Gemini, Saturn & Apollo...guess where?


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January 1st 2011
Published: January 2nd 2011
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No! Not an 'Outlet Mall'..No! Not an 'Outlet Mall'..No! Not an 'Outlet Mall'..

..but they do boast the worlds largest 'space' themed gift shop..we didn't go in there.
Being New Years Eve we watched the fireworks at Disney from the apartment...just amazing!

Today, got up, packed up and headed off for Cape Canaveral...even had meticulous directions - turned out completely unnecessary as the signage out there was so good it was like being led there by the hand.

The weather today was superb! So good that the pool was being used by lots of residents early and it stayed a great day throughout..probably low to mid 20's and still in most of the places we were at.

Drive out to Canaveral is listed as around 67 miles and according to Google should take around an hour and a half. Traffic was light today, surprisingly so and we were out in the car park of the Kennedy Space Centre by a little after midday. But first...

The drive out was very pleasant and predominantly through bush a little resemblant of that on the Sunshine Coast between Brisbane and Noosa. Long straight wide roads, thinly spread traffic made for an easy drive.

To get across to Canaveral and NASA there is a causeway a couple of miles wide and then all the land around NASA is
Rocket Garden...Rocket Garden...Rocket Garden...

..where old rockets go to die..semi styled space theme park in Florida...they like the climate as they get older!
now part of a State Wildlife Sanctuary...so the bonus was driving across the causeway we saw dolphins coming up out of the water (not onto the beach of course) just off shore and in the creeks alongside were lazily lying alligators. Also saw Armidillos (now a dime a dozen to us Orlandites), Pelicans and Eagles..don;t know what sort as well as later on a number of very large turtles.

The next surprise of the day, and they kept coming, was the car park...rather the lack of occupants...we had found somewhere in Florida that other people do not flock too! Next surprise was not quite as pleasing but no issue in the end was the price of admission..US$41 per adult plus damned tax and US$31 per child plus damned tax... or to us US$152 for the family pass..which there isn;t its just two adults and two kids. After clarifying we were not actually looking to buy a rocket...just visit, price was confirmed and we entered. At the end of the day the price is what it is and was fair as there was a lot there...definitely well worth the visit. The cash haemorrghe continues but that is to be expected
Kids in a capsule..Kids in a capsule..Kids in a capsule..

..sounds like new form of IVF..but its not...and cannot remember which one of the launchs it was from..but they were in it for 14 days if that helps.
on a venture like this...

There is the rocket garden where a series of decommissioned old rockets are displayed along with their legend, a series of halls and displays, many interactive, tours through the space shuttle, a two hour bus ride (unprompted yawn!) which Sandy loved...need any stats on rocket launchs, the fuel consumption of the crawler - the thing that carries the rockets out to the launch pad, the size of pad 39A - she can tell you...I'd swear on a couple of occasions she was actually taking notes...and on another pointed this was all wasted on me and she should have bought her father...for the bus trip! I wish she had!

Anyway after 2 hours of that (not really that bad at all and was interesting in parts) and a visit to several other locations around the launch zone we went back to the main visitors centre. Reuben and I had already got our wings on the Shuttle Launch Simulator so Sandy and Reuben went back to do it again while Caitlin and I headed back to Rocket Garden and the playground...Caitlin was in the playground if that needs clarifying!

What you have got to
Space Shuttle..Space Shuttle..Space Shuttle..

..can walk through this but surprisingly there is very little to see..mainly a loading bay!
give credit to the Americans for is what they have done in space and more importantly the off shoots of the space exploration programmes and their preparation that have impacted so heavily on our everyday lives...everything from technology to health, energy and nutrition has been effected by this work.

Again a really good and interesting day out for all demographics..we covered male, female, middle aged and early school and all came thumbs up on it.

Around 6.15 left the park and drove back. Because it was so late had dinner across the road at the highly recommended Santa Fe Cattle House at around 8 pm...average and adequate are two words that spring to mind. Having said that it was only $44 so could have been worse. Do this weird thing where they put a bucket, and literally a bucket of unshelled but salted peanuts on your table for you to crack into as some form of original entree...yes it is original but if I want to eat somewhere surrounded by the husks of de-nutted peanuts then I'll invite myself over to a bbq at Chip 'n' Dales...

Kids knackered again and in bed well after 9pm so
Shuttle Lauch Simulator..Shuttle Lauch Simulator..Shuttle Lauch Simulator..

..Walt obviously got involved as this ran exactly like one of the attractions at Disney..except more interesting and educational all at once.
tomorrow will again be a lottery. Plan at this stage is to chance our arm at Disney Studios...quite apparent that the migration out of Orlando has started...well it seems to have or maybe that is just wishful thinking...


Additional photos below
Photos: 15, Displayed: 15


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Cosmonaut Caitlin..Cosmonaut Caitlin..
Cosmonaut Caitlin..

..back drop is the moon, pretty good value for US$31..a day trip to the moon..
Astronaut Reuben..Astronaut Reuben..
Astronaut Reuben..

..kid has a future with NASA as can be a total space cadet...sense of humour is coming along nicely in the young fella!
Out at the launch pads...Out at the launch pads...
Out at the launch pads...

..kinda windy or Sandys hair straightheners aren't worth what we paid for them!
Reuben with a camera..Reuben with a camera..
Reuben with a camera..

..doing paparazzi shots spinning the camera all over the place. This was his best effort.
Caitlin with a camera..Caitlin with a camera..
Caitlin with a camera..

..talented..just couldn;t quite crop out the rodent.
Capsule off Apollo 14Capsule off Apollo 14
Capsule off Apollo 14

..successful mission this one and ditched somewhere in the atlantic..
I thinks its a Saturn..I thinks its a Saturn..
I thinks its a Saturn..

..whatever it is it was the biggest ever of all the rockets and was either a Saturn or an Apollo.
The big one...The big one...
The big one...

..using Sandy as a scale to measure against..
Kids playground..Kids playground..
Kids playground..

..awesome playground thing for the kids, huge and obviously designed by someone from NASA as it was not your typical play area, kids loved it!
Rocket Garden..Rocket Garden..
Rocket Garden..

..at dusk this time..


2nd January 2011

Space(d) out
Started to do this then lost it! any way here goes again. Sounds like a great day out and plenty to do and see. Love the humourous comments about peanuts, admission fees, and hair straighteners and please keep the pics of the kids, family and sights coming ( sorry to the 'shoppers' but we don't want shopping malls as sights of interest - see one you've seen em all!). From the pics it is evident that Reuben and Caitlin are having a ball - the lad's face and smile tell it all. We are bow at Stefan's apartment - and he does have wi-fi so we can keep up with the daily blog. Mum's turn to go shopping this week as we will have a couple of days to go in to the city and (browse) (shop) - take your pick. Loads of luv to you all.
2nd January 2011

Launch Pad
I never made it to the launch pad due to the fuel leak, so very jealous. Can't believe you didn't make it into the gift shop to buy more solar powered keyrings!!
2nd January 2011

Very cool
this looks fantastic - any space cadets walking round!!!!! the photos are great. We are off to Ohiwa tomorrow morning - all packed up and ready to go - will have my vodafone plug in for the lap top so can keep checking your blogs everyday - the wheather looks good. Great wheather here lets hope that it continues over the next 14 days!!! speak soon

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