I was up around 8am in my hotel room 25 miles South of Houston and did some homework for my Phoenix class. It took a while to get my day going, but by noon, I was fully-refreshed and checked-out of my hotel room. The hotel had discounted prices for the Johnson NASA Space Center, so I took full advantage of that offer and started in the wrong direction down NASA Blvd. It took about 30 minutes for me to realize this, but hey- at least I got to see a park that was dedicated to the Challenger 7 astronauts. Oh, and I found some girl scouts outside a Walgreens selling cookies, so really, all ends well if Samoas are involved.
When I found NASA, I parked next to the loudest gaggle of birds I've ever heard. They were incredibly intense. The sound on this video doesn't quite do the noise justice (it was much louder right before filming). Anyhow, the Johnson center is pretty large in size. It's apprently the #1 thing to see in Houston, and I can see why it's so great for kids. There was a more adult attraction- the 90-minute tram ride around the facility.
We toured the X-hangar, where all experimental rockets are worked on, and a training room with a full-sized replica of a shuttle for testing purposes. We navigated the "city" of NASA, and toured other places like Mission Control, which was truly the highlight of the trip. We sat in a theater-style row, where astronaut families and foreign dignitaries, presidents and press sat to watch Mission Control as they brought a ship safely to its mission, and safely home. The Mission Control was used there from the dawn of space exploration until 1996 when it was finally replaced and updated.
The Johnson Space Center also had a really huge movie screen with a Discovery Channel video about the International Space Station, which was really impressive. I didn't realize that it was a compilation of several countries' contributions. It looks to be a lofty project, but it needed to get started early...there's still so much to be done.
The tour opened my eyes to the importance of space exploration. I know that politically, it has been untouched for a while because NASA tends to screw up on the little things (making machines that don't know the metric system so they can't connect with British parts), but overall, I think it's important to see what's out there. I just wish it weren't so damned expensive.
After the tour, I hit the road for Corpus Christi- a 4-hour drive down the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico. I stayed at a place in Ingleside - which is beyond the city of Corpus Christi and right near the Dolphin Connection, a tour that I really wanted to see.
I called Dolphin Connection first-thing when I woke up the next day and arranged an appointment. I had four hours to kill, so I went out to the USS Lexington. The Lady Lex, as it's called, is an aircraft carrier with 40 years and more than 200,000 miles of history. It was amazing being on the platform of the Lex, and going into the rooms like bunkers, the mess halls, the bridge, and the captain's quarters. Confined spaces were the norm in those days, and - according to the historical papers and diaries on display- everyone seemed to love it.
The platform on top can hold 1,000 cars... or 14 full-court basketball games, or 3 football games... it was pretty darned big. :) They also had an IMAX theater, where I watched a video on how the military trains their pilots. That was really cool. Nice and loud too. :) It was coming up on 3pm, so I left the Lex and stopped by Whataburger- a Texas burger joint chain (started right here in Corpus Christi) before heading out to the Dolphin Connection.
I am SOOOOO glad I did this tour. It was awesome. I had originally heard of the Dolphin Connection from the Travel Channel's "Road Trip" and wanted to do this instantly. I met the owner at his boat, and we headed out into Corpus Christi Bay with a small group of 5 to go to the usual haunts for the dolphins. Erv takes the boat out every day, and has for 25 years. He studies the migratory patterns and sees them just like clockwork in the areas he expects at the times that he predicts. He knows more than 250 of them by name, (recognizing their facial and dorsal patterns, scratchmarks, etc) and has known many since birth. They come right up to the boat and play with him, since he's been there since most were born. We interrupted a lot of dolphins that were having sex. They are the only other species that have sex for reasons other than reproduction. For them, it's recreation, and they've mastered it. 85% of their day is leisure time.
I got so many great shots of the dolphins. None were ready to play though- apparently they open their mouths for you to rub the inside of their teeth...they love that. I was willing to try it, (they don't bite), but none came to do that. No, we just interrupted a whole lot of sex. I guess they need to work on some kind of system where they hang a necktie on a buoy or something to let us know to respect their privacy.
After the tour, my interest in visiting the Texas Aquarium in Corpus Christi was pretty much gone. Erv referred to it as a "toilet" so many times, that it started to really sink in that this kind of tour is the ONLY way to see dolphins...live and in-person, in the wild, and not starved/conditioned to jump through hoops. The only trick these dolphins knew to do was to play around in the wake of the boat as we cruised along.
When we docked again, I thanked Erv for a great time and headed down to South Padre Island. Padre Island is a Texas state park, a penninsula strip near Corpus Christi open to all. I drove on the beach and parked to watch the sun go down behind the Gulf and seriously considered getting out my camping gear. This would have been a good night to do it. I was so tired though, that I didn't know if camping alone on the beach was a good idea. I was really ready, but I don't regret that I didn't. I'll come back sometime and camp then. This wasn't the night for that.
Instead, I drove back up to Corpus Christi and out West to San Antonio. It took about 3 hours to get there, but as I drove into town, I passed the Alamo. I didn't realize it's right in the heart of the city! Most of the time, historical landmarks are outside of the city limits. Not this one! :) I got some MUCH needed sleep at 2am (that's 3 EST) and am getting ready to start my day here in San Antonio- today will be a laid-back day of window shopping and walking around.
Sure beats workin.
