Day 5 of Florida travels

December 18, 2008

Today was a great day! We went to Kennedy Space Center and Cocoa Beach.

We started the adventures out with Kennedy Space Center. I felt just like a child again. It was so amazing! I got to try the launch simulation ride with a bunch of middle schoolers. I was glad though that the school finally got a grant to introduce these kids from Orlando to the possibility of dreams!
We got to walk in to the retired shuttle: Explorer. They had two decks opened up to people, only slightly modified. I did the ride, which was pretty neat. Then we caught the bus tour over to the first stop. It was the LC-39 Observation Gantry. It is the place where you can actually see the two launch pads from a distance. As we were headed there, you could see inside of the Shuttle Assembly Building. The shuttle Endeavor had just returned to KSC yesterday. It had landed last weekend at Edwards Airforce Base in California. I got a few distant pictures of things.

From that stop, we headed on down to the Apollo / Saturn V Center. We watched a couple of short movies about the first launch to the moon Apollo 8. Then we walked out into another room and there, low and behold ..... a Saturn V that had not been used because the last few missions were canceled. We had an overly expensive lunch. I got a few pictures, got to play with a rover, and wish I could play with rockets like that for a living.

Then we moved on to the International Space Station Center stop. By this time, my aunt and uncle were starting to realize we were running out of time and I still wanted to see the ocean. They basically ignored the last stop and let me quickly look. I figured that since this was the kind of stuff I would be working on on my next co-op I should have a gander. It was neat to see portions being built right there!
I grabbed a couple of things in the gift shop and on we went.

I quickly changed at Cocoa Beach. I only had about 45 minutes left to enjoy the Ocean. It was beautiful! I was in aww! I went on a shell search. Told Jimmy he'd get a shell not a rock. But instead he'll get both! I played in the ocean until I couldn't any more. I got body slammed by a few waves, got knocked over by a few others, and just enjoyed it. I was soaked when I got out! Yet it was so worth it. I found a crab on accident. No it didn't grab my toe, but I grabbed it's arm, dropped it, and ran.
It was a great day!