Drive. Pray. Scream?: Day 148: We have Lift-off

We knew our day at the Kennedy Space Center would be fun, but we were unprepared for the range of emotions we experienced. For all that we love adventure, we're couch-potato wimps compared to the men and women who have built the U.S. space industry over the past 60 years. It's incredible to live in a day when the impossible has been accomplished...humans walking on the moon...and it happened more than 40 years ago! Who knows what milestones will be reached in our lifetime?

We were sad to learn so much about the shuttle program and know that it will never fly again. That 30-year chapter is over. And at the risk of offending some, we wish that much of the money that's spent on government subsidies and welfare entitlement programs would be returned to the space program. It's a field that stirs the imagination as almost nothing else in the world.

Our tour took us inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, in which all of the Apollo, Gemini and Shuttle missions were built. It's an immense structure, visible from miles around. Its current occupant (in one of its four huge, vertical bays) is the Endeavor orbiter. We learned that the term "shuttle" applies to the complete package of space plane (orbiter), two solid-fuel rocket boosters, and the external fuel tank. Endeavor flew one of the last missions of the program. She's being prepared for transport to her new home in Los Angeles, where she will be permanently displayed in a museum. The orbiter Atlantis, which flew the program's last mission, will remain at Kennedy, which is constructing a new facility for her display.

Other highlights of our day were experiencing a simulated shuttle launch (fun!!) and viewing the 3-D IMAX about the International Space Station. To top off the techie venues, we also saw a bald eagle, an alligator, wild pigs (including lots of piglets) and dolphins...all in the wild. We couldn't have asked for a more memorable time. Truly wonderful.