Road Trip

 

One of the many ideas for retirement I had was to visit as many of the National Parks as I can. I have visited to date 6 parks, Several I visited before I retired but I'm counting them. The most recent park visited is the reason for this trip.

Hot Springs, a National Park where I can soak in a hot tub and get a massage. What's not to like!

As you can see from the map the route went to more places than just Hot Springs. This was an adventure planned by a committee. Jan and I asked our friends Mark and Jenny Cashen and Jan's sister Patty Whitehouse to come along with us on this adventure. This was the committee. 

I thought we could drive about 500 miles a day and make it there in two days. But when this plan was presented to the committee suggestions were made that we include a stop here and a visit to there and before you know it a simple one week trip to hot springs turned onto an eighteen day jaunt from Tampa to Bentonville Arkansas and back.

Day One, Jacksonville, Florida. This stop was added at the last minute with an invitation to a baby shower. My sister Rebekah's daughter Elizabeth was married at the start of the pandemic and Jan and I were not able to attend. Well enough time has passed that Elizabeth and her husband Cody are now expecting. So Jan, Patty and I decided to leave on the trip a day early to stop by the shower. 

Cody has the goggles and Elizabeth, well she is carrying a baby but you can't see it yet. It was a good party and we enjoyed seeing everyone.

Day Two, Macon Georgia. This is where we met up with Mark and Jenny. After dinner at the Rookery we prepared for a day of exploring Macon.

The next morning our first stop was the Rose Hill Cemetery on the banks of the Ocmulgee river. There we visited the grave of Duane Allman. Which is now well maintained (unlike the rest of the cemetery) and surrounded by a wrought iron fence. I guess the party is over.

After paying our respects to the rock legend we headed to Huntsville Alabama. There we visited the Huntsville Botanical Garden. This is over 100 acres of both maintained and wild plants. We wandered the gardens for over three hours and only saw part of it. The garden was still impressive even though most plants had faded and were ready for winter. 

The different faces of the Huntsville Botanical Garden

After our walk in the garden we had a nice dinner at Viet Huong as Google says "Unassuming Vietnamese restaurant serving traditional fare, including pho, noodles & clay pot dishes." it was quite tasty. After dinner we returned to our hotel to rest up and get ready for.....

Day Three, Huntsville, Alabama. Space Camp! 

On October 11th we visited the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.  The exhibits were similar to the Kennedy Space Center here in Florida but there were some that were unique to Huntsville. 

One display that I found very interesting was a recreation of Wernher von Braun's office at the Marshall Space Flight Center. In this office von Braun was the chief architect of the Saturn V heavy lift launch vehicle. The rocket that took man to the moon. In the back of his office you can see scale models of the rockets he helped create. On the far right the Saturn V moon rocket extends through the ceiling. 

While there we saw artifacts from both man and monkeys time in space. In the discovery theater there were videos, models and actual parts of space exploration and rocket ships. Patty tried on a shuttle spacesuit while Jan checks out the shuttle facilities. 

On display there was one of the Advance Crew Escape Suit. It was interesting that the basic instructions for what to do during an ejection were sewn on to the forearm of the suit. I guess in an emergency having clear and easy to access instructions is a good thing. 

Something that I really enjoyed discovering was space humor. I guess when you are risking your life or the lives of other a little levity is in order. I found a display of patches and posters that were for different missions, each mission is numbered. This poster is for mission 42. If you are a fan of science fiction you'll get it. 

There was also a funny illustration on all the trash bins around the complex.

I just wish I was a kid again and could go to Space Camp there. 

After our trip to space we all had a nice dinner at Kona Grill. The weather was very pleasant so we sat outside.

Coming soon Day 4 and more!