Nasa, Kemah Boardwalk, and the Galleria

We had a great weekend with my mom and sister coming out to visit. On Saturday, we took a trip to Nasa's Johnson Space Center. We took a tram tour around the facility and saw the historic Mission Control that was used from the 60s, when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, until 1996. The new Mission Control is built directly underneath and is in 24 hour operation controlling every aspect of what is happening on the international space station. Currently there are two Russian Cosmonauts and one American astronaut on board.

We also saw Saturn V in Rocket Park which was amazingly huge. I will attach a picture.

In case any techie's are interested...
The Saturn V (pronounced 'Saturn Five', popularly known as the Moon Rocket) was a multistage liquid-fuel expendable rocket used by NASA's Apollo and Skylab programs from 1967 until 1973. In total NASA launched thirteen Saturn V rockets with no loss of payload. It remains the largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever brought to operational status from a height, weight and payload standpoint.

We also got to see a mock-up of the international space station and they demonstrate how the astronauts eat, sleep, exercise, and even use the bathroom. It was very interesting.

After Nasa, we went to Kemah Boardwalk, which for those in California is similar to Santa Monica Pier. There are rides, shopping and restaurants and it is located right on Galveston Bay. Unfortunately, it was very hot and humid, so we walked around a bit, hit up a restaurant, and headed home.

On Sunday, we met my mom's friend Marilyn and her husband Bill at the Cheesecake Factory in the Galleria Mall. The food was delicious and we got some great information about Houston from them because they are locals. It is nice to know someone that lives in the area just in case we ever need help or advice. They put our minds at ease about hurricane Gustav and said we will probably just get some rain here in Houston. Unfortunately in Houston, if it rains for more than a couple of hours, everything floods because the drainage systems are not very good. So on the phone today, Marissa gave me some good Texas advice in case of flooding "Turn Around, Don't Drown." We will have to take this into consideration over the next couple of days. Right now it is pretty sunny, but the wind is picking up and I'm sure the rain is soon to follow.

In the evening we went to see the Mummy 3, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. All of us found it to be entertaining, and you usually can't go wrong with a Jet Li movie, even if it also stars Brendan Frasier. So we all gave this movie a thumbs up.

This afternoon was a sad goodbye when my mom and sister left. We did go swimming and had a nice breakfast so we still made the most of the day. Tonight, Jason gets checked into the ICU to start Treatment 2. So we will keep you all posted on how that goes. Right now he is pretty gloomy about the prospect of losing his freedom again. Hopefully the week will go by as quickly as possible! We'll do our best to keep you all posted!
Debby