So today you will see the reason for this little adventure south. Though I will take any excuse to come to the south as you know. We left Chattanooga around 8 am, quickly crossed the time zone, and gained back an hour. We dipped into Georgia for a mile or two along highway 24 and back out, and then were west bound into ALABAMA! All within 30 minutes. The drive from Chattanooga to Alabama was gorgeous, the mountains and hills to climb were wonderful. I could drive that all day. It was a great drive through the Alabama country side, and Ethan was quiet until we spotted the Saturn Rocket poking up over the tops of the trees and he knew we were there! SPACE CAMP!! His happy place. He has waited a whole year to return to Huntsville, Alabama. Huntsville is home to the US Rocket Center and Redstone Arsonal, where NASA teaches and trains not only students, but the astronauts too. A lovely Research and University town Huntville lies in a valley surrounded by Mountains. Today as we stepped out of the car the heat was oustanding. Almost 100F. But as they say in the South.... Arriving at Space Camp is pretty grand. You see the rockets right from the highway, and then you pull up to the main gate. This is where you enter for registration and team and room assignments. He is on the LUNA crew this year!!!!!
After checking in and getting your bedding package, room assignment, and your wristband (holds all your info, meal plan and money on a tab), you are free to explore until parent orientation. What is great about this is Em and I get to explore along with him at no charge because he is a registered NASA guest. :) There are lots of exhibits in the Museum, and outside on the grounds. One of the traveling exhibits was all about Robotics, and it was called Robot Zoo. You could control each robot to do different things, and learn the science about how animals have traits that allow them to do things different from any other species, such as bats hanging upside down so long, giraffes and their amazing capabilities to hold up those necks. It was a lot of fun. As we toured around the Space Center we also stepped inside the auditorium (where we will meet up with Ethan on Friday at graduation) and Ethan showed us the Saturn rockets and even climbed in one of the capsules from the Mercury missions. Before I knew it it was already time to say good bye. It was amazing for me to watch him here this year. He is such a different boy. No nerves, just amazing maturity and leadership skills. Two of the other parents whispered to me that their boys were so happy to be with someone who had been here already, and their mom's complimented me on how welcoming Ethan was when they all met, and how he made them feel better by shaking each of their hands and introducing himself. Seriously, it took my own mom nerves right away and left me feeling nothing but pride. (Tearing up thinking about it!) The astronaut trainees were quickly wisked away...and Em and I whisked ourselves across the street to our Hampton Inn / Home 2 Suites to check in. http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/alabama/hampton-inn-and-suites-huntsville-research-park-area-HSVHRHX/index.html When we arrived those sliding doors opened to HEAVEN.... oh wait thats the air conditioning!!!!!! We love this Hotel, we stayed here last year and fell in love with everything about it. The location (walking distance to shops and restaurants) , the staff, the pool and the ease I have knowing I can see the buildings and Rockets of Space Camp right from our window, where I know Ethan is having a BLAST!!!!! It's just us girls now... And our first thing we did for our mother daughter night was walk to get some dinner. And when in Alabama - You have to eat some BBQ! Tonight we tried Dickies BBQ. https://www.dickeys.com/ It was a big hit with EMMY!
Oh yes, and Free ice cream!!!!!!
So now, we're back at our room. Ready to head down to the pool! Good Night Y'ALL from Huntsville, ALABAMA!
2 Comments
Kim Greene
7/12/2015 01:39:19 pm
Space Camp looks like so much fun!!!!
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Michelle
7/12/2015 01:42:52 pm
this is beyond awesome! Ethan is an amazing boy and I hope lily and Ethan remain friends. I even teared up reading your post about how Ethan has leadership skills and let's not forget how amazing and polite he is.
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