Florida Vacation Day 3

On our third day in Florida we visited the Kennedy Space Center. I really thought this was an amazing place.  All of the exhibits were both educational as well as just plain amazing!  The highlight of my tour here, was that I got to touch an actual piece of moon rock. It was so awesome knowing that I was actually touching a piece of the moon!  We also got a tiny glimpse of the space shuttle Discovery. It was in the vehicle assembly building and we could just see it though the open bay door as our tour bus drove by.

Vehicle Assembly Building

As much as Ed and I enjoyed our tour, it was also a very sad time to visit the center. We visited on January 29th, just one day after the anniversary of the Challenger explosion.  The monuments and memorials to the crew (as well as crews of other missions) were so very moving. It's really hard to explain how I felt. I remembered sitting in 8th grade science class and watching as the Challenger lifted off.

On a happier note, while we were out on the tour that went to the launch pad areas, we got to see some dolphins swimming! That was pretty amazing. We were only able to get pictures of their fins sticking up, but it sure was entertaining watching them.

Ed with Launching Pad 39 in the background

Florida Vacation Days 1 & 2

Ahh, finally something interesting to write about. So, my trip to Florida was wonderful! It was so nice to get away from the cold here in Colorado.

The first day of vacation was more or less just a travel day.  Ed and I took separate flights (we each had a free ticket on separate airlines) and Ed's plane arrived a few hours before mine did.  This was good news for me...By the time I landed, Ed had gotten the renal car, checked us in at the condo, gone grocery shopping, and unpacked the suitcase. After he picked me up at the airport, all I had left do was relax.

On our second day, we decided to drive to Daytona beach, since I had never seen the Atlantic Ocean.  Daytona was pretty cool.  Ed was loving it because you can drive on the beach.

 It was a crazy ride. You can only drive 10 mph, but that was still exciting because the sand was NOT packed. It was like driving on fresh powder snow.  Once we parked, we actually had a hard time getting moving again. It was really fun though.

After we drove for a while we got out and walked on the beach. It was so nice and there were so many birds. Of course there were seagulls, but also quite a few pelicans and they were quite lovely.

Then we had a late lunch at a restaurant overlooking the water and headed back to Orlando. 

I was really happy to see the Atlantic Ocean because my grandfather grew up in Rhode Island and talked fondly the Atlantic. But the real highlight of my day was something I wasn't able to get a picture of...I saw a bald eagle in the wild. Yes, I've seen them in zoos before, but to see one soaring above your head and have it be low enough that you can really get a good look was...magical.