NASA - Galveston

June 20 - 21, 2013

Thursday we were excited to tour NASA and Johnson Space Center.  We had read mixed reviews, some saying how good it was and others saying it had been commercialized and was really only for kids anymore.  Well...we're just big kids here so we thought why not give it a whirl?!  It was definitely worth it to us.  Very interesting and informative. 

The first section of the Space Center has definitely been designed for kids and no doubt is a blast for them.  The first thing we did, though, was head for the tram and the tour of Johnson Space Center.  We were rewarded with quite an experience.  We got to tour parts of the actual mission control center.  Very cool!

The actual room looked much smaller than it does in the movies.  Why is that not a surprise?  :)

The red phone is used to contact the Department of Defense in case of emergency.

And then rockets galore--up close and personal!

These suckers are B.I.G.!

It's amazing that out of all of this....

only part of this piece comes home.  The brown part you see here is the capsule we would always see at SPLASHDOWN.

One wall was dedicated to outlining the history of the Apollo missions.  Apparently the movie quote was not exactly correct.

To top off the tour, the tram drives by the Western Heritage Pavilion, known as the Longhorn Project. 

We did not expect to see longhorn cattle at Johnson Space Center.  Dedicated in May 2000, the Longhorn Project, developed jointly by the Johnson Space Center, the Clear Creek Independent School District, the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo and the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America, provides local high school students with a one-of-a-kind learning environment that combines Western heritage with state of the art technology. Who knew!





 

All in all, a great day!

 

Friday we drove down to Galveston to look around.

 

I asked Max to drive me by the Shriner's Children Hospital of Galveston.  When I was a year old, my mother and grandmother took me down there for eye surgery; Daddy stayed behind to work to pay for the surgery.  It's a huge complex, with John Sealy hospitals next door.  I was in awe to imagine my mother and grandmother, in 1962, driving all the way down to Galveston from Brownwood--by themselves with a baby--so I could undergo major eye surgery.  Galveston I'm sure was a big city to them, and this hospital is right in the middle of downtown.  I can only imagine what that surgery cost my parents, too, as I'm sure they had no insurance.  (Daddy was a self-employed farmer.)  To imagine what my life would have been like if they had not made such a sacrifice for me.  It was a humbling moment.

 

 

 

We then drove over to the waterfront and walked the docks.

 

And stopped to see a little movie called "The Great Storm"--the story of the 1900 hurricane that almost wiped Galveston off the map.  So interesting!  Imagine in that day and time they had no television, no weather radar, no warning.  It's a fascinating story.  A tough and determined people.

 

We ate a late lunch of absolutely delicious pizza at Nonna Tony's at Pier 21, drove over to check out the seawall they built after the 1900 hurricane...

 

 

and then headed home.  Another great day of making memories.

 

'Til next time...take care!

 

 



San Leon - Kemah

June 17 - 18, 2013

Monday
What an exciting moving day!  We took the Turtle on the ferry from Port Aransas over to Aransas Pass and then on to San Leon. We could have traveled back over the causeway to Corpus Christi and then up the coast but it would have added about 50 miles to our trip so we decided to give the ferry a go.  We had seen dump trucks make the trip as well as a number of other RV's, and Max had talked to the ferry guys who assured him it would be no problem, so we knew it could be done.  Nevertheless, it was a "sit on the edge of our seats" kind of moment.  When you pull your house onto a ferry, you're definitely praying it doesn't sink!  :)

Once we were safely on, I of course had to get out and snap a shot. A young couple next to us was smiling at me.  I told the woman, "We sure feel big on here!."  She said, "You ARE big.  But beautiful!"  Awwww, we think so, too.  :)

We made it off safe and sound and then on to our next stop--Bay RV Park at San Leon, TX.  It's an Escapee park and the rate is nice.  It's also much smaller and quieter than our last spot in Port Aransas, which is also a nice change. 

 



Tuesday
We plan to do a bit of sightseeing and visiting friends while we're here.  Today we drove over to Kemah, only about 10 miles away.  They have a wonderful little boardwalk area.  You can enjoy carnival-like rides, restaurants, an aquarium....

 

 

beautiful flowers....

 



and "feeding the fish".  For $.25, this is what you get.

Max tried feeding the fish but quickly found out the seagulls are much faster than the fish.  They were catching the food mid-air!

Throw it to me, mister!

Till next time, take care!

USS Lexington - Corpus Christi, TX

Friday, June 14, 2013

We drove into Corpus Christi this morning to tour the USS Lexington.  So interesting!  This aircraft carrier was built during WWII for the Navy.  It was to originally be named Cabot, but while it was still under construction, word arrived that (another) USS Lexington was lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea.  Workers at the shipyard made a request of the Navy Secretary to have it renamed Lexington, and he agreed.  It is the fifth ship to carry that name.

 

 

We headed out to the flight deck right away.



Some interesting planes..

This is one skinny--but deadly--little helicopter.  Can you imagine flying that thing around? 
It looks almost like a toy!

The F-14 Tomcat.  Max's favorite plane.  Mine for a different reason--Top Gun, baby. 
The closest I'll ever get to Tom Cruise! :)

Hi there, Maverick and Goose!

 
And then...walking the plank!

Disillusioned again.

 

Of course I found this bit of trivia interesting...

 





They had quite a bit of Pearl Harbor memorabilia, as well.

And regarding the sinking of the previous/fourth Lexington at the Battle of the Coral Sea, I found this really interesting.

Talk to you again soon!

Port Aransas, Texas

June 10 - 17, 2013
 
We left out early Monday morning for Port Aransas.  The trip was nice and uneventful.  It took us a total of about 7 hours to make the trip from Brownwood.  We are staying at the Pioneer Beach Resort.  It's a nice place, although the spots are crowded.  Certainly not going to complain, though, when we have this right outside our door.  If you can't camp on the beach, this is the next best thing!

Tuesday was spent exploring the area.  We came over the causeway from Corpus Christi when we came in, so on our day of exploration, we had to ride the ferry over to Aransas Pass a time or two just for the fun of it.  On the third trip, the ferry operators even said, "Weren't you on here before?"  Yeah...what can we say.  Of course Max struck up a conversation with him, and we learned all the "must see" places and best restaurants in Port A.

Max said if he stayed in the truck, maybe the ferry wouldn't sink.



Another one of those funny moments-- 
When we were kids, we came down to the coast fishing almost every summer.  Usually it was to Port O'Connor, but occasionally we would come to Port Aransas.  I remember riding that ferry then and thinking it took a long time.  It's really only about 5 minutes.  Did they move Port Aransas and Aransas Pass closer together since I was a kid?

Wednesday we had reservations on the "New Kingfisher" with Captain Kelly's Deep Sea Headquarters for a 12-hour deep sea fishing trip.  Max has been looking forward to it for weeks. 
 
The sunrise is my absolute favorite time of the day down here.  It's during these moments when I realize....now I can breathe.

 

 



The boat left at 6:00 a.m.  After three hours and about 40 miles out into the Gulf, we finally arrived at our destination--the fishing grounds!  There were 31 guests onboard, only four of whom were female--two teenage girls, an older lady and myself.  That poor older lady and her husband were sick as sick could be for the entire trip out there and then for hours afterward.  I felt so badly for them.  (And the captain told them to hang their heads over the side until they felt better.  My daddy and grandpa would have had a fit.  They always told us to sit down, cool off, and look at the horizon.  Hanging your head down was the worst thing you could do.  If we did that, we might soon find Grandpa throwing a bucket of water on us! But I digress...)
 
Just as we got to our destination, it started raining.  So nice to have a cabin to sit in and wait it out.  It didn't last long, though, and before we knew it, we were fishing.  First up--red snapper.  Everyone onboard quickly caught our limit of 2 apiece.

Then it was off to king mackerel fishing grounds.

The theme song to Titanic was playing in my head...

I didn't catch a king, but Max was one of only a handful who did.

Then we were off again to fish for vermillion snapper.  There wasn't a limit on them--except time and ability, of course.  I caught one; Max caught eight.

Just before we shut down for the day, a gentleman right next to us reeled this in.

Yes, that's a red snapper--sans the body. In one big bite.  Just a few minutes later, a gentleman on the other side of the boat hooked what turned out to be a 7-foot sand shark.  That must have been one hungry boy!
 
We reeled in our lines for the final time about 3:00 p.m. and headed for home.  The catch of the day--

And Max carrying our haul to the truck for cleaning--

We came back to the park for the not-so-fun part--cleaning the fish.  You know, when I was growing up, the boys always did the cleaning.  The girls did the cooking.  I still prefer that rule.  Max didn't buy into it.  Sad for me.  Gross for me.  Fish guts everywhere.  Had to bag up the guts to throw in the dumpster.  Bag busted.  Oh man, what a mess.  Gagaroni.  When we finally got that job done, we came back to the Gypsy and had leftover Mexican food for supper.  :)

Today was spent recuperating, doing paperwork, and planning our next adventure.  Finally took a break and walked over to the beach.  There's a neat little boardwalk over the dunes to the beach.

And then the water.  Ahhh...

We're here till Monday so I'm sure I'll have more to add before we mosey on down the road.  Talk to you then!