Rockets and Sunrises

Kennedy Space Centre really lets you know exactly where you are all the time.
Right in the heart of NASA country and all that it has accomplished in it's space program. The United States of America is very, very proud of what it's done, and they should be.
We decided to visit a true American iconic touristy place while we were here.
Kennedy Space Centre is it!
Really a "Rah, Rah, Americah" type place with SO much to see you need several hours here. I can see why the ticket you get allows you to come back again with in a time period. We had nearly 6 hours here and covered just about everything because it wasn't busy at all. There were hardly any people so all the trips, tours and movies went very smoothly.

The Space Centre (here on called KSC) is very, very well organized and it was a joy to move from exhibit to exhibit. The information lady gave us a really good way to make our day the best.
We saw the IMAX movie on the International Space Centre that was so neat! I was blown away by how huge that thing is floating above us. Then we headed to the tour buses to take us to the launch areas and see the Shuttle prep buildings (from the outside) then to the Apollo and Saturn rocket display area which has an ENTIRE Saturn rocket displayed inside. It was mind blowing to see how huge this thing was. And to think that 3 guys perched their butts on top of it and were hurtled into space. YIKES.

The Man standing under the aft part of the second stage of the rocket.

The Shuttle program is over and the launch areas are being converted to rocket launchers but they look pretty much the same as when they sent people up into space.

This is Launch Pad 39 where the Space Shuttle Program launched. The round dome to the right would have had liquid oxygen in it as fuel. The shuttle would have sat on the right hand side of the launch platform you see, there is space underneath it to allow the rocket booster flames to go through. In the bottom part of the picture is the ramp where the shuttle would have been moved the few miles from the shuttle prep area (at a whopping 1 mile and hour). The picture does not do justice to the sheer enormity of the unit.

Of course there are pieces and bits of the different missions all around and there are places to take pictures with mock ups or the real thing. But of course there are some fun things too.

How cute is that!?
With my pictures of Snoopy and pals from Santa Rosa California I will have a whole album just of Peanuts characters from all over the country! I loved this picture, it was quite comical amidst all the technology and rocketry to see Snoopy. If you look behind him in the picture you'll see front pages from 30 different newspapers around the world announcing that man had landed on the moon. It was a very interesting display (despite the fact that I couldn't understand any of them except the english ones and the french a bit).

The above picture is the Apollo 11 capsule as it was recovered. You can see the burn marks on the bottom as it came through the earth's atmosphere and the paint is all gone from the outside of the whole unit (burned off during re-entry). The parachutes packed in on the top of it are a post re-entry add on as they had been deployed and used. The parachutes are actually the size of a football field when folded out and are compacted using a vacuum system to make them incredibly small. Wow!

This showed to me how powerful re-entry is and what it can do to anything that tries to come back to earth. The scorching on this vessel was unbelievable. The fact that it even survived is something in itself.

 This is Neil Armstrong's suit that he wore on the moon. You can see the dark dust all over the legs and arms of it. That's moon dust and is said to be very, very abrasive and difficult to brush off as it stuck to just about everything. I thought this was neat. To see the suit that he wore on the MOON!

The white part at the top of the picture is actually the same size as the Apollo 11 capsule pictured above. This is the Saturn V rocket at the top (front?) end. I tried to get the picture to show how huge this thing is and how small the capsule is on top. The whole rocket assembly was a long as a football field!

KSC has so much to see that you do need a lot of time to see it and you also get a real feel of the pride that this place has with everyone that works here and the work that continues to go on in the space program. There is "triumphant space" music going on all the time. You know the kind, you hear it during space movies. It's piped in everywhere (yup, even the bathrooms!) and makes you feel proud for some reason, I can't explain it but it does.

After our tour (on airconditioned coach buses which took us from site to site) we headed into the rocket garden and just like the name says it's a garden of rockets.

The ones on the left have been stripped down and are awaiting the repainting process. Some of these have been here for 40 years! All are previous models of the rockets of today. Geminis, Mercurys and the like. It's kind of a neat way to display them. It's a quiet place with a fountain off to one side, lots of places to sit and even a kids area in one section. I think this is a "decompress" area. It was lovely. And yes, the triumphant space music was playing there too but it really made the scene complete.

I can honestly tell you that I am in no way going to be an astronaut. Though I had my picture taken with one in full suit!

You can see The Man reflected in the facemask of the astronaut. Yes, there was a real person in the suit. Didn't say anything, just was there for pictures! Fun job that!

So, there is one attraction there. The Shuttle Launch Experience. It has been deemed by Shuttle astronauts to be the closest thing to a realistic launch experience. Okay, I thought I can handle the noise of it and the bumping of the seats and stuff but when they told me they were going to tip me upside down to start with. Nope, nadda, no way, I'm outta there.
So, The Man did it.
The picture below is from a monitor I watched from outside (which was really fun to do, let me tell you!)

I can't tell if he's biting his lower lip. I'll let you decide.

Anyway, I know I chickened out but hey, if you don't feel comfortable doing something then better safe than sorry. We got some cool pictures out of it.

We decided that a day at KSC would leave us a little tired to drive the tour home (toll plaza after toll plaza drove us nuts on the way there) so we stayed at the Hilton Cocoa Beach.

Wow! What a place. First of all the food was awesome, top notch stuff. The view was spectacular and the beach seemed to go on for miles. What a place. With dark coming early this time of year we scooted off to the beach as soon as we got there just to look around, put our hand in the water to say we touched the Atlantic, then head in for dinner.
I was determined to get up for sunrise and take some pictures. So, alarm set I was good to go for that. Was it worth it!

If you look on the horizon there is a shrimp boat and I think these birds are a type of Tern but I'm not sure. There are so many different birds down here. I loved the waves coming in and the clouds around.
Yeah, I know, I know, it looks like a sun set and one I could get in Southampton but I know it's sun rise and there's no other land out there for thousands of miles.

Actually there was a rainbow that appeared behind me but I wasn't able to catch it all in a picture without being 20 feet out into the ocean. That was an extra bonus!
I loved walking the shore and spent about an hour doing so. I did pick up just 3 shells. I have to watch what I get or I'll need a trailer to come back to Canada.

Even the jelly fish were different than what I was used to.

Ewwwww, pretty though, with a pink stripe on it's top.

Again, the hotel was not busy at all and the area quite quiet. The staff at the hotel were so helpful and wonderful, I guess just to have anyone to look after is a nice thing.
We didn't really do anything in Cocoa Beach as the day was cloudy and actually rainy! I picked a route home that would take us all the way down the piece of land that Cocoa Beach is on then head to I95 then to Route 70 West which took us to the top of Lake Okeechobee. This area is very, very flat, with lots of citrus groves (man, did it smell good!) and some ranch land. It was a lazy drive home and I'm glad I took that route as it wasn't as chaotic as the Interstates up near Orlando.

Now it was time to rest and decompress from seeing soooo much!

Here, now, is my Snowbird reasearch report for this post.

Florida is such a diverse state. There are the touristy, over the top places; the nearly abandonded farm land, which stretches for miles with crops; and the quiet retirement communities with their golf courses and malls. Drive a little bit and you'll find it all. Really there is something for everyone in Florida.
There are restaurants for every palate. Mexican, Chinese, fish, steak, fast food, slow food you name it.
All places are equipped to accommodate the less mobile. The coaches at KSC were all adaptable, the malls are all ramped for entry and the golf courses all provide "bag service" right from the trunk of the car (ie. you don't have to lift a finger). Even the Sports bar we went to for wings the other night (did I say how AWESOME they were?) had a ramp to the patio.
Everything here is flexible and can accommodate any need. I like that. It's welcoming!

So, we've finished our first month here and have found it a great place and time to be in Florida. Okay, the record temperatures (86 F last week) don't hurt and the sunshine is so welcome.

Until next time.