HOUSTON.....WE HAVE LANDED

Tuesday, April 6 – Visited the Space Center Houston today.




  

What a great deal. If you buy your tickets on line, they are half price. I got a regular ticket and Marsha got the Astronaut Audio Tour. She really enjoyed listening to the Astronaut give detailed information about the displays.

Our friends, Duane and Louise, went with us. We left at 8:30 a.m. and returned at 7:30 pm. We were at the Space Center from its opening to closing and still didn’t see all the movies and displays. To get it all in, a two-day visit is needed.

The Space Center was very interesting and educational. Space Center Houston is located at 1601 NASA Parkway (formerly NASA Rd. 1), Houston, TX 77058, approximately 25 miles south of downtown Houston in the NASA/Clear Lake area.

We began with the film "On Human Destiny" at the Destiny Theater. Artifacts and hardware on display in the Starship Gallery trace the progression of America's Manned Space Flight.

There were many displays and big screen movies explaining the operation of the shuttle and space station.

Apollo 17 was the final Apollo mission to the moon, the eleventh manned Apollo mission, the first night launch and the sixth and final lunar landing mission of the NASA Apollo program.

Apollo 17 Command Module

Damage done to the underside of the capsule upon re-entry.

Apollo fuel cell

Moon Rocks





We touched this moon rock.




Marsha found this picture humorous. She said I fit right in with the my own version of a space outfit.




She had to get funny and make me put on the space helmet. Let me tell you….it is really heavy!




Can you guess who this might be?




My favorite part was at the Johnson Space Center. The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's center for human spaceflight activities. The center consists of a complex of 100 buildings constructed on 1,620 acres.  The center, originally known as the Manned Spacecraft Center, was constructed on land donated by Rice University and opened in 1963. On February 19, 1973, the center was renamed in honor of the late U.S. president and Texas native, Lyndon B. Johnson. JSC is one of ten major NASA field centers.

The center's Mission Control Center has been the operational center of every American human space mission since Gemini IV. The control center manages all activity on board the spacecraft and directs all space shuttle missions. Mission Control Center was constructed in 1962.

Approximately 3,200 civil servants, including 110 astronauts, are employed at Johnson Space Center. Astronaut candidates receive training on shuttle systems and in the basic sciences which include mathematics, guidance and navigation, oceanography, orbital dynamics, astronomy, and physics. Candidates are required to complete military water survival prior to beginning their flying instruction.

Below is a working model of the International Space Station. It was HUGE! The astronauts train here before they go on their mission.

Russia’s section

Robotic arm

More International Space Station pictures.

Marsha’s favorite was the Saturn V Rocket. The first manned Saturn V sent the Apollo 8 astronauts into orbit around the Moon in December 1968. After two more missions to test the lunar landing vehicle, in July 1969 a Saturn V launched the crew of Apollo 11 to the first manned landing on the Moon. The three-stage Saturn V was taller than a 36-story building. It was the largest, most powerful rocket ever launched.



 

In between the three stages.



More pictures of Saturn V here.

Our friends Louise and Duane. We had a great time.

 

Paul and Marsha




On the way home we stopped at Sawgrass Restaurant for dinner hoping the Houston rush hour traffic would thin out. By the time we finished dinner the traffic thinned out pretty well. It was a very long day, especially since Marsha has to do all the driving and in Houston traffic to boot!

Here are some more pictures for your enjoyment.
Cockpit pictures

Thanks for stopping by. Y’all come back.

CELEBRATING EASTER WITH THE GIRLS

Friday, April 2 –On our way home from the USS Texas just 10 minutes from home, this happened…

 

I called our insurance company, Farm and City Insurance Services, and they were great. They even called the glass repair shop just down the road from us and made all the arrangements to have our windshield fixed the next day at Glass and More. We didn’t have to pay a penny, and the service was great!

Saturday, April 3 – Kelly came down this afternoon from Palestine, TX. We got caught up on each other's lives. We went out to a new Mexican restaurant in town..Las Casita...free Margaritas! They are celebrating an anniversary and from 6-8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday they give free Margaritas and Beer. We each had three (Margaritas, don't get excited.....they were small). Afterwards we watched NCAA basketball semi-final games.

For Marsha, this time of the year is so exciting for her. Here in Texas, she is seeing tons of new wild flowers. A flower she loves which she tells me is really a vine is the Wisteria. The Wisteria is a beautiful climbing vine that's popular for its hanging clusters of fragrant flowers. It is a twining vine that requires sturdy support and regular pruning to keep it under control. It does not do well in cold areas of the country. We have seen on bushes and trees. The locals tells us that if it is left on a tree, it will kill that tree. How can a beautiful vine be so destructive? Seems like an oxymoron.

Can you guess what tradition Marsha just can’t let go of? Here is a hint….

Yes, you are correct….Easter egg coloring. She set up everything and then called Kelly and I to the table. She did have mercy on us and only bought 1 dozen eggs instead of her usual 3 dozen. Well, here is the result of our tradition. Marsha say, “Notice from the pictures how much fun we are having.” I say, “Marsha, we were just trying to make you happy.”

Sunday, April 4 – We had a wonderful Easter! Kelly joined us for Easter Church Service, and when we returned home, Carrie was arriving at the campground. Marsha prepared a delicious Easter dinner of Turkey (We have never had turkey always ham, but not this year), rigatoni, salad, a fruit plate, homemade bread and veggies. We ate inside because an earlier shower had gotten everything wet, but by the time we were ready for dessert (birthday cake and ice cream) the sun was shinning and everything was dried out. So we sat around the picnic table and sang Happy Birthday and enjoyed cake and ice cream.

Marsha got tulips for Easter. She wanted to take the girls’ picture but in the beginning they wouldn’t cooperate.

Carrie                         Kelly

Carrie enjoying icing from the cake.

We celebrated Kelly's birthday, which this year was on Easter, and Paul's birthday (March 27) sharing cards and gifts. Kelly got a George Foreman grill, a deep skillet and several gift cards. Paul received from the girls a Camping World gift card, two Texas belt buckles, and a gift card. Marsha had earlier given Paul a remote monitor for our electronic management system and a battery monitor for our house batteries.

Birthday Girl

Monday, April 5 Marsha dragged me to the health club this morning. I've been wanting to find a stationary bike to ride and she convinced me to join her health club for a month. I only use the bike and treadmill....don't think the doctor wants me lifting massive amounts of weights quite yet....LOL.

After returning to the park, we finished up our leaf clean-up at the Club House. We've bagged 70 bags full of yard waste the last two weeks....all on a volunteer basis.

Played Spinner Dominos again tonight. Our friend, Wayne, bought a new set and was very excited to use them. Dominoes are the descendants of dice sticks and dice. Although possibly used as a method of divination, fortune telling and certainly for gambling there is no doubt that dominoes have developed and evolved as a popular form of entertainment in which all players, regardless of literacy skills, can enjoy exciting games of chance and skill. Believed to originate from early Chinese tile games in 12th and 13th centuries, dominoes was first recorded in 14th century China. The game appears to have reached western civilization when it first became popular in the courts of Mediterranean Europe trading nations in the 1700’s. Its popularity then spread though the rest of Europe in the 18th century, and the game became known by the French word referring to a black and white hood often worn by catholic priests in cold weather, “Domino”. 

In Spinner, you never know which directions the game will go. Here are some examples of the shapes that can be make It is lots of fun!

Then home to watch the NCAA basketball finals. Butler vs Duke....a great game! Congratulations Duke!

Thanks for visiting. We hope you visit again.

BATTLESHIP TEXAS BB-35

Tuesday, March 30 – Beginning with this blog when you click on a link, it will open into a new window. This will keep the blog always open in a separate. We hope this will make looking at the links easier.

We have to pick up our neighbor today at the truck shop. He's having a new bed liner sprayed in his new truck. They are in the process of switching from their motor home to a new 5^th wheel toy hauler.

We then went to Houston to tour the Battleship Texas.



It is docked in the Houston Ship Channel.







They were dredging the channel when we were there.





This area is right in the heart of the Energy Corridor. This is the location of all the oil refineries.







Upon entering the ship,



we stopped to talk to one of the Texas Park Rangers, Jim Moon, who was welcoming people aboard the ship. I had read previously that many of these volunteers are work campers. These work campers, volunteer in exchange for a free campsite with paid utilities. Well, sure enough he was a work camper and was originally from Ohio.

 

Well, after talking for quite awhile, he asks us if we would like a personal and more extensive tour of the ship. Heck yeah! Our tour lasted about three and a half hours. He took us to every nook and cranny on the ship.
The TEXAS is the last of the battleships, patterned after HMS Dreadnought, that participated in World War (WW) I and II. She was launched on May 18, 1912 from Newport News, Virginia. When the USS TEXAS was commissioned on March 12,1914, she was the most powerful weapon in the world, the most complex product of an industrial nation just beginning to become a force in global events.



 

In 1916, TEXAS became the first U.S. battleship to mount antiaircraft guns and the first to control gunfire with directors and range-keepers, analog forerunners of today's computers. In 1919, TEXAS became the first U.S. battleship to launch an aircraft.







In 1925, the TEXAS underwent major modifications. She was converted to oil-fired boilers, tripod masts and a single stack were added to the main deck, and the 5" guns that bristled from her sides were reduced in number and moved to the main deck to minimize problems with heavy weather and high seas. Blisters were also added as protection against torpedo attack. 

The TEXAS received the first commercial radar in the US Navy in 1939.



New antiaircraft batteries, fire control and communication equipment allowed the ship to remain an aging but powerful unit in the US naval fleet. In 1940, Texas was designated flagship of US Atlantic Fleet. The First Marine Division was founded aboard the TEXAS early in 1941.  After service in the War in the European theater, the TEXAS was switched to the War in the Pacific.  It’s color was also changed from light brown (the color of Atlantic ships because of being tracked by subs) to dark blue (Pacific ships are blue because they were being tracked from the air by planes and the blue blends in with the ocean).  After the war, on April 21, 1948 the Texas was decommissioned.

Communication room

 



Typewriter used for coded information



Our tour included…

The Bridge,

 







The Brig





The Captain Quarters…Walter Cronkite had his first assignment on the Texas. President FDR and Eisenhower met in this room.







The rooms where the cannon powder and shells were stored



The Furnace room







and even down to the very bottom of the ship where the engine shaft exits to be joined with the propeller.



While being active in World War I and World War II, the Texas was only hit once. Here is a picture of the actual shell that did not explode when it hit the Texas.



They are in the process of refurbishing the ship’s floor. It was Teak but it is to costly to replace it with that so they are using treated lumber.



In addition to all the info you can read about the Battleship Texas, it was the first battleship to have a plane take off from its deck, first movie theater aboard a battleship, and first battleship to have radar.

We went everywhere. Places the general public are normally not permitted to enter. It was absolutely amazing. We also met Jim’s wife, Jan. What a great couple. We can’t thank them enough for their hospitality, time and friendship.

After the tour, Jim even took us to the campsites and introduced us to the boss in charge of hiring work campers. Of course we picked up an application. We'll consider this opportunity in the heart of Houston for future camping opportunities.

After that we drove across the street to San Jacinto Battlegrounds.





This is location of the final battle for Texas Independence. Sam Houston led his troops against Santa Anna of Mexico. With the cry of “Remember the Alamo” the Texas soldiers slaughtered the Mexican troops killing over 5000 soldiers. This led to Texas independence and eventual statehood.

We ended our day in Houston by eating at the famous seafood restaurant on the Houston Ship Channel called the Monument Inn. We dined at a window table watching the ships move up the channel to the many refineries.







The Exxon Baytown Refinery, the largest refinery in the USA and where our youngest daughter Carrie is employed as a chemical engineer, is located on this channel and was in view out the window of the restaurant. Look real close and you can see the refinery.



A very amazing day!

To see more pictures of the Texas Battleship, click here.

To see more pictures of the Ship’s Captains, Quarters click here.

To see more pictures of the ship’s guns, click here.

To see more pictures of the Houston Ship Channel, click here.

To see more pictures of Paul and I, click here.

Thanks for visiting. Have a Blessed Easter.