wish it was in the days of cell phones so we could have taken a video to save forever. It always makes me laugh. Since it was long before those days, I will just share the story for all to read.

Happy birthday, Mom! Hope you have a glorious day and do not get spit on by monkeys!

Five Free and Cheap Places to Go in Northeast Florida

1.) Big Talbot Island State Park

Big Talbot Island State Park is a stunning park. It has beautiful hiking trails and also has stunning beaches. Much of the beach is covered by tree “graveyards”. These long dead trees have fallen on the beach making a hauntingly beautiful scenery. When we arrived at the park on a late morning the fog was an almost eerie sight. We walked for a while down the beach and climbed on the dead trees. We also found whelks, crustaceans, jellyfish, birds, and horseshoe crab skeletons.

Admission to the park is $3 per vehicle for day use. You can find more information on Big Talbot Island State Park here.   

2.) Castillo de San Marcos National Monument

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument is found in Saint Augustine. This fort was built between 1672 and 1695. It was built by the Spanish and later used by the British, the United States, and the Confederate States. It is made of coquina that was found on Anastasia Island. The fort is now run by the National Park Service and regularly has re-enactments with cannons and muskets. The fort also provides incredible views of the water and boats coming and going through the channel.

Admission to the park is $10 per adult and free for children 15 and under. More information about Castillo de San Marcos can be found here.

3.) Camp Blanding Museum and Memorial Park

Camp Blanding Museum and Memorial Park is just a little ways south of Jacksonville, Florida. Camp Blanding is a military reservation and training base for the Florida National Guard. Just outside of the base gates you can find the museum and memorial park. Inside the museum is an array of exhibits from World War I, World War II, Vietnam, and Korea. At one time this base served as a training station for the United States Army as well as a prisoner of war camp. The stories you can read in the museum are enlightening. Outside you can find many aircraft and army vehicles dating from World War I all the way to Desert Storm. The museum is run by volunteers, mostly veterans who have been stationed or trained here.

Admission is free, but they do accept donations. You can find more information about Camp Blanding Museum and Memorial Park here.

4.) Riverside Arts Market

Riverside Arts Market is a weekly event held on Saturdays from 10 am - 3 pm. This weekly event is a gathering of local artists, farmers, restaurants, and musicians. There are food trucks and booths galore. The artists sell paintings, photographs, signs, jewelry, and so much more. The farmers sell local and seasonal produce, honey, baked goods, and eggs. Each week there are different musicians. There are also themed markets geared towards different types of music, cultural groups, pets, and more. The market is pet-friendly and fun for the whole family. It is under a bridge along the river so the scenery is nice.

Admission to the market is free. Parking is somewhat difficult and you may have to walk a little ways to get to the market. You can find more information about the Riverside Arts Market, including booths and farmers, here.

5.) Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve Beach Access Points

I love the beach. There are a couple of things I look for when I look for a good beach. First, I want to go somewhere that is pretty clean. Second, I want to go somewhere that the water does not get too deep too quickly. Third, I want to go somewhere with a decent amount of shells and hopefully shark’s teeth. The beaches that have access from the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve have been among my favorite. These beach access points are between Jacksonville and Saint Augustine along A1A. They are not too crowded and I always find several shark’s teeth as well as a variety of shells.

Admission to these beaches is free. You can find more information about these beaches and the reserve here.

My Top 10 Favorite Places to Visit

I have been blessed in my life to travel across much of the United States. I have been to 36 of 50 states, not including the states I have only been to airports in. Many of the states I have been to were in my childhood, but they were still amazing and memorable. In my adult life, I have also been to some glorious places.

Out of all these great states, I have ten places I have most enjoyed visiting and have some of my fondest memories at.

1) The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, NM & CO

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is by far my favorite place. First, the historic steam train is super cool. Second, the landscape and scenery are gorgeous. The first time I was there I was in kindergarten and we saw the Indiana Jones train cars on the tracks. We visited the railroad almost every year after that until I graduated high school. I have been blessed to go back several times as an adult and love it just as much if not more now.

2) The Alamo & Missions, San Antonio, TX

The Alamo and the missions in San Antonio will always have a special place in my heart. First, they are an amazing part of Texas history. They have a sad story that is also filled with hope and joy. They are also a place of beauty and peace. I can wander these missions for hours or sit and enjoy the peace that I feel in these places.

3) Shenandoah National Park, VA

Shenandoah National Park has a special place in my heart. It is one of the first places we took Little Bear hiking. We also went camping there once and saw more bears than I had ever seen. We saw 11 bears on our trip including three bear cubs. It was amazing. Skyline Drive is an amazing drive through the mountains, whether it is spring, summer, winter, or fall.  

4) Echo Amphitheater, NM 

Echo Amphitheater is an interesting and beautiful rock formation found in New Mexico. It is a lovely spot stuck between the mountains and the High Desert. The landscape is stunning. So stunning in fact that many famous artists such as Georgia O'Keefe have used the scenery for inspiration for their work.

5) Cass Scenic Railroad, WV

The Cass Scenic Railroad is a really neat place in West Virginia. When Popeye came home from his first deployment. While the Cass will never take the place of the Cumbres and Toltec it is a truly beautiful railroad. It is in the middle of nowhere, which gives it a really nice relaxing atmosphere. The Cass Scenic Railroad and the wonderful bed and breakfast we stayed at made a perfect getaway after months apart.

6) Top of the Rock, NYC, NY 

When we visited New York City it was a really neat trip. We did a lot of cool stuff including seeing the Statue of Liberty, but I felt overwhelmed by the crowds everywhere. I was thrilled with the views from The Top of the Rock. Top of the Rock was amazing. We could see all of New York City from up there. It was a special moment in time that I will never forget. 

7) Yellowstone National Park 

Yellowstone National Park is a really stunning place. We went when I was in middle school. I don't think my family planned to go there on vacation, but we ended up there. It was one of the coolest vacations we ever went on. We saw wildlife galore, but even cooler than the wildlife are the geysers, springs, and mud pots. The bubbling ground is so interesting. The science and nature combined to make bubbling mud pots, water that has so much acid it can dissolve almost anything, and water that shoots through the crust of the earth rising high into the sky at regular intervals is a feat that only God could perfect. 

8) Colonial Williamsburg Williamsburg, VA 

Colonial Williamsburg is a beautiful historic area. It has more history than almost anywhere I have ever been. The Revolutionary War and Colonial history here give you opportunities to learn so many stories. Besides learning about all the history you can enjoy the stunning gardens. During Christmastime, the Colonial style decorations are interesting and have inspired lots of craft projects for me. 

9) Fort Washington National Park, Fort Washington, MD 

Fort Washington National Park can be found tucked away along the Potomac River just outside of Washington D.C. It is a quiet park with an amazing historic fort that served our country from 1809 until 1939. The historic fort has a beautiful view across the river. It is filled with historic batteries, cannons, and more history than most of us can imagine. When you walk down from the fort to the shores of the Potomac you can fish and find sea glass or river glass as the case may be.  

10) The Blue Ridge Parkway, NC and VA

The Blue Ridge Parkway is the first place Popeye and I went camping. It is also where we rode the first train together of our married life. We made several trips up and down parts of The Blue Ridge Parkway in the early years of our marriage. It will always be one of my favorite places. The Scenery is lovely.