Kennedy Space Center
January 30, 2007 at 11:19 am | In History, People, Travel | Leave a Comment
Did you know the thrust produced by the space shuttle’s 3 engines on take-off is equal to that of 23 Hoover dams? I always like watching close-ups of the engines as the shuttle begins its launch. Add an IMAX- sized screen and some great speakers and you’ve got something that gets your adrenaline going. That’s one of the many experiences at the KSC.
Growing up, I was always impressed with the fact that my dad worked with the astronauts before and during the moon shots. As an astro-geologist he would train them on which rocks to collect. He was always available to the astronauts during the moon walks. How cool is that? Moon rocks never seemed that interesting to me – but then I’m not a geologist.
What interests me are the astronauts themselves. For a while, being an astronaut was my career of choice. During the Apollo years I remember them coming over for dinner to our small middle-class house in Flagstaff, AZ while they were in training. That was before they became famous. One time, Jack Schmidt, an Apollo 17 candidate, had an empty seat in his Cessna on a flight between Flagstaff and Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix. On the way back, he let me fly the co-pilot controls and taught me how to keep the plane on track by sighting on a landmark in the distance. I was 10 at the time.
One of the events at KSC is the astronaut encounter where an astronaut talks and answers questions. The day we went, Jerry Carr was the speaker. He was the commander on Skylab 3 and spent 84 days in space, doing 5 hours of space walks. Carr talked about some of the projects and experiments on Skylab including physical conditioning, studying the sun, and weather patterns. He also talked about what they ate – and yes they did have Tang.
Afterwards I had a chance to talk to Carr. He said he remembers my dad and I took advantage of the opportunity for a photo op.
McLarty Treasure Museum
January 28, 2007 at 10:47 am | In History, Travel | Leave a CommentIn 1715 the Plate Fleet of 12 Spanish galleons were to transport 2 years of collected treasures back to Spain. An unexpected hurricane hit the fleet at night and sunk all but one of the ships. The amount of treasure lost was astounding. It wasn’t until the mid 1950’s that a hurricane uncovered an archaeological site of a Spanish sailors’ encampment, indicating the approximate location of the treasure ships near Sebastian, Florida. When the site was discovered by a few local men, they convinced the state of Florida to grant them salvage rights for the entire coast of Florida. In the following years they uncovered incredible treasures worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The salvage rights were contested in over a hundred court cases but finally confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, there is still a lot of undiscovered treasure that continues to wash up on the eastern shore of central Florida. These shores are known as the Treasure Coast. Since the salvage rights only apply to the ocean, any treasure discovered on the beach belongs to the finder.
Caleb: Today we visited a museum right out of an adventure story! Its name is the Mc Larty Treasure Museum and it’s inside of the Sebastian Inlet State Park. It’s about a Spanish treasure fleet bearing two years worth of gold, silver, gems, and other goods. (A years worth meaning they accumulated all this over the course of a year.) There were 3100 people on the ships (to show their size). There was also a leading ship containing riches for Spain’s soon-to-be queen which the king was going to give to her for her dowry. Anyway a hurricane hit forcing all but 1 of the ships to crash on the Florida coastline, leaving 1500 survivors to wait until the surviving ship got help. When it returned with other ships they recovered less than half of the treasure. Pirates attempted some recovery and then all the wrecks were forgotten about. Until the mid-1950’s where 8 young men found out about the treasure and went to the Florida government were they got a permit to 75% of all the treasure found on the stretch of ocean in that specific area. The government gets the remaining 25%. But anything you find on the beach is rightfully yours! And our tour guide was talking about finds people made last week! So far the treasure hunters have not found 2 of the treasure ships and the Queen’s dowry ship! The estimated worth of the dowry ship alone is 3 billion dollars!!! And this is happening today! Is that cool or what!
P.S. If you are in the area and own a metal detector I’d suggest that you try searching the beaches!
Mom: If you could not tell, hearing the tales of treasure gave my kids the ‘gold bug’! Adam couldn’t wait to get out to the beach to find something. Anything! I did find a fossilized shark’s tooth on a nearby beach but that’s it. Treasure (coins, jewelry, silver pitchers, etc.) is found most days, but it was not the day for us to make our fortune :) I mostly enjoyed the wonderful, animated and entertaining story-telling by the ladies at the museum.
Florida Everglades
January 26, 2007 at 10:37 am | In Travel | Leave a Comment
Caleb: We drove through the Big Cypress National Preserve. I learned that the everglades is a drainage system for most of Florida and is usually water logged. This place is amazingly flat because of the water and just a few inches of land will affect the ecosystem. If the land is very high, there is grass and pygmy cypress. If it is a little lower to the water a jungle-like forest will spring up. If the ground is about an inch below the water it will have a pretty unique kind of forest and plants, if deeper into the water than it will be mostly saw grass. Dad joked that the highest mountain in the everglades is 7 ft. high; I think he may be right!
There are a lot of signs advertising air boat rides. We stopped at 2 information centers, saw a lot of wildlife, such as alligators, turtles, herons and we went on 2 hikes. We also decided not to drive down to the Florida Keys; instead we’re driving back up the east coast of Florida.
Kevin: Today we drove into Big Cypress and the Everglades. There I once again received a Junior Ranger program. We left the Big Cypress visitor center after a good lunch of sandwiches. Along the way to the Everglades’ visitor center we spotted quite a few Anhinga (who dry out their wings by stretching them out while they bask in the sun), a swimming bird, one or two pelicans, many egrets, and lots and lots of Alligators. By the end of the day I had earned two badges. See you later Alligator!
Mom: We had originally hoped to go out to the end of the Keys. But as the time got closer, we realized that we would skip that part, for several reasons. One, it sounded too touristy. True, I’m sure the scenery is beautiful, but still touristy overall. Plus, we weren’t sure there would be many places to camp. As we came to the eastern end of the Everglades, turned left and avoided Miami and Palm Beach AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, (think touristy and crowded also) I told my kids we had made a true ‘turn’ in our trip. Instead of basically headed south as we had for the last 5 months, we would now be going in a northern and eastern direction until we came to Maine. Now that is quite a turn in the road!!
Time at Oma & Opa’s
January 20, 2007 at 7:04 am | In People, Travel | Leave a Comment
Our two week visit with my folks (Oma and Opa) was much anticipated. They retired to Sarasota, Florida more than 15 years ago and our visits to the area have been infrequent. We had hoped to arrive in time for Christmas but our extended stay at Buras, LA and our slow rate of travel caused us to delay our visit until after the New Year. Playing the role of a good Oma, my mother spoiled us for the duration (the adults as well as the kids). We graciously accepted these excesses and basked in the comforts of a welcoming home, great meals, and lots of activities that involved beaches, sail boats, circuses and museums. I should mention that we usually cook all our meals on the bus and never eat out more than once a month. It’s of no coincidence that food is noted more than once in Caleb and Sarah’s journals.
We were able to park the bus at Scherer Park, a neat state park tucked away within the Sarasota suburbs. The park is well forested and gives no hint of the bustling city nearby. Kathy and I typically spent nights in the bus while the kids took turns at the folks house.
Caleb:
God must have a love for the beach. Why else would he create a place like Sarasota, Florida? Our time at Sarasota was one of being typical tourists with our grandparents on Dad’s side. We were fed many delicious meals while at our grandparent’s place such as runzas, shrimp, and steak — all of which were compliments of Oma. We traveled to all the best spots around Sarasota which is where our grandparents live. The ones that stood out for me were Oscar Scherer State Park (where we hiked many of their first-rate trails) and a circus-like Big Cats Show with many talented animals and performers. Opa took me and Kevin sailing with a friend of his to a nearby shipyard, for lunch we sailed to a Tiki restaurant where we merely tied the boat to a dock and walked in! Oma hosted an open house (or maybe I should say open bus) at the Oscar Scherer State Park which is where we stayed for the duration of our trip in Sarasota. Another amazing place was G-Wiz, a family place with many exhibits that demonstrate scientific laws in fun ways. Another highlight was a guided tour of the historic Spanish point. The last thing we did before our departure was to have a great dinner at a restaurant named DARUMA where if you order the right seats you can have your meal cooked right in front of you (the talented chefs make it into quite a show!)
Sarah:
First I must explain that Opa and Oma are Grandpa and Grandma in German. We arrived at Oscar Scherer Park early in the afternoon on January 11th and Opa and Oma came by. We went to their house the next day and Mom and Oma got out their calendars and made a schedule of the 2 weeks we would spend with them.
We enjoyed hanging around their house, lounging in the living room, resting in the hot tub in their screened-in porch, or ‘taking a dip’ in their community’s pool. Oma likes treating us whenever we visited so we enjoyed Lucky Charms, Froot Loops, PB&J sandwiches (instead of soy nut butter. Yuck!), ice cream, and many delicious dinners.
We went out to 2 restaurants, Daruma and Sweet Tomatoes. Daruma was very interesting. They fried the food in front of you and then served it hot onto your plate. There was shrimp, chicken, steak, fried rice, and vegetables mainly. The cooks were very talented at what they did and manage to keep everyone entertained with tricks until the food was done, from twirling a knife to lighting their hand on fire.
Sweet Tomatoes was a buffet with many different choices, the most famous being their salad buffet. There was a balloon maker that went table to table making balloon animals for tips. I suppose us kids’ favorite part would have been the sundae maker, with ice cream and toppings :-)
One Sunday after church our family went to G-Whiz, a hands-on science museum. We had visited it several times before in our previous visits to Opa and Oma and I remember it fondly as my favorite ‘museum’. They had a new exhibit that we enjoyed called Mindball. You and a friend sit across from each other at a table, a ball in the middle. Trying to calm your mind and basically shut out all thoughts, relax, and go to sleep; a band strapped around your head can sense waves caused by relaxation or sleep. The more of these waves, the more the ball moves towards your opponent. The object is to have the ball roll all the way to your opponent. I’m not sure how it senses the brainwaves—all I know is that it’s cool. There were many other fascinating exhibits including a laser harp, a smoke ring creator (like from Gandalf’s pipe), and small ‘mind-boggling’ puzzles. (for more info on mindball- http://www.gwiz.org/mindballexhibit.htm )
We saw a Big Cat Show with lions and tigers and, um.. monkeys, oh my! We saw a clown performance at a theatre, and Mom and I went to see the Lipizzan horses of Austria. Everything was very amazing, but mostly I enjoyed what I haven’t been able to enjoy for a long time—a house, a bed, home-cooking, and family. Well, besides my family family. You know what I mean :-)
What’s big but not fat?
January 10, 2007 at 4:27 pm | In Travel | Leave a Comment
What weighs 3000 pounds, eats 10% of its body weight, but isn’t fat? It is vegetarian, is warm blooded, and lives in the water. The answer is… the manatee.
Manatees are large, docile animals that continue to be endangered as a species. Most deaths occur from run-ins with power boats, consuming plastic mistaken for food, or red tide. Boats tend not to see the animals while they swim just below the surface of the water.
Warmth is also a factor for the manatee. Surprisingly, although they are big (they have 150 feet of intestines) , they do not have a lot of fat — about one inch on average. They prefer water temperatures above 70 degrees and will die at temperatures in the low 60’s. This is why they typically stay around the Florida coastline.
As a warm water spring, Homosassa Springs State Park is an ideal habitat. The inlet attracts large schools of ocean fish which can be viewed through an underwater viewing area. The park is home to six manatees and is certified for up to three more. They are brought to the sanctuary because they have been injured or abandoned as calves.
If you intend to adopt one, be sure to have a large enough hot tub and a good supply of lettuce, cabbage, and carrots.
National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola FL
January 4, 2007 at 9:42 pm | In History, Travel | Leave a Comment
The ability for the Navy to position Aircraft Carriers to enable jets to be closer to their targets has been strategic to US military tactics for some time. Even back in the early 1900’s the Navy showed interest in flying machines. In 1911, the Navy contacted for the first military plane, the A1. The Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola Florida covers naval aviation history from the A1 to present day. The collection of planes and jets is enormous. We were fortunate to have a tour guide who was a retired Navy pilot. His knowledge and anecdotes added tremendously to the value of our visit.
In WW II, the Japanese Zero outperformed the American F4F in almost every aspect except diving and running away. However, in actual combat, the kill rate for the F4F was ten times that of the Zero. This was because the Zero had minimal armor and it’s fuel tanks were more exposed. Thus, while the F4F could sustain a number of hits, the Zero often went down easily when hit.
The launch system on an aircraft carrier allows for acceleration from 0 to 140 knots (about 160 mph) in 200 feet. The catapults were hydraulic and then steam. Most recently they are electro-magnetic.
As jets came into prominence, they quickly replaced the prop plane. However, for awhile, props still had a use in bad weather because it was too difficult landing a jet on an air carrier in low visibility.
Our tour guide had flown both prop and jets. Towards the end of his career, the two-seater jets were added. His initial response was that another man just got in the way until he realized the value of offloading the gunman job to someone who could focus 100% on just that. Initially, communication between the two men was a metal tube with a megaphone on each end – not much better than using tin cans.
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