Wow, after spending 3 exhausting days with the family at Disneyland and California Adventure in California and a short one day rest, we packed up to car and headed to Houston to visit an old friend of my wife's.

One day, when our friend was at work, we ventured to the NASA facility south of Houston. Oh man, let me tell you, for the money, the time spent at NASA was golden. What a wonderful family outing. My wife, who's by no means a space nut, believed it to be the hit of the vacation and the kids who are now at that age they bore easily, were also enthralled.

The admission for a family of 4 was something like $76. Heck, at Disneyland we spent that on a single meal. The place was buzzing with activity but lines for the attractions were always short. Almost all the features (except the tram rides) are accessed inside a huge (and air conditioned) facility. We saw 2 out of the three excellent IMAX movies featuring dazzling scenes of launches and views from space. The staff was friendly and well-informed. We arrived on the morning the space shuttle returned and one live lecture had up to the minute news of that mission. One area had actual returned (and very scorched) Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules, a full-scale mockup of the Spacelab, huge moon rocks and soil samples, and much more.

We took one of the two tram tours and saw the main training facility with all the mockups of the shuttle and the space station. On the way back we stopped and saw the Saturn V laying on its side inside a massive building. Every conspiracy theorist who believes the moon shot was faked should stand next to that behemoth. If they still believed their rubbish they should instantly be sent to an insane asylum.

Despite the heat and humidity wave going through Houston, this side trip made it all worth it. I heartily recommend it.

Art