USA! USA!

Day 119 - Phoenix, AZ - Cloudy and Rainy Mid 60's:

We knew rain was in the forecast and therefore had planned a day of inside activities. Our first stop was The Heard Museum. This museum is an incredible gallery/learning environment of American Indian art and culture. As you may know I am not big on museums well at least not art ones this place was different though. The museum was alive. The artwork and sculpture were so vibrant, detailed, and intricate. Not only did the museum offer galleries and exhibits but it also had a learning center and an experience similar to that at the Holocaust Museum where you participate as an American Indian being sent to boarding school.

Our visit began by looking at artwork and sculptures by Allan Houser. He has been called one of the most important artists of the 20th century and after looking at his work it was easy to see why. His work is so beautiful and detailed. It was almost as if he was telling a picture with each piece. He also has illustrated a number of children's books about Indian life which were fun to look at as well. After Houser we moved onto Harry Fonseca's work. His work was incredibly vibrant. He is famous for his coyote pieces.

After the artists we moved into an exhibit with seed baskets and pots. They were so small and yet so incredibly intricate. Once we finished there we headed into the learning center. Here you can learn to speak different American Indian languages, do different beading techniques, create pieces of art, and explore the ways to make baskets. It was quite fun!

Without question my favorite part of the museum was called Remembering our Indian School Days: The Boarding School Experience. I had no idea that American Indians were removed from their families and taken to schools where they were taught to be "white". Their names were changed, their hair was cut, and their clothing was taken from them. It was a really eye opening experience. There were differing opinions within the Indian community as some did not want to send their children and others were trying to send their children with the promise of a constant food supply and a good education. It was a trying time for many families and very traumatic for the children. The crazy part is that I had no idea that these schools still exist today. One of the writings spoke to the fact that the whites and the blacks have been integrated and yet the Indians are still put in their own schools. Today the Indian community holds these schools as a source of pride as well as a payment on a promise by the government. You see when the Indians sold their land to the government one of the guarantees was that their children would be educated. This is payment on that promise and today the Indian community fights to keep them open. I plan to do a lot more reading about this and I STRONGLY recommend that others do the same.

Next we took a look at a wonderful collection of Hopi Katsina Dolls. These were some of the most incredible dolls I have ever seen. They were beautiful, some were funny, some were scary, but all showed the incredible talent of the American Indian people. We moved from there to a room that showed different cradles that are used to carry their babies. They were beautiful and again full of intricate bead work. The next stop was into a gallery dedicated to the Inuits. This room was full of sculptures and paintings of how animals are an integral part of their work.

Our last stop was gallery called We Are! Arizona's First People. This gallery was FULL of pieces unique to the twenty-six tribes that call Arizona home. This included things like calendar sticks (a calendar of life...it is a long stick with images carved in depicting the life of someone), wedding gowns, baskets, and clothing. It ended (actually it began but apparently we went backwards) with a beautiful fence of blown glass.

If you ever visit Phoenix you CAN NOT MISS THIS MUSEUM. I would give yourself a full day. They have a cafe or you can pack a lunch and eat outside. We didn't plan well and wished we had had more time to take a tour (they are given by American Indian teens). We overheard one and I wished we had taken it!!

From the museum we headed to the 16th Street Sports Bar and Grill. I was in great need of lunch and we were both in need of watching the USA Canada Hockey Game. We planned to eat and watch a "bit" of the game before heading to the Art Museum of Phoenix to see the Ansel Adams exhibit. Needless to say that never happened and we ended up watching the whole game. It was an INCREDIBLE game and unfortunately the USA did not come out on the better side.

After leaving the bar it was a drive around Phoenix and then we headed toward the hotel to try and find me some hiking pants. We didn't find any :( I'll just keep hiking in wind pants and shorts until we find some. We then headed to Wal-Mart to stock up for Joshua Tree National Park. It was then back to the hotel for a run, dinner, laundry, and packing!

We will be in Joshua Tree for the next three nights and will not have Internet access and will likely have very spotty cell phone service. If you need us...try but we make no promises!!

Lata!

Las Cruces to Phoenix

Day 118 - Tucson / Tempe / Phoenix, AZ - Sunny Low 70's:

Did I mention that the camp sight in Tucson was located right near a naval air station, was more of an RV park than a campground, and was within earshot of a railroad? Needless to say sleep was not the easiest thing to come by. So with that said we were up before 8am today and on the road by 9am. Our first stop was DUNKIN' DONUTS! These are not easy to come by and if you know Ben you know he loves a french vanilla coffee from DD. After our breakfast stop we headed toward Phoenix. As we drove I read online about the must things to do in the area. One of the top suggestions was the Apache Trail about 25 miles east of town in the Tonto National Forest. This worked well for us as we were coming from the east. We took the drive which is on the list of National Scenic Byways. It was so beautiful. The road is windy and steep taking you through some of the most beautiful terrain of Arizona. Our first big stop was at Canyon Lake. It appears that this is a big camping and water sport area. There were people out jet skiing (in wetsuits) and boating all over the river. From there the road led us to Tortilla Flat (Ben sang the commercial repeatedly). Current population of the town is SIX. Tortilla Flat started out as a stage stop in 1904 and neither fire nor flood has been able to remove this historic stop. The town was PACKED. Part of this was due to the fact that the road was washed out and the river was running across the road just past the town store and restaurant. Many cars and trucks drove through the water but Ben and I were not comfortable with this idea. We are often reminded that this is the only mode of transportation we have and we don't really want to spend our money fixing it! Instead we walked through the VERY SMALL area. Ben got a prickly pear ice cream and we visited the gift shop. If you look at the photos you'll see that the walls are covered in one dollar bills. No one is real sure how this started but the walls are estimated to hold over $150,000. We then headed into the museum. It is on the spot of the first school ever in Tortilla Flat. It was soooo small! We left Tortilla Flat and headed back down the Apache Trail. We were disappointed that we were not able to drive all the way to the Roosevelt Dam but happy that we could be sure the car would still be running at the end of the day!

We continued our journey towards Phoenix. We made a quick stop at Target to get a Tripod for the camera. Thanks Pam and Mike...your giftcard came in handy!! We had to take a detour due to construction and ended up in Tempe home to Arizona State University. We decided to get out and take a walk around town. It is a GREAT town. We both said we could see ourselves living there...in the winter...we aren't too sure about the summer considering it was in the 70's today! We walked Mill Avenue (the main street) which is full of bars, restaurants, and shops. It was a very nice area. As we walked we saw a huge golden A in the side of a hill and noticed people walking up to it. We decided to check it out. The "hill" is called Tempe Butte but is more often referred to as A Mountain. The A is in reference to the University. The mountain has an elevation of 1496ft. After some hemming and hawing, we decided to change into workout clothes and get some exercise. The plan was that I would walk up the trail and Ben would run...Mt. Washington training! Well let's just say that this trail was as steep as Mt. Washington. I think the trail was about twenty-five tenths of a mile and by the time I walked to the top I was in a sweat and breathing heavy. Ben didn't make it too far in the run...he had to walk...it was VERY VERY STEEP. He compared it to Mt. Washington...just not nearly as long. We figure he and Melissa should vacation here about a month before an just do repeats!!

On our way down from the short trip up Tempe Butte we noticed a trail along some water. We headed over to what turned out to be Tempe Beach Park along the Salt River. The park was very nice and we hit it running. Ben headed out ahead of me (big surprise I know) but we both did about three miles along the water. The trail was right by the water and on the other side was the University. Once we finished we headed to our hotel. There was nowhere near Phoenix to camp so it was to the hotel...turns out to be a good thing as there are thunderstorms and lots of rain for the overnight. We arrived at the hotel and made some dinner. Ben cooked while I worked on the blog! He even made popcorn for a snack...such a treat!! Now it's relaxation time. We are both working on our computers trying to get things straight and figure out the next couple of weeks in our schedule. Tomorrow it's museums and maybe a hike...it all depends on the weather.

Hope everyone is safe, warm, and with electricity! Love to you all.

Day 117 - Tucson, AZ - Sunny Low 70's:

We woke up early today with a plan to hike one of the trails right at the campground. We quickly found out that the trails were more like walking paths so instead we headed to Saguaro National Park. When we arrived we stopped at the visitors center where the ranger told us about the Douglas Spring Trail which would connect us to the .... trail. The ranger was quite sad that she had to work and could not join us as there is waterfall at the top. As you can imagine waterfalls are not very common in the desert and with recent rain the river was flowing! Much to our surprise when we arrived at the trailhead there were TONS of cars. The parking lot was full and the street was lined. We ventured up anyway! We started the trail by signing in...it's the first time we had to do that...and then headed up. It was a fairly steep trail and with the heat it felt even steeper. It was beautiful hike and we were surrounded by cacti. I think it was referred to as the cacti forest. Ben loves the cacti and often touches them! I keep telling him that one of them is going to get them...he doesn't care though. After about a two and a half mile hike we reached the waterfall. It was a great sight and we enjoyed it for a few minutes in peace before about twenty others joined us. We headed down the trail taking pics...Ben with the cacti...and enjoying the scenery. Once back in the car we traveled the eight-mile loop road through the park. It was not the most exciting trip we've ever taken but we did it!!

We headed back to camp for showers and then headed into town. Our first stop was the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona. We had read that they had a large collection of Ansel Adams photographs and wanted to check them out. Turns out the museum opened in 1975 with the purchase of five photographer's archives. The five artists archives that they hold are Ansel Adams, Wynn Bullock, Harry Callahan, Aaron Siskind, and Frederick Sommer. Today "The Center for Creative Photography holds more archives and individual works by 20th-century North American photographers than any other museum in the nation. These holdings include a research collection featuring the archives of over 50 photographers - Ansel Adams, Lola Alvarez Bravo, Richard Avedon, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, W. Eugene Smith, and Edward Weston among them. Archives include photographs, negatives, albums, work prints, manuscripts, audio-visual material, contact sheets, correspondence and memorabilia. CCP's art collection totals more than 80,000 works by 2,000 photographers." (http://www.creativephotography.org/collections/, February 26, 2010)

Their current main exhibit is called New Topographics. Here is how the website describes the works: "The exhibition New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-altered Landscape, held in 1975 at George Eastman House, signaled the emergence of a new approach to landscape photography. A new version of this seminal exhibition re-examines more than 100 works from the 1975 show, as well as some 30 prints and books by other relevant artists to provide additional historical and contemporary context. This reconsideration demonstrates both the historical significance of these pictures and their continued relevance today." (http://www.creativephotography.org/, February 27, 2010) The photos were so impressive and they had a whole section of Boston photos which was nice because I actually was able to recognize most of the locations. From the main exhibit we headed up to view some of the Ansel Adams photos. Everytime I see his work I am more amazed. If I could afford it I would decorate my future house with his work...instead I will likely choose from the much more affordable Anna Lacasse gallery! While there we learned that the Art Museum of Phoenix has an exhibit of Ansel Adams work which we will likely check out.

After the museum we headed to dinner at El Charro Cafe. Lonely Planet our constant travel companion had suggest it so we thought we'd give it a try. Ben had margaritas and shrimp tacos which he thoroughly enjoyed. I had a salad (delicious) and their original tacos...they were not good and I would not recommend them. It was so disappointing but what can you do...sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

From dinner we headed over to the University of Arizona to catch a pre-season baseball game. Did you know that Terry Francona went to school at UA? We stayed for about five innings...the Wildcats were winning...but we realized that we had no interest in actually being there. Lesson learned: unless you know someone or have some investment in the team don't go to a sporting event!

We headed back to camp and caught a few minutes of the Canada/Slovakia hockey game before they kicked us out of the rec room at 9pm. We headed for our tent and did some reading before falling asleep!

Day 116 - Las Cruces, NM / Tucson, AZ - Sunny Upper 60's:

Today not a whole lot went on in our lives. We awoke, ate breakfast, and hit the grocery store for some grub! We then hit the road for Tucson. It was a long, WINDY, and not very exciting drive along I10. It took us around five and a half hours to reach the city. Once there it took us a bit to figure out where we were going to stay. Eventually we found a campground and set up. Ben made a great dinner of hamburgers and green beans before we hit the sack for reading. It was a boring day to say the least but hey not everyday can be exciting....right?

Sledding...

Day 115 - White Sands National Monument, Alamogordo, NM - Sunny Low 60's:

We started this morning slowly and used it as a catch up day. Heather updated the blog and got some work done while I went and gave the car a good washing and cleaning. Then it was back to pick up Heather and we were on the road again. It was a quick trip to the White Sands National Monument and we arrived not knowing what to expect. We ventured into the visitors center and watched a quick 17 minute video on the area and how the sand dunes are created. We discovered that the White Sands National Monument is a 275 square mile park that protects the largest gypsum dune field in the world. This unique place is created by the heavy runoff from the surrounding mountains collecting within the Tularosa Basin. Since there is no river to drain the area it creates large pools of water which then evaporate leaving gypsum crystals all over the ground. Intense winds blow these gypsum crystals and reduced them to sand that collects across the desert which creates the white sand dunes. In some places the dunes are over thirty feet tall and can move up to 30 feet per year because of the constant winds. We also learned about many animals and plants that have evolved to allow themselves to survive in this desert land with no water. Animals survive on the moisture they intake when eating other animals and often only come out at night as the heat during the day is too much. The plants are fascinating. Where you see a 2 foot plant coming out of a 30 foot dune is really a 32 foot dune with it's roots in the base of the dune.

After the video we visited the gift shop and found everyone renting sleds, so we went with the crowd and rented a plastic saucer. Then it was back to the car to drive out on the 8 mile loop through the sand dunes. We began the drive on pavement and about half way though the pavement ends and turn into a gypsum road that you get to drive on. We even saw then plowing the roads to move the sand. We arrived at the main parking area and decided that barefoot was the way to go and we headed off to hike the dunes. It's really like walking on another planet because as far as you can see are dunes and white sand. We went to the biggest dune we could find to try out the sled. Its not quite like snow sledding but it was still fun to be out in the desert and riding a sled. We explored for a bit more and tried a couple different sledding spots. I also tried some extreme sand sledding by jumping off a cliff and only ended up with sand in my pants. It was some of the most fun we've had...the sledding got better but let me tell you climbing back up is a WORKOUT! It's basically running on very loose sand up hill...

It was a relaxing way to spend the afternoon and then we headed to Las Cruces. Heather hit the gym for a run and I took the car for an oil change and tire rotation. We watched some Olympics got through some more email, filing, and work before heading to bed!

Photos & Video Updated

PICTURES: All the pictures are up to date. Ben should be posting today's blog sometime in the near futures.

VIDEOS: I have added some video from Dallas and White Sands National Park. You have to watch the WHITE SANDS VIDEOS they are quite fun!

Camping Out in Big Bend

Day 114 - Big Bend, TX/Carlsbad, NM/Alamagorgo, NM - SNOW and COLD:

Well so much for the early hike. We got up at 7am to gusty winds, snow on the ground, and fog that you couldn't see through. It was CRAZY. Thankfully we had packed up almost all of camp the night before so it didn't take us long to get the car ready and head out. We were sad that we didn't get to hike the leaning rock trail but again it's just a reason to come back!

Our original plan was to head to El Paso, TX but at the last minute the plan changed and we headed to Carlsbad, NM to see the Carlsbad Caverns. As you can see in the pictures these caverns were not quite like the Luray Caverns and were more limestone. They were cool to look at but not quite as spectacular (IN MY OPINION) as the Luray Caverns. We walked through the natural entrance down to the big room. The natural entrance descends about 750 feet. The caverns used to be a reef in the ocean and you can see some of the effects of the ocean flow on rocks within the caverns. It is crazy to think that people used to walk through these caverns with little light and no trail. I can't even imagine it. In fact the caverns offer a tour where you can walk through in the pitch black. It was a nice walk through and thankfully for the sake of our legs we did not have to walk out of the caverns...there is an elevator that takes you back up the 750ft in less than a minute.

From Carlsbad we headed to Alamagordo, NM. We booked a hotel so that we could shower and do some laundry. We plan to visit the White Sands National Memorial tomorrow!

Day 113 - Big Ben, TX Sunny and Upper 70's:

We awoke early again today, had a nice breakfast and then hopped in the car for our days adventure. We headed west this time toward Castalon and the Santa Elana Canyon. On our first day it was recommended that we do The Chimney Trail. It's a desert "hike" which was something neither of us had ever done. It was a six mile round trip "hike" to a series of "Chimney's" and a beautiful view of Santa Elana Canyon. The reason I put "hike" in quotations is that it was more of a walk through the desert. I think of hiking as up hill and strenuous. This was flat and long. The Chimneys were neat and even had some ancient writings on them. We didn't stay long as we wanted to get back and continue to the canyon. We went right to Santa Elana Canyon and as with the hot springs, we were not able to get to the trail because of the high water. You could have waded across as we learned that some people did but the rangers let us know that this was not recommended. Ben wanted to really badly...I didn't. I told him I'd wait if he wanted to go but he decided against it! We figure it's just a reason to come back because the photos look AMAZING and I'd really like to see the view. Our last hike of the day was The Blue Creek (Red Rock) Trail. We walked down into a valley where the Homer Wilson Ranch was located and kept walking until we found the Red Rocks. I was not such a fan of this trail. I was very skittish the entire time feeling that of all the trails this was the one where they bear would in fact eat me! Ben was fine and promised to protect me but it didn't seem to help! The rocks were beautiful and reminded me of Red Rock Canyon just outside of Las Vegas. We headed back to the car and made our way back to camp. Our plan was to have dinner and then go watch the sunset from the Window View Trail. We got the dinner, we walked the trail, but we missed the sunset. They should write on their info that you need to get there well before sunset if you actually want to see anything! It was another early night as we knew that inclement weather was on the way and we wanted to get a hike in early before heading out of the park!

Day 112 - Big Bend, TX - Sunny and Upper 60's to Low 70's:

We woke up pretty early...well Ben did. I got up around 9am and had some breakfast. We had stopped at the visitor center on our way in and so had an idea of where we wanted to hike. We made our way to the Lost Mine Trail first. It was about a 5 mile round trip hike and we enjoyed every bit of it. When we reached the top it was like we could see forever. The scenery almost felt fake as we looked at it but it wasn't. We made our way back down and headed back to the campsite for lunch. Ben grabbed his fishing pole and box and we made our way east in the park to the Rio Grande Village for some additional trails and new scenery. It was quite a temperature change. When we left Chisos basin it was around 60 degrees and by the time we got to the Rio Grande area it was closer to 75. We went straight to the visitors center so Ben could get his fishing licsence and then made our way to the Rio Grande Village Nature Trail. It was a bit disappointing as there wasn't much nature to be seen but it was a nice walk and a different look than where we were staying. From there we headed to Bosquillas Canyon Trail. From both of these trails you can see the Mexican community of Bosquillas. It is a unique sight to know that just across the river is a whole different country! As we walked there were some signs of members of the Mexican community making their way across the river (illegally) as they tried to sell souvenirs. We had been instructed not to touch or take any of these things and to report it to the rangers. One was kind of funny though. As we walked through the Canyon we came upon a cup that said "tips for singing Mexican Victor." A few steps later and we could hear him across the river singing away. He was very polite but as instructed we just kept walking. The trail was unique in that parts of the Canyon trail were rock and others were sandy. It made for an interesting walk. Ben made sure to touch the river...it was VERY cold. I was rather disappointed. With a name like Rio GRANDE I expected it to be big like the Mississippi and it wasn't...Oh Well! Our last hike of the day was the Hot Springs Trail. We had been informed much to Ben's dismay that we would not be able to go in the hot springs because of a release of water from a dam on the river. The water levels were about 3-5 feet higher than normal and so the hot springs were actually under water. Ben was sad but there wasn't a whole lot we could do!! We headed back to camp and Ben made another great dinner. We hit the sack early again tired from our hiking and excited for another day ahead!

Day 111 - Odessa, TX/Big Bend, TX - Sunny and Upper 60's:

We didn't really do too much today other than drive to Big Bend. It was a LONG, BORING drive through oil country as I am going to refer to it...everywhere you look there were oil rigs in the fields and some places we passed through actually had a terrible odor of oil as we drove by. A quick note...if you ever travel there make sure you get gas BEFORE you get to Marathon. You can top off in Marathon but they will RIP YOU OFF with gas prices. We finally arrived in Big Bend National Park with the plan to set up and go for a hike..it didn't work out quite that well as we got there a little later than we had thought we would and so we set up camp and cooked a nice dinner. We camped in the Chisos Basin area which was SPECTACULAR. We were surrounded by mountains and gorgeous scenery. We enjoyed the nice weather before heading to bed early so as to get a good start on our first day in the park!

Day 110 - Dallas, TX/Odessa, TX - Sunny Mid 60's:

We got an early start today at our hotel in Dallas. We didn't have too much on the agenda other than a haircut for myself and touring the new Dallas Cowboy's Stadium. I was fortunate that Laura's (for those of you who don't know her...she's a great friend and a great hairdresser...only the second person to ever cut my hair) aunt Melanie lives in Dallas and is also a hair dresser. I made an appointment with her and was so happy to leave with shorter hair. It's a lot to try and take care of long hair while on the road...the shorter cut is making life much easier. It was nice to see her again as the last time I saw her was at Laura's wedding!

Once my hair was all done we packed up and headed to Arlington, TX home of the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, and Six Flags. It is quite a little town, buzzing with fun, sports, and life! We got into the parking lot of the stadium and were immediately taken by it's size, it's ENORMOUS. We finally found the right door to get into the pro shop and purchased our tickets. Our tour began in the nice cushioned seats of the middle level of the stadium. It was an awe inspiring seat. As we sat we learned about the stadium, official names Cowboy Stadium but unofficially known as JerryWorld, and some of the thoughts that Jerry Jones had when building this giant structure. We learned quickly that he mostly wanted to build the biggest, the best and a stadium of many firsts.

Here is the rundown:
- The stadium has the largest high-definition television in the world. It is referred to as Jerry-Tron and measures 160-by-72-feet. Trust me when I say that there is not a bad seat in the house if you can view this television. There are two high-definition TVs facing the end zones as well which measure 27 feet tall by 48 feet wide.
- The stadium has the largest retractable/sliding glass doors in the world. The doors measure 120ft wide by 180ft tall and open in 18 minutes. We learned that if they open one door they have to open both doors AT THE SAME TIME otherwise windows would blow throughout the stadium due to the air pressure.
- The retractable roof is the largest in the world. It measures 660,800 square feet and opens in 12 minutes and closes in 9 minutes. Many fans were worried that the trademark star which could be seen from center field would no longer be seen if the roof was closed, but Jerry thought of that...the roof has a star that lights up and can be seen from five miles up...in addition the high-def screen has one on top of it equal in size so that when the roof is open the star remains visible.
- The stadium features two monumental arches, soaring 292 feet above the playing field, which support a retract- able roof. As the longest single span roof structure in the world, each boxed arch is 35 feet deep by 17 feet wide. Weighing 3,255 tons each, these impressive structures span 1,225 feet in length.
- The Cowboys Stadium site covers 73 total acres; the overall site encompasses 140 total acres
- The stadium is 3 million square feet containing 104 million cubic feet of volume
Stadium length – 900 feet from one end zone retractable wall to the opposite end zone retractable wall
- Top of steel at the highpoint of the main arched trusses is 292 feet above the playing field, and each is fabricated from special high-strength grade 65 steel imported from Luxembourg and are the heaviest shape rolled in the world. Many people wonder why they got the steal from Germany and not the US but Germany is the only place in world that makes this special steel.
- The stadium has 325 high class suites including the FIRST every field level suites. Included with this are the first two rows of seats above the suite.
- There are over 800 concessions in the stadium, over 300 TVs, 1600 bathrooms (1000 of them being for the women) and only 8 ATM's!
- The stadium has seating capacity for 80,000 spectators but can hold upwards of 100,000. They sell $30 standing room only tickets for every game but be sure to get there early or you'll have a hard time seeing much.
- The stadium is the first to have the teams enter from the center of the field rather than the end zone.

Some other interesting information we learned as we traveled the stadium is that there are 6 locker rooms at the stadium. One for the Cowboy's which no one but the Cowboys uses, one for the Cowboy cheerleaders, two for the visiting NFL team, one for the home NFL team...for instances like the Superbowl, and one for the XFL team that used to play in Dallas. The reason there are two for the visiting team is that Jerry Jones wanted to make it as uncomfortable for the visitors as possible. They did this by making the locker rooms small to the point that the whole team can't fit in the same room thus during half-time they have to go back and forth. The Cowboy's locker room isn't the most outstanding place but it is nice that they have a short walk to the field, and an even shorter walk to the media room right after the game...it's entrance is within the locker room. As the players head to the field they actually walk through the Miller Light Club which is an area that is accessible only to the field level suites. Therefore when they are walking out they actually walk through the fans. On the other side the opposing team has the same set-up except that there is a plexi-glass barrier so that no one can spit on or throw things at the players.

We got to visit the Cheerleaders locker room to the delight of many of the men. They have quite a nice setup including their pictures above their lockers. Many were surprised to learn that the cheerleaders have to try out every year and that they only make between $50 and $100. They make most of their money in appearances.

The suites are gorgeous and so comfortable. They hold an average of 12-18 people but they do have larger suites. You have to rent the suite for the entire season...you actually lease it and you can use it whenever you want...all hours every day EXCEPT when there is a non-football event at the stadium. If you want to attend a concert you have to buy all twelve tickets for the show. For this reason most people rent out their suites for each event and make a little money to pay back their suite fees.

It was a really neat place to visit and explore. We unfortunately could not go onto the field as you can with many tours because they were preparing for Professional Bull Riders and the field was replaced with dirt. They did invite us back to check it out next time but I doubt we'll be back anytime soon. We made a quick trip to Wal-Mart to get some food and supplies for our camping trip to Big Bend National Park. We didn't make it quite that far and stopped in Odessa, TX for the night.

Photos

We have TONS of photos to update from San Antonio and Austin. I am working on getting them uploaded but it's taking a long time. I'll post when they have been added. Thanks again for reading. Love you guys!

Austin to Dallas

Day 109 - Austin to Dallas - BEAUTIFUL Sunny and Upper 60's:

**As some of you may or may not know there was a plane crash an an IRS building in Austin. We were nowhere near the crash. It was clearly on the minds of everyone we met at UT but rest assured we were and are safe.

We began our day with a lovely breakfast at our hotel. We headed out a bit later than originally planned and made our way straight to the University of Texas campus. We had originally scheduled our tour of Darrell K Royal Stadium for 4pm but decided to skip the Texas History Museum and do the tour at 12:30pm.

Our tour began with a look at the brand new trophy room attached to the stadium. It was quite impressive to see all the national championship trophies, Vince Young's trophies, and Ricky William's trophies. They have a whole case dedicated to the accolades and trophies of Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams. I saw my first Heisman in person which was pretty cool! The trophies are quite large and I would imagine quite heavy. They have two unique trophies in the case at this time. One is the Golden Hat. This trophy is awarded to the winner of the Oklahoma/UT game each year...there is only one trophy and the winner is etched...kind of like a Stanley Cup. The other is the Lonestar Showdown Trophy. This encompasses all varsity men's and women's teams who compete against Texas A&M. The schools are awarded points for wins. At the end of the school year the school with the most points gets to keep the trophy. There were many other pieces of memorabilia including Rose Bowl footballs, BCS trophies and player jerseys. It was a beautiful room.

From the trophy room we headed out to the statue of Earl Campbell. It is HUGE. The statue stands at about nine feet. This lead us to the second trophy room. This includes all sports. Here there was a nice piece dedicated to Ian Crocker (swimming...he's from Portland, ME) as well as Aaron Piersol (swimming), and Cat Osterman (softball). They had a large number of baseball trophies as it is their second largest program as well. The room was not quite as nice as the football room but it was nice to see dedication to other sports. After leaving this room we saw the memorial to all the Texans killed in WWI. Prior to 1996 the stadium was called Texas Memorial Stadium in honor of those men killed. In 1996 it was renamed Darrell K Royal stadium in honor of the coach that led them to three national titles and twelve southwest titles.

We finally made it into the stadium after this. To say it is huge is an understatement. The stadium was completed in 1924 however it has undergone EXTENSIVE renovations. While the stadium is still on that foundation, it is the only thing left. With all of the renovations the most recent being completed in August 2009, the stadium now has a SEATING capacity of 100, 119. It has additional standing room only spots as well. This makes it the largest seating capacity in Texas. It has more seating than the new Dallas Cowboy's stadium. However with the standing room only spaces the Cowboy's stadium can hold 111,000 people. The record at Darrell K Royal is 101, 357. At one point Godzillatraun was the largest high-definition video screen in the world. It has since been surpassed but is the second largest in college sports and Texas only to the Dallas Cowboys. The field is immaculate and I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like on a game day. The guide told us that people start barbecuing as early as 5am for a 7pm game!

Our last stop was in the room dedicated to BEVO. For those of you who do not know BEVO is the school mascot. He is a longhorn steer with burnt orange coloring. There have been fourteen different BEVO's. There are a number of stories as to how he got his name but in reality no one really knows....The room dedicated to BEVO is quite extensive. There is lots of memorabilia and information about him. The floor has memorial tiles to each BEVO that has passed. BEVO is cared for by a group of honorary undergraduate students called the Silver Spurs and resides on a ranch outside of Austin. He comes early on game days and has a special spot on the field where he watches all the action.

After the tour we grabbed lunch on campus before heading back to the car. We then made the drive to Dallas. By we I actually mean Ben. Still not feeling well, I took about an hour and a half nap. When we finally arrived in Dallas and made our way directly to the Market Street area. We took a walk to where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It was an erie scene to be at knowing that on this spot in 1963 we lost so much potential. They have two X's in the tar. One is faint where he was initially shot and the second is bright white to indicate where the fatal shot took place. From the spot you can see the window where Lee Harvey Oswold took those shots. The window remains open at all times as a memorial to the area. There is a museum on the sixth floor (where the shot was fired) that you can visit that chronicles the day's events and includes eye witness video and audio. We arrived too late to go but we may try and stop in tomorrow. It was an incredible feeling, standing in history, I don't know if it was because it was more recent or because I know more but it was truly one of the more meaningful stops on the trip so far for me.

After paying our respects we walked around downtown Dallas for a while before making our way to Plano for the night. Some good friends of ours have family here and I am so excited to get my hair cut tomorrow!! We are then off to Cowboy Stadium for a tour...so random Jerry Jones (the Cowboy's owner) was just shown at the men's figure skating finals in the Olympics!

We're in Longhorn Territory

Day 108 - Austin, TX - Sunny Upper 60's:

Today we slept in a bit. I've been under the weather for the last day or so and we figured it was best if I slept a bit. We headed out and made our way to the Texas State Capitol. The first thing you notice is that the building is PINK! It is made with pink granite donated by the town of Marble Falls. The interior walls are mostly limestone. The capitol is the second tallest capitol building in the U.S. we actually drove by the tallest on our way to Houston. Anyone know what it is? Once inside the capitol we caught a tour of the building.

We entered the rotunda which is 218ft from floor to ceiling. When you look to the top there is a star with Texas written in between the points. One thing we learned during our visit is that not only is everything bigger in Texas, but everyone in Texas wants you to know that you are in Texas. On the floor of the rotunda is a painting with six seals of Texas. These seals represent the six nations that have governed Texas. In order they are: Spain, France, The Republic of Texas, The United States, The Confederate States of America, and then back to the United States. It was news to me that at one point (for about nine years) Texas was it's own country! In the rotunda room you can see portraits of the former governors of Texas in chronological order. The most recent portrait is of George W. Bush. These portraits go around the room and continue up four floors. When the next new governor is elected the portrait of the governor leaving office will replace George W. Bush's and every portrait will be moved once place to the left all the way up the floors...no one wants that job!

From here we went up to the Senate room. The Texas senate only meets on odd years and in those years they meet for only five months. The only change to this can be made by the governor who may call a special session but it's rare. The Senators are elected to four year terms and therefore meet for 10 months out of their 48 month term. While in the Senate room we were able to notice some more Texas pride including the chandeliers. The light bulbs actually spell out Texas. It was also funny to notice that all the door hinges say Texas Capitol. I guess you'll never forget where you are! Next we headed over House of Representatives. It was very similar to the Senate room including the Texas light chandeliers. These folks are elected to two year terms and also meet only on odd years for five months. Ben asked why only five months and the man was not real sure. He says they believe it is because in old days travel was not so easy and with Texas being such a large state it was difficult for everyone to get together. In addition most people were farmers and could not be away from the farms for more time than that. Now they don't have any real reason other than it's in the Texas Constitution and they've always done it.

Our last stop was in the Capitol extension. When the building started to overfill, the government decided that they needed more office space and meeting room. They built the capitol extension which was finished in 1993. It is all UNDERGROUND! The extension also has tunnels that lead to other government buildings in the capitol complex. A side note: most of the other buildings in the capitol complex are made of pink granite too!

After our tour we headed back to our hotel room to have some lunch. Once we were done we made our way back to town and walked through the University of Texas campus. It is GORGEOUS. We signed up for tour of the Texas Longhorn Stadium tomorrow! Located on the campus is the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum. We made our way in and learned so much about LBJ! We watched a short movie that chronicled his life. I know very little about him in general but seeing all of the programs that he put through including, Headstart, Financial Aid, Food Stamps, Civil Rights and over 200 other landmark bills. The last time I was in Texas I visited his ranch. We did not make the trip this time but if you get the chance I recommend visiting. The museum is OUTSTANDING. It is a journey through America and the world as it was during LBJ's life. While history is in the background of each wall, LBJ and Lady Bird's lives are in the forefront. You can read love letters, see photos of their childhoods and enjoy artifacts of the lives. Some of the most impressive: LBJ's limousine, the Model-T family car, a collection of Presidential pens used to sign the landmark bills, and many handwritten notes and letters.

My personal favorite and most poignant was a letter written to LBJ from Jackie Kennedy. I'm not sure if you know this but the outgoing president always writes a letter to the new president and leaves it in the Oval Office. JFK was not able to do this for LBJ and so after JFK's funeral Jackie sat in the Oval Office and wrote the letter to President Johnson. It was a very emotional letter and a true piece of American history.

The museum has a large collection of Presidential gifts. When foreign dignitaries visit the U.S. they often brought gifts. I didn't really get most of them...I mean I'm sure they are worth TONS of money and some of them were quite elaborate but more than anything they were somewhat bizarre and most likely useless. There were also a number of gifts on display sent to LBJ from the American people. One of my favorite things was a collection of drawings and pictures sent by children. My favorite was a letter from a little boy who told LBJ that he and his two friends would like to go to space a week from Monday. They wore size 8 space suits and if anything went wrong as long as they had laser guns they would know what to do! TOO FUNNY!

The last part of the museum was a replica of the Oval Office as it was when LBJ was in office. This included some of the actual furniture (most of it) and artwork. It is pretty spectacular and as close to an Oval Office as I'll likely ever get! On this floor there was also an exhibit dedicated to Lady Bird Johnson. If you're wondering where the name came from, it said that her caretaker when she was a baby said she was as pretty as a Lady Bird...and the name stuck. The exhibit had some of her clothing as well as information about her flowers! Another really neat thing is that she kept a journal everyday that she was living in the White House. It started out handwritten and then moved to recordings. She would record her thoughts and events, gather any memorabilia, and put them in an envelope with the date on the front. These were eventually turned in to a book that I would now like to read!

From the museum we headed down to Sixth Street which is touted as an entertainment and music mecca. I kind of equate it to a Bourbon Street but with more college kids, more businesses, and a lot less drinking...while there is plenty of drinking it's not on the same level. We walked around for a bit but it was early and there was not much going on so we headed out to dinner. We ate at The County Line. We read it was a must eat. On our way we drove through the RITZY part of town...mansion after mansion after mansion. The restaurant is located on Lake Lady Bird and offers a great view. We had some real Texas barbecue...still though the ribs weren't as good as Gug's!

By now I was feeling the effects of the illness so we made our way back to the hotel. We had hoped to go in town for a drink and some live music but I was just not feeling up to it...tomorrow we are going to the Texas State Museum and then to Longhorn Stadium. Who knows what other fun we might find!

Thanks for reading!

The Rodeo, Ben and Heather come to San Antonio

Day 107 - San Antonio - Sunny and Low 60's:

This morning we packed up the campsite and planned to head to Austin for the night. Before getting on the road though we thought we should go check out a couple of the other missions (remember, the Alamo was a mission originally) around San Antonio. We were very glad that we took the time to head out to Mission San Jose because we got to take a guided tour and discovered the significance and reasoning behind the Spanish missions. They were not just churches but rather communities built around the church. The Spanish government was trying to build communities to convert Indians into Catholic Spanish citizens. By doing this in missions they could offer people shelter, a steady food supply, and community all while converting them. It was actually very smart because then they would send them out into the community with a little money to start a life and continue the Spanish way. It was an easy way for them to build their presence in Texas and all the while collect taxes from those who they have converted. While at San Jose we got to see a reconstruction of the living quarters, the church which is largely in tact from the time it was first built, and a working grist mill on the mission property. Much of the mission is always under construction because the idea was that missions were to be temporary. Just get the Indians converted and then send them off to live their own lives. In fact they were not intended to last more than 10 years. Mission San Jose lasted over 100 years. It was costing the Spanish government nothing to run these missions and in fact the missions were profitable often selling their goods to the Spanish government. Therefore they were left on their own. When it finally came time for the missions to go away it was done in a very orderly way...the members were given money and pieces of land to move and start their own lives. Apparently at some of the missions you can see where people built their new homes within the walls of the existing mission as a new starting base. It was an incredible learning place and we are so glad that we decided to visit. From San Jose we started heading north and stopped at Mission Concepcion and found this one to be a bit disappointing because it wasn't as large a the other mission and there was little to explore other then the grounds surrounding the church. It turns out that it is actually the most preserved of all the missions but while we were there it was under some renovation. Unlike San Jose the majority of the mission no longer exists...it's mainly just the church. As an aside, these churches still hold services. We were informed to be cautious and quite when entering because there are often people praying or services being held. If you are ever in the San Antonio area I really recommend visiting San Jose and getting the guided tour. After our mission visits we were back in the car and on our way to Austin.

Day 106 - San Antonio - Sunny and Mid 60's:

This morning we woke with anticipation of going to the San Antonio Stock & Rodeo Show so we had some breakfast and got ready. The rodeo is a big deal in San Antonio and offers over 1 MILLION dollars in prize money. It is a sixteen day event with competitions and playoffs leading to the final rounds in each event on the last night. We showed up at the Rodeo/Fair and quickly found out that there was no afternoon Rodeo, so we bought our tickets for the evening show. We walked around the fair for a bit a saw many true cowboys and many wannabe cowboys and almost bought some belt buckles to fit in...the displays were amazing. They had buckles for everything and everyone. We thought about getting Dad and Scott Lineman and Plumber buckles but they were sold out! We had a long time before the rodeo so we decided that we would head back into town to check out some of Aunt Sue's apparel, the grounds of the 1968 Worlds Fair and the Tower of the Americas.

Once in town we headed into the old village of San Antonio to visit the Village Weavers where my Aunt Sue sells some of her handmade pieces. Unfortunately there was construction going on and the store was closed. Sorry Sue, we couldn't collect any of your debts!! The area was very nice though and it sounds like they have concerts and artists outside often.

We then visited the site of the 1968 Worlds Fair. There wasn't much going on so we decided to hangout for a bit on one of the many waterfalls they have constructed throughout the park. Heather hadn't been feeling well so she took a nap and I just relaxed in the sun. Happy hour was then upon us and we headed into the Tower of Americas for some appetizers and drinks. We were informed by a local that instead of paying the $12 per person to go up to the observation deck you could go up to the bar one floor below and get some great drinks and appetizers during happy hour. The Tower of the America's is second highest observation tower in the United States at 750 feet tall. We got to see the city from above and enjoyed some great food and drinks.

It was getting close to Rodeo time, so we hopped on the bus and rode out to the AT&T Center to check out our first Rodeo. It was a great experience with all the classic events from Bareback Riding, Saddleback Riding, Steer Wrestling, Tie-Down Roping, Bull Riding, Team Roping and Barrel Racing. We enjoyed all of the events but Heather's favorite was the Muttin' Busting which is when the little kids came out and rode sheep like bulls. The kids ranged in age from FOUR to SEVEN. It was pretty funny watching them hang on for dear life as those sheep took off...who knew a sheep could run so fast. Along with the Rodeo there is a country concert after and even though I'm not a country fan we stayed to watch for a bit. It's pretty neat as they role out a portable stage bring some seats out...for the crazy fans who payed $200 a ticket, and use some flat beds for equipment. The stage rotates continuously through the whole show which seemed to use like it would make for a very dizzy band! The performer was Deirks Bentley and for the couple of songs we heard he was decent and if Heather was feeling better we probably would have stayed for the whole thing. We then had a short walk back to the KOA and called it a night.

Day 105 - San Antonio - Sunny and High 60's:

Today we got some breakfast from the Chuck Wagon at the KOA campground. It was some decent breakfast for being cooked out of a trailer. We then jumped on the bus and headed into town to visit The Alamo. Upon arriving at the Alamo we decided to purchase the audio tour because we figured we would get lots more information that way then just walking through the grounds. Originally named Misión San Antonio de Valero, the Alamo housed missionaries for over 75 years and was a pivotal part of the Texas revolution. It was here that David Crockett, William Travis, Jim Bowie and many more lost their lives if the 13 day battle of the Alamo that started on February 23, 1836 and ended with General Antonio López de Santa Anna's army conquering the mission on March 6, 1836. Even though the Alamo battle was lost by the Texans it gave the Texan army the "Remember the Alamo " rallying cry and gave them something more to fight for. In fact it was the turning point in Texan history and eventually led to Texas becoming it's own nation. It is said that the Alamo also led to expansion of the west including Arizona and New Mexico. It would take a VERY long time to explain the history of the entire battle and it's after effects but I strongly recommend...ESPECIALLY TO HEATHER'S STUDENTS that you do some research and learn a bit about this important part of U.S. History! It turned out to be a great tour and we learned lots.

It was a beautiful day out so we headed down to the Riverwalk to enjoy the Valentine's Day on the water. We decided to take a boat tour along the miles of canals and rivers they have in San Antonio. The boat ride was fun but the narration on the boat was rather disappointing because it was short and not very informative. After the boat tour it was time to head back to the campsite for a lovely meal. We made our way to the local grocery store and got all the goods for Heather's favorite chicken stir-fry. However, plans changed because when we went into the grocery store it was 68 and sunny and when we got out it was 50 and windy, and by windy I mean 30mph winds...so we decided against trying to cook and eat in the cold and wind.

We then decided to head out on the main drag by our hotel and see what restaurants were around. We came up to Big Lou's Pizza and the parking lot was packed and people we parking on the road, so we thought it has to be good and it's Heather's second favorite meal. Once we got inside it appeared that this was the place to be on a Sunday night. We ordered our pizza and noticed that they offered a 42 and 37 inch pizza. YES I SAID A 42-INCH PIZZA...we figured it must be a joke but we found out that it is indeed correct and its the biggest pizza either of us had every seen. I can't even begin to describe how big it is in person. If you can imagine your new 42-inch plasma TV and then spin it in a circle and that's the size of this pizza. I wanted to take a picture but felt a bit odd taking photos of someone's dinner. We saw two 42 incher's come out of the kitchen and the whole place pretty much stops because they have to clear everyone out of the way for the pizza get through the room. After talking with one of the regulars at the bar we find out that Big Lou's was #51 on one of the Travel Channels places to eat.

It wasn't the Valentine's Day we envisioned but it was a great day and some good pizza.

Day 104 - Houston/San Antonio:

Today we decided to check out a couple last thing in Houston before we headed west to San Antonio. Even though neither one of us is extremely into fine art we had heard a great deal about the Menil collection in Houston's museum district. We found out that The Menil Collection opened in 1987 to preserve and exhibit the art collection of John and Dominique de Menil. It is considered one of the most important privately assembled collections of the twentieth century, The Menil Collection houses approximately 15,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, photographs and rare books. We took our time in exploring the museum and a couple of my favorites were the carved Elephant tusk, the Egyptian carvings and the many paintings from Andy Warhol. We then headed to the Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum which has the only intact Byzantine frescoes (ceiling paintings) in the United States. These masterpieces from the 13th century where stolen from a chapel in the Turkish occupied section of the Cyprus in the 1980's. The Menil foundation with approval from the Church of Cyprus recovered the fresco fragments from the thieves and through a two year restoration project have constructed a chapel museum to hold and showcase the beautiful works of art.

It was then back into the car for a nice drive to San Antonio. We arrived at the San Antonio KOA in the afternoon and couldn't believe how packed the campground was with campers. We later found out that the San Antonio Rodeo was in town and with that came lots of people. We set up camp and then hoped in the bus to get some dinner downtown. Heather wanted Mexican and because "what Heather wants, Heather gets" we made our way down to the San Antonio Riverwalk and grabbed some delicious food. We then wandered around the Riverwalk which is lined with many shops, restaurants, and bars. We tried to get into Howl at Moon and Coyote Ugly bars but they were both charging a cover and packed, so instead we went into the Pat O'Brien's of Houston. My mom had informed me that I needed to try a special drink at Pat O'Brien's in New Orelans but we never had the chance so instead I had the famous Hurricane here in San Antonio. We listened to a local musician play the guitar and sing while keeping our eye on the TV for the Olympics. After just one Hurricane...because they are STRONG we headed back to camp for the night.

Is anyone there?

Ben and I are just wondering if anyone is reading our blog anymore. If so we'll update it (hopefully tonight) with our trip to San Antonio, if not, we'll still do it just for our own memories.

A Go For Liftoff

Day 103 - Houston, TX - Cloudy Low 40's:

Today we overslept a bit and missed our hotel breakfast. Instead we ate in the room. We headed out around 11am headed for Mission Control. We booked tickets to the Houston Space Center...as in "Houston, we have a problem". It was quite a day. We started with a tram tour that took us onto the NASA - Johnson Space Center campus. We started at mission control.

While it is no longer the mission control room, it was until 1996. We sat in the room where every President from 1963 through 1996 sat an watched space flight, where Queen Elizabeth visited, and most importantly, the loved ones of those men and women aboard the spaceships. This mission control was in charge during that famous Apollo 11 mission landing on the moon, the famous Apollo 13 mission (yes the movie was real kids), and sadly the Challenger mission that never got to space. In the room they have every patch from every mission controlled in the room on the wall. In addition they have two in flight pieces of memorabilia. A flag from Apollo 13 and a mirror also from Apollo 13.

While in the room we learned a few neat things about what and who controls the room:

About the Flight Director:
- During a mission the flight director has more power than ANYONE. This includes the head of NASA, the flight crew, and the President. What he says goes.
- To be a flight director you must be able to run three different aspects of the mission control center.
- You must be VERY well educated.
- To become a flight director you have to be UNANIMOUSLY chosen by the current flight directors. There are currently about 30 flight directors.

About the Capcom:
- Capcom means Capsule Communication.
- There are MANY people in the mission control room, the ONLY person to talk to the astronauts is the Capcom.
- In order to be in the Capcom position you MUST be an astronaut. This is because astronauts have a language all there own including acronyms and commands. Thus having a person who speaks the "language" is best. Also, as I mentioned there are MANY people with LOTS of messages and commands to send to space, and each person thinks that their message is the most important. Who better to prioritize the messages than a fellow astronaut?

The Red Phone:
- This phone called the Pentagon directly. You see for many years the Navy picked up astronauts once they landed in the ocean. The flight director needed direct communication to give vital information.

Other Info:
- The remaining people in the control room do the work to make sure the flight crew is on track and safe. This includes the flight surgeon, the flight dynamics office, and the guidance, navigation, and control specialists.
- You have to have a great MATH background for many of these positions. Prior to advances in calculators these people often used a slide rule for calculations...look it up...they had to take a whole class on how to use it!

MOST FASCINATING:
- When Apollo 11, 13, and many other missions were controlled out of this room, NASA had five computers located in the building. Each of these computers was the size of a CLASSROOM and had only 256 bytes of memory. To put that in perspective, they sent men to the moon using computers that had less memory than you camera uses to take ONE digital photo.

From Mission Control we made our way to the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility. This building is where the training takes place for upcoming missions and astronauts. Here they have mockups of each part of the International Space Station, the Canadarm (the tool that moves big items in space), and the Space Shuttles. The space shuttle mockups can be rotated and moved so as give the astronauts an idea of what it will be like in each position. They also had a bungee system that allows the astronauts to work while moving around. The Space Center does not have a weightless training facility (it is impossible to create this we were told) instead they use a tool much like an air hockey table that makes it feel as close to what space will feel like as possible.

Our last stop was the Rocket Center. This was the most eye opening spot on the trip. We saw SATURN V the largest and most powerful rocket ever brought to operational life. To say it was big is about the biggest understatement possible. It was GIGANTIC! They have the actual rocket intended for Apollo 18 in the building. Apollo 18 never took place as funding for the program was cut. Outside they have a number of other rockets that we could get close to. Unfortunately we did not have enough time to really explore the outdoor ones because we spent so much time inside with the SATURN.

We returned to the space center and made our way directly to a presentation called "Living In Space". Here we learned a bit about life on the space ship. The astronauts exercise daily. They have bikes, treadmills, and weights. Of course it requires a bit more work as they have to be strapped into everything they do otherwise they float away. Sleeping is interesting. They have what look like bags that they sleep in that are attached to the wall. They get in the bag, zip it up, strap themselves down, and sleep away. It's funny because all sides of the space craft look the same. There is no top or bottom so you could have an astronaut sleeping on each wall of the ship at the same time! We also learned the important stuff like how they go to the bathroom and how they shower. First the bathroom. In order to go, they open the curtain, sit on the seat, strap in their feet, lock in their legs (they have bars that lower and raise on top of their thighs), they turn on the suction, and do their business. They also have a special tube for pee that they must hookup...it too has suction. The #2 bathroom materials are destroyed (somehow) the #1 materials though are filtered and cleaned and YUP you guessed it returned for drinking water. The shower used to be a process where they would wash and suction the water as without suction the water goes no where. The astronauts complained about this though because it took to long...upwards of an hour! Now they use over-sized baby wipes...or something like them. It is easier and faster. NASA has also created a no rinse shampoo that you lather and then towel out. For teeth it's the same. NASA created an edible toothpaste...not everyone like to swallow the toothpaste though and so you can spit it into a towel...no water though. Lastly we learned a little bit about eating. The athletes have space food of course! Food that is either ready to eat or just needs hot water.

From "Living In Space" we checked out some of the fun stuff including weighing yourself on different planets. Then we went into the "Blast Off Theater". It was pretty cool. We felt like were actually taking off because of how loud it was in the little room. We then entered another room where we learned about the current missions going on in space. Right now there are 11 astronauts in space working on projects at the International Space Station. We got to learn about each astronaut individually, what they do each day, and different contingency plans NASA has in case of an emergency. We got to look at the current mission control center via a video feed. (If there are NO MISSIONS you get to visit the new mission control during the tram tour). A neat thing is that the astronauts are woken each day by the mission control center. It is a unique awakening because each day they wake up to a song chosen by the family of a particular member. Today they were waking up to Beautiful Day by U2 for Kay Hire...the only woman in space right now.

It was then onto the Starship Gallery. Here we saw artifacts from travel to space. The biggest draw was the collection of MOON ROCKS. They have the largest collection of moon rocks anywhere in the world. Ben and I even got to touch a moon rock....we were practically in space! This gallery also has two command modules from early space flights and models of different tools.

The Space Center has a large exhibit about risk taking. I thought about my students the entire time as it dealt with A LOT OF MATH!! Fun math. Probability, games, and chance. They had activities that you would try when thinking about risks that you take each day. We each tried a number of activities including lying on a bed of nails!! We also took some time to try landing our own space ship. There are varying levels of control/difficulty...Ben chose the hardest and never crashed...I chose the easiest and crashed four times before landing...let's just say I shouldn't be a pilot!

Our last stop was a film called "To Become an Astronaut". This was a great video about the long journey that it takes to get to space. There is a lot to learn, know, and understand before every taking off in the ship. We saw the astronauts in training...where they are given more disasters than they will ever see in real life (we hope). The theory is that if they can overcome these HUGE challenges on the ground, then any minor one they face in space will be easy to handle. It was kind of funny to watch from behind the scenes as the training staff tried to think of anything they could to ruin the mission for the astronauts while the astronauts do everything they can to maintain control. The video also discusses the difficulty that comes with leaving your family to go to space. Each astronaut has their own struggle with the idea of putting their life at risk and leaving their family but they do it for the betterment of all of us here on Earth.

By the time we got out of the movie, it was closing time at the space center. It was a great day and we certainly learned a lot. I now wish we had taken the time to go to Kennedy Space Center when we were in Florida! Oh well though we will certainly have another chance!

After we left the space center we made our way to the Hickory Hollow, a real Texas cafe! It was only about 28 miles but it took over an hour! Big city traffic...what a pain! We had some GREAT food and got to listen to some great live bluegrass music. Ben enjoyed the BBQ food but says the ribs weren't as good as Gug's...I don't think anyone can compete. It was fun though and we even had our drinks out of mason jars!

We are now back at the hotel watching the opening ceremonies. The Olympics are such an incredible event and we didn't want to miss anything. It was exciting to see Juila Clukey a member of the US Olympic team and West Gardiner native march in with the team!! We can learn so much from the pride, dedication, and commitment of these amazing athletes as well as about the spirit of competition and respect for all people.

I hope that everyone is safe and doing well tonight. We are headed to San Antonio tomorrow evening. We'll right soon! Love you!

Travel Time

Day 102 - New Orleans, LA to Houston, TX - Rain/Snow Low 40's:

Today was a travel day. We woke up early to have breakfast and do a quick load of laundry. We then packed up the car and hit the road for Houston. We arrived at the hotel around 6:30pm and unpacked. We’re only going to be here for two days, as we want to get to San Antonio. Ben hit the gym for a run…I was lazy and didn’t do anything but work on my computer. Ben is now making dinner and we are going to spend the evening hanging out in the room. Did I mention it was raining/slushing outside…I can’t believe how cold it is here!!

Touring and Celtics

Day 101 - New Orleans, LA - Cloudy Mid 40's:

Today we took some time to re-visit some of the sites from our bus tour because we couldn’t really see them well or take good pictures from the bus. Before we got too far though we made a stop at the New Orleans Arena. We had noticed the Celtics were in town and thought it would be cool to go see them beat up on the Hornets.

From the arena we went back to the Lakeview neighborhood to get a closer look at the FEMA trailers we had driven by yesterday. It was an interesting sight as there are very few remaining in New Orleans. Heather and I were both astounded at how small they were and that families of four or lived in them some for more than a year. From the Lakeview neighborhood we made a stop at one of the levees. Look closely at the pictures so that you can get a good idea of how far below sea level the houses are built. We even parked the car below sea level and had to climb up to the levee. It was kind of crazy to think that people are really living on reclaimed swampland. It was funny to watch Homer, our Tom-Tom, even had trouble deciding between green for land and blue for water.

Having taken some pictures and gotten a real feel for the devastation, we headed back to the hotel for the afternoon to grab lunch, get caught up on our computer work and workout. It was then time for dinner and the Celtics game. We were planning on getting a good laugh as the Celts beat-up the Hornets…unfortunately it didn’t work out as planned and the Celtics got beat by 7 points. I don’t like talking crap about the Celtics but REALLY we can’t even beat the Hornets. I’m not sure we can make a championship run if we can’t even beat the Hornets. After the game we made a Wendy’s stop so I (Ben) could get a Frosty and then headed back to the hotel to pack.

From Devestation to Standing Ovations

Day 100 - New Orleans, LA - Cloudy Low 50's:

YAHOO! Day 100 and we’re both still alive and still love each other.

Today we woke up early to have breakfast and head downtown because we had scheduled a Katrina/City bus tour for 11:00. We had some time before the tour so we explored the Jax Brewery and Harrah’s Casino. Heather had heard that the casino was really nice but it was pretty much just like every other casino I had ever been in. We played the slots for a bit and limited our spend/loss to only five dollars. We were proud that we actually only played our allotted five and didn’t go over at all!

After about an hour it was time for the tour and we headed back to the brewery to meet the bus. We boarded a Grey Line bus and were quickly given some city background information.

• Louisiana became a state in 1812 and had the first pharmacy and apartment buildings in the US.
• The current population of New Orleans is 300,000 down from 485,000 people pre-Katrina.
• It is one of the top ten busiest ports in the world and one of the top five in the US with over 6,000 cargo ships on average docking per year.
• It has the longest wharf in the world.
• A lot of homes within New Orleans are built elevated in some way, whether with a first floor basement or homes actually on stilts), because the average rainfall is 65 inches per year, which causes lots of flooding.
• New Orleans is home to the largest coffee roasting plant in the WORLD; there fore they always wake up with Folgers in their cup!
  
• You may also remember that in the wake of Katrina, the reliance on New Orleans as a crude-oil hub was made very clear.

We then road over into the Lower 9th Ward which was one of the hardest hit areas during Katrina and had over 12 feet of standing water at the peak of the flooding. During Katrina there were 33 breaches in the levees around the city and about 80% of the city was flooded. We toured the lower 9th ward and saw the complete devastation that still exists in the area as only about 15% of people returned to 9th ward post-Katrina. We saw where “Fats” Domino lived and recorded his music prior to Katrina, as he was one of the people not to return to the lower 9th ward. We then drove past the “Make it Right” houses that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have pioneered. Brad has donated upwards of 8 million dollars out of his pocket and together he and Angelina have raised money to rebuild houses for residence in this area. They are looking to build 100 of these “green” houses here at an average cost of $150,000 each and give them to the truly needy families trying to move back to the lover 9th ward. You should really check out the website as it has some AMAZING information regarding the uniqueness and cutting edge work in this neighborhood…Make It Right.

A note about the markings: We have all seen the large X’s on the homes from Katrina. This was a notation system used by volunteers to communicate findings. Here is the breakdown of what they were for: The X was to indicate that the home had been visited. The top of the X was the date, to the left of the X was an indication of who the person/unit was that visited, to the right of the X were notes indicating the status of the home (NE - No Entry, INT – Interior, EXT – Exterior, GL – Gas Leak), and the bottom indicated findings (0 – No bodies, 2D – 2 Dead, 2A – 2 Alive). Homes with more than one X are homes that were visited more than once. There was also a marking TFW, that stood for Task Force Washington…men and women sent by the government. Finally some buildings have what appear to be circles and not X’s. This is because there were so many volunteers initially that they did not all have the same system. This quickly changed and all homes were uniformly marked.

An interesting post Katrina note: In addition to the devastation to the homes the school-system has also had a very tough road to get back on track. In New Orleans over half of the 122 schools that were open prior to Katrina haven’t reopened.

Next we stopped by a graveyard in the city and we informed that because so much of the land is below sea level the graves (tombs) are built above ground. Many of the tombs costing upwards of $60,000 and hold upward of 6 people. Many tombs only have one casket and the most recent death being placed in it while the other remains are placed in a body bag. Also, if you can’t afford to build your own tomb the cemetery have a “low rent section” where you can lease a vault for a specific number of years and remain in your casket. However, once your lease runs out you are placed in a body bag and placed at the back of the vault where you stay for the rest of your time at the cemetery.

From the cemetery we made our way north to Lake Ponchartrain and saw some of the levees that were breached during Katrina. The Lake is 633 square miles with an average depth of 16 feet. In contrast to the lower 9th ward about 80% of the people returned to the Lakeshore and Lakeview areas. These tend to be the wealthier parts of town. Lakeshore escaped almost all of the Katrina flooding due to its higher elevation near the water. Lakeview was one of the harder hit areas as once the water got in it had nowhere to drain and stayed for three weeks. As we drove through you could see the water lines on some of the homes that have not been returned to.

Our final ride on the bus was St. Charles Street. This is considered to be the wealthiest parts of town. So wealthy that there is a club for men where you have to be a millionaire to apply…no worries a few blocks down the street is a club just for millionaire women. St. Charles Street is also where the Real World New Orleans House was located.

After the tour we walked around the French Quarter and explored more shops and bars. It was then over the Café du Monde so I could grab some beignets and coffee. This is a must try place in New Orleans because the beignets are amazing and loaded with powered sugar. After our short rest we went down to Canal Street to grab a spot to watch the Saints Superbowl parade. There were people everywhere but Heather said it was nothing compared to the Patriots first parade. However, we met some nice local and said they have been waiting their whole lives to see the Lombardi Trophy in New Orleans. We were also informed that the crowd was bigger then any Mardi Gras parade and it was the first time ever that competing Mardi Gras Krewe’s signature floats would be in the same parade. Each of the Krewes donated their float for the team to ride on. In all there were 12 floats and 15 marching bands in the parade. It was an amazing night to see the whole city come together and celebrate. After the parade we made our way back to the hotel for the night.