Kennedy Space Center

A few months ago I checked out NASA's website and "discovered" (not meant to be a pun) the Discovery Space Shuttle was scheduled to launch on Thursday, Feb 12. So a few months ago I knew where I was going to be with my family on Feb 12.

Years ago, I had to conduct some business in Florida so Cindi and I were in Daytona Beach using free nights at the Hilton (with all my free points) excited about watching a shuttle launch. "8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3..." They stopped the launch due to some technical whatever. Bummer. We did get to see it go up from the Orlando Hilton parking lot (an hour + drive away) a few days later but it wasn't the same. So I was not going to let this opportunity escape. What a great experience for the kids not to mention us.

We ventured south from our oceanfront spot and ended up getting into Titusville, FL after dark so placed the RV in a Cracker Barrel parking lot for the night. For those who don't know, Cracker Barrel is a homecookin' restraraunt with a county store, almost always on a main highway. They happen to pride themselves on being RV friendly. It was about then that I discovered the Space Shuttle launch, set for Thursday, had been POSTPONED! Suck! At that point the websites stated the Shuttle would launch no earlier than Feb 22! My first thought was... we might be able to work that into our schedule... (the fact is... we really don't even have a schedule ;-) ).

With the change in launch date I decided to change our plans as well. I decided to take the kids to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Visitor's Complex. I thought it might be crowded so I got there at 8:15 am. That certainly wasn't necessary. At 9, when they opened I think there were 9 cars (and 1 huge RV) in the parking lot. Hey, good for us though. The prices were a bit steep at $38 for me and $28 the kids but the tickets were good for 2 days. We headed first to their newest attraction, the Shuttle Launch Experience. Kind of like a Disney Star Tours but better. You basically simulate a Space Shuttle takeoff. A good start. Then we hit the IMAX Space Station 3D movie followed by the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Bus Tour. The first stop on the tour was the LC-39 Observation Gantry. We could see in the not so far distance Pad 39A&B. 39A actually already had the Discovery Shuttle on the pad ready to go (well apparently not so ready). The second stop was the Apollo/Saturn V Center with some very cool stuff (it's getting late--can you tell?). The third stop, the International Space Station Center, we didn't even go to as there was an ammonia leak. That was about all the kids could take for the day. They did enjoy the freeze dried space ice cream (Pey) and the Space Dots Ice Cream (Tan & SC). We crashed that night at one of our old favorites, WM.

The next morning I leisurely pulled into the KSC at 9 am. No big crowds. Believe it or not there were quite a few attractions we still had yet to experience. We toured the Robot Scouts exhibit, the Rocket Garden, and the Children's Playzone. One of the highlights for me was the Astronaut Encounter where we listened to a real astronaut, in our case it was Roger Crouch (payload specialist). He talked for about 30 minutes then we all got a photo with him after his presentation. There were several interesting things he said in his presentation but one thing that stuck with me was this. Someone asked if going up in space was the best thing he's ever done. I guess part of you expects him to say, "yes,' because the whole astronaut things is so amazing and so few people actually get such an experience (approx. 500), but he actually nonchalantly said he lists it in his Top 10. ?!? He went on to say that finding love and marrying his wife, raising kids, and having grand kids, rank so much higher. It really makes sense though. It is awesome to see the Earth from space and see all the stars and be in awe of God's creation but what really brings happiness is family, giving, faith, hope and love.

OK got deep there. We then lightening our day up by going to the Mad Mission to Mars (described as a Zany Kid's show). Sterling volunteered to hold Mars on stage which was fine till he started to ham-it-up and dropped Mars--good thing there are no living life forms on the planet. Lastly we caught another IMAX movie about our moon entitled, "Magnificent Desolation." To finish off the day we drove a few miles to the US Astronaut Hall of Fame. Lots of reading, plaques, articles and memorabilia. Hate to say it, but that was exactly what the kids didn't need. So we took the abridged self-guided tour of the building and called it a day.

We finally actually stayed at a RV Park, The Great Outdoors, RV, Nature & Golf Resort in Titusville, FL.