Very impressive if you had never shot a pistol before - to be able to hit the center of the target. Really!!

When my sister was living in Nicaragua - they were having some break ins in her neighborhood (even though it was a very nice neighborhood) - so I showed her and my niece how to shoot - a .38 special/revolver - and they both did fine - especially my niece who was about 16 - but if you both just did it "cold" - nailing the target without any instruction, again, very impressive.

One "joke" among self defense "experts" is just make a tape recording of the sound of a shotgun being chambered with a round - and knowledgeable thieves will be heading for the exits when they hear it!

Same thing if you just touched off a round from a pistol - and also - if you had one equipped with a laser - and they see the red dot on their chest - it tends to discourage further anti-social behavior. :)

Anywho - hope you have a nice drive "up Florida" this time - and when you do get up to Orlando - Cape Canaveral (now called Kennedy) - really isn't that far - an hour or so - and again, the Kennedy Space Center Museum/Astronaut Hall of Fame is amazing -
http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/as...l-of-fame.aspx

It also has a great IMAX theater with a number of programs - http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/imax-films.aspx and your son may also like the Future Astronaut school/training center there - and do the half day "experience"? http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/as...xperience.aspx :)

And there is also a "Rocket Garden" http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/rocket-garden.aspx

There is also another interesting center close by - the Air Force Space Museum, which is of particular interest to us former "Zoomies". :) http://www.afspacemuseum.org/

And while I didn't get to this science museum in Brevard - it also looks interesting: http://www.nbbd.com/godo/BrevardMuseum/index.html

We thought about snorkeling today but decided to trade the opportunity for an extra day in Orlando. Most of the day was therefore spent traveling north on the Florida Turnpike. This is kind of like the mother of all roads, a giant concrete snake that curls around the big metropolis of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and neighbouring coastal cities. Lucky we had signed up for a Sun Pass because I counted 14 toll gates just in the Miami- Fort Lauderdale section. Lunch was a picnic of left over chicken on the grass beside one of the turnpike's central 'service' areas. We put gas in the car there too, the first time since before we drove down the Keys. The price of petrol is so cheap! We've driven 800 km on $50 worth this week. We've decided we're actually saving money on being here because at home we would have used much more than that ;-)

It's 400km from Key Largo to Melbourne (yes, Melbourne! It was a corny coincidence that had to be used so that's where we're staying tonight) but the interstates move traffic so quickly that we did it in less than 4 hours with a stop for lunch. Geoff is really getting the hang of driving at 75 mph. I'm worried about his transition when we get home. To take my mind off the terror of the traffic, we discussed our 10 favourite memories of the Keys as we drove. Again, in no particular order;

Holding an alligator - contrived but special. They are a cold, squirmy ball of muscle.
Warmth- the climate is so temperate ALL the time.
The chaos of Key West- every sense was engaged to the extent that we were a bit overwhelmed there.
Key Lime Pie- Ohhhh yes.
No waves- because of the coral reef the sea is flat. My fear of a tsunami was allayed when I learnt this. However, you can hire surf boards ?
Fake sand- there is no sand in Key West, only coral so they ship the sand in.
Dragonfruit milkshake- the milkshakes at Robert Was Here are amazing.
Wild gators- they really are everywhere in the Everglades.
The colours - the Keys are sort of a flouro, pastel color.
The chickens- 'Why did the chicken cross the road' will always sound different to us now.
Because we'd made good time on the road we had time to drive over to Cocoa Beach near the Patrick Airforce Base for a bit of fresh air. It was lovely.

Off to play astronauts tomorrow Tom!

I've just stumbled upon your report and am enjoying it very much. It's a lot of fun seeing the US through your eyes. I am looking forward to more.

“The pelicans are particularly fascinating. They glide effortlessly alongside the highway at window height and then suddenly plummet down to grab a fish. Their landing is as ungainly as their flight is elegant.” ------So true!

Tomsd, your statement “One "joke" among self defense "experts" is just make a tape recording of the sound of a shotgun being chambered with a round - and knowledgeable thieves will be heading for the exits when they hear it!” made me laugh as I’ve always said I’d do that but have the “grrrr” of a very large dog at the beginning with my voice saying "Don't worry Bruno, I've got the gun."!!

Kwaussie, I didn’t know they imported the sand in Key West. Good grief. Very enjoyable TR.

Enjoying your report very much. I've been to several of the places you've been writing about but haven't made it to Key West - yet. Your very fun description of the drive down there and the time spent in Key West has moved it up on my list of places to visit. Sounds like fun! Hope the rest of your trip is great!

LOL Road Warriors. Love the ongoing chapter and verse of you US adventure.

Hey - you are close (just north of) to "Dodgertown USA" - aka Vero Beach - which the then Brooklyn Dodgers made famous when they started spring training down there. It's was a manicured facility - as good as they come - with a many fields and a main park that seated 6,500 (but many more could sit on the outfield grass/hills) - but now - alas - the Dodgers have joined many other teams training in the Phoenix/Tucson area in Arizona.

see: http://www.walteromalley.com/hist_dtown_index.php

http://www.walteromalley.com/hist_dtown_page13.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holman_Stadium_(Vero_Beach)

Hope you have a blast at the Astronaut Hall of Fame, and if they still have the jet simulator ride - it's as close as you get to going up in a jet fighter. My wife came out - listing sideways. :)

And amen - TDu. Anything one can do to send the bad guys fleeing is fair game, eh? :)

A friend of my brother in law had a Coffee Finca/farm in Costa Rica - and to discourage people stealing the coffee beans/cherries - he had a motion detector by the garage/fence - with a reocrding of two loud Doubermans barking. The filching stopped for quite a while.

Thanks again trip followers :-) My report is brief tonight because we have lousy internet service in our La Quint tonight. (There's no elevator either so lugging our ever expanding suitcases up to our room has exhausted me!)

As a little girl in 1969, I sat awestruck in front of a tiny, black & white TV in the library of my primary school watching Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Today I walked up the same set of steps used by Armstrong and his crew before they were strapped in to the command module of the Apollo 11. Once again, I was awestruck.

The Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral is fantastic. We roamed through the 'rocket garden', aptly named because it houses the Redstone, Atlas and Titan rockets that first put astronauts into space and the capsules of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. We watched an Imax movie about the Hubble telescope maintenance, we took part in a shuttle simulation and we toured the launch pad area where so many famous missions have started.

Alas Tom, the jet fighter stimulator is no longer there but the shuttle trip was pretty good.

It's hard to describe how impressive all this space stuff is. I thought that perhaps Geoff and my memories of space glory and space tragedy probably made the experience more profound but Taine was also captivated by the whole place, in fact on the way out he decided that today was right up there in his lifetime 'best days'!

When you see some of the equipment and technology they were working with back in the 60s it's almost impossible to believe that people willingly climbed into those little modules, to be set on top of giant rockets and catapulted into space with the power of a nuclear missile. Harder still to believe that most of them made it back to Earth again. Maybe the whole thing is, indeed , a conspiracy!

When you see the pictures transmitted back from Hubble, of galaxies within galaxies, our little world becomes very small and insignificant but at the same time so beautiful and unique that it's all just a bit overwhelming.

Congrads on a great day. Too bad the flight simulater isn't still running - as it was the real deal.

The early Astronauts especially had "the Right Stuff" - and to sit in that capsule with a huge load of expensive fuel underneath you, then hope all goes well during the first few launches - and then everything going well during your mission - and then on re-rentry - not burning up http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112384/ - well - the first guys were really putting it on the line.

A little later - one of my classmates from the Class of '68/AF Academy was selected to be an Astronaut and commanded a few flights.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_O._Covey

I knew Dick by sight at the "Blue Zoo" (during the two and a half years I was there)- and any number of other guys could have also wound up in that great slot - determined in part by the vagaries of career, etc.

t

What a wonderful experience for you, Kwaussie! I was on a plane from London on that fateful moon walk. Pilot announced drink on the house for all

Really, no place for someone with claustrophobia!

We went to Ripley's this morning. Believe it or not it cost $56 for us to look at some unusual and weird old artifacts. It was vaguely interesting but played havoc with my vertigo. However, Taine thought it was great and it filled in the morning before we could check into the Port Orleans Disney Resort.

I wasn't sure what to expect of the resort. It was a toss up whether to go for the Disney experience or to save money by staying on International Drive and my desire to do the whole, kitsch, Mickey Mouse thing won. There are three levels of Disney resort (value, moderate and deluxe) and I got a great deal on this 'moderate' level one back in July. In fact our two day Disney pass cost more than the four nights in the hotel.

From the time you drive through the 'Welcome to Disneyworld' arch over the highway, you are in another world. Even the road signs are in Disney colors. And the police cars have Mickey ears on them! It feels as if you've walked into a story book.

All the staff are dressed in theme and the lady who checked us in was awesome. When we mentioned that Sophie was coming on Wednesday she organised to have her picked up from the airport and for all of us to be checked in to our flight to DC on Friday. We had a choice of rooms and chose the mansion rather than the bayou because it looked like we might get lost down there. The hotel is huge and it's just one of many within the resort. We deposited our bags in our room, oohed and ahhed over the disney shaped shampoo et al and by then it was time to add a few more carbs. We haven't signed up for the Disney dining plan because we believe it may lead to (further) over eating. Taine's endlessly refillable sipper cup is bad enough!

Then it was time to check out the pools. We have been blessed with an above average temperature in Florida and today was especially warm. Then we jumped on the Port Orleans riverboat and went down to check out Downtown Disney. Talk about Disney overload! I'll be lucky to escape this little interlude without another case. We had delicious fried chicken for dinner with plantain, a totally new and very delicious taste sensation for me, sort of a cross between yam and banana.

It started raining on the way home and I got drenched but it didn't matter. It's warm and I'm in the happiest kingdom of them all :-)

I am LOVING your report! Just found it today. I can't wait til you get to Boston--Hubby and I hope to go there soon.

Holy Crapola: $56 to see Ripley's? Thanks for the warning.

Not only love reading your report - but in addition a couple others by your mates - including one woman from Colorado Springs who just returned to Perth - on a very long retrun jaunt. Never flow that far, much less with connection challenges.

Hope you get up to the Northeast without too much weather, and then maybe you can get some sun when you get out here to California. :)

Thanks propita. Not sure how we'll cope with the snow flurries in Boston after the humidity of Florida but it's all part of the adventure!

We started yesterday with another trip to Downtown Disney, this time in the daylight to do a bit of Christmas shopping. Of course, our Christmas present to ourselves and the kids has been this trip but Christmas morning would be a bit odd without a few presents so the challenge is to find some lightweight reminders of our holiday to put into our tiny Christmas stockings.

In anticipation of an expensive dinner at the Magic Kingdom, we bought lunch at Walmart. Taine had a 'lunch pack', a ham & cheese sandwich, pack of crackers, apple, cheese stick and fruit box, all for $2.50! We had our regular chicken fried chicken and we made a picnic of it on the grass in the Walmart car park. Classy!



We had tickets to Mickey's Very Special Christmas Party, a night time ticketed event at the Magic Kingdom and our first look at the Disney Parks. We decided to drive our rental to give ourselves a bit more freedom over coming and going. Rookie fail. The hotel bus pulls up at the doorstep whereas the carpark costs $14 and is 2 1/2 miles from the entrance!. You park the car, then you take a tram to the wharf and then you take the ferry or the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. The evening didn't start well. We were supposed to be given special wristbands on entry but we weren't. It was dark in the park and we didn't have a map. I think we passed the blessed spinning cups 4 or 5 times before we stopped walking in circles. Just as we reached the furthest point from the entrance we were stopped for a wristband check. Of course we didn't have one so we were told we'd have to go all the way back to get them. Not happy Jan!

The bonus of after hours entrance ( and persistent rain) was shorter queues so we were able to go on quite a few of the rides that were open. My favourite was 'It's a small world'. Iconic Disney. Because we did 'Beauty & the Beast' as our school production this year, it was great fun exploring Belle's village and Gaston's tavern. We'll go back to them on Thursday when we do the park in the daylight.

The night ended in spectacular fashion with the fire works and Mickey's Christmas parade. We even saw fake snow falling on main street and to top it all off a young man next to us got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend in front of the castle. Magic indeed :-)

Hi Kwaussie, Husband and I went to Disney World once and I was appalled at the price of tickets. Can’t believe how people can afford it as a family vacation destination. I hummed it’s a small world for days. And loved the army of baby strollers lined up outside. Haven’t been to Ripley’s but that sounds like a “rip” also.

Can’t wait to read about your continued experiences.

After a sleep in to recover from Mickey's party last night we went to Epcot today. Learning from yesterday's mistake with the car we caught the resort bus, a very efficient and effective way to get to all the Worlds.

I think Epcot was designed to allow Americans the opportunity to visit the rest of the world without leaving home. The World Showcase is sort of a Royal Show + Expo kind of thing with displays from different countries that include info movies or rides, shops and restaurants. Interestingly, according to Epcot, the world ends at Japan because there was nothing of the Pacific on display. It was all vaguely interesting but the only part that I really enjoyed was Liberty Square with the fifes playing and the crowd pledging allegiance to the flag. I guess that's because I'm so focused on American history while I'm in America. The other countries were a bit of a distraction.

We enjoyed Spaceship Earth, the first attraction in the park. It gives you the chance to travel right up into the Epcot sphere with a great history lesson on communication. I also enjoyed the Gospel choir singing carols in the square and the 'Turtle Talk' comedy routine in the aquarium area. We also got to see manatees for the first time.

The Imagination Pavilion was lame and the 1980s 3D movie of Michael Jackson was just plain bizarre.
The park covers 300 acres and we walked everyone of them so it was great to get back to the resort and jump in the spa tonight. Epcot was interesting great experience but I wouldn't do it again.

One of the really odd things here is the number of people using electric scooters or 'gophers' as we call them at home. There they are used by the elderly and disabled. Here they seem to be used by anyone who is grossly overweight (fries with EVERY meal) or who just can't be bothered walking. I have no issue with the people who need them to enjoy the parks but for some they seem to be a way of barging through the crowds and beating the queues.

The highlight of the day was that Sophie arrived in Orlando after finishing Uni so our tour group becomes four for the next couple of weeks.

Yeah, DisneyWorld is expensive. I finally went last year. They're trying to come up with a policy on those motorized vehicles that won't violate federal law, but won't be so cheat-able, affecting other guests.

The Lion King show at Animal Kingdom is a good show, as is the Beauty and the Beast show at Hollywood Studios.

Since this is a family reunion of sorts AND your first trip, go to any information booth or CIty Hall and ask for buttons for each person for both events, and any other event you can think of. They're nice souvenirs--and they're free!

You saw the fireworks!!!! I still haven't seen them, we went to Disneyland on our previous trip in 2007 We went in April, and had a three day pass to Disneyland, you would have thought we would have seen the fireworks on one of the days. I was so disappointed, it was one of the main reasons we went there. The one night they had them the wind was too strong (there was nothing on the ground), but apparently it was windy up in the atmosphere.

Kwaussie, I've been vicariously traveling with you since the beginning of your holiday; it's been fun to read your perspective, and I'm looking forward to your DC report.

Our daughter and I spent a long weekend at Disney a year or so ago, including EPCoT, and we too were surprised by the number of electric scooters in use. We were also surprised by the number of parents pushing their toddlers in strollers while drinking their way around the world, so to speak.

TTT