Shanti Thokchom's Life Experiences
- Part 32 -
The trip to NASA, Florida

By Shanti Thokchom *

Back to my trip, there was a lot of road constructions going on and it was a great inconvenience for the morning rush hours !! I kept calm and went on as if nothing bothered me!! It was entertaining to listen to the morning radio talk show.

Boy !! they know how to cook up stuffs for their show and talk and talk anything.... from politics to everyday affairs!! It was a real pleasure to listen to the various hosts trying to get out their point of view across on the various topics !!!

My young friends packed good enough food for the day- chicken masala, snacks and drinks!! It was at least 3 hours' drive from Miami Beach to Orlando. The weather was warm and sunny!! My son did not want to leave as he loved the beach !!

The drive was smooth and sometimes there were short delays due to constructions going on. I kept looking for the road signs to Kissimmee and followed it through with the road maps I had. The gas price was all time high over $4.00/gallon!!

I kept filling the gas everytime it went low as I did not want to run out of it at any time on the way!! We enjoyed the sights of green trees and the Florida greenery!!

We bought some fresh fruits sold on the roadside and its a great feeling to be able to eat like that in the middle of nowhere!! It reminded me of the times I used to buy fruits back home near Lilong bazar, Thoubal bazar etc., during my visits to my granny's place.

My son was my ever helpful handy man!! I let him read out the road signs for me and also the miles that still needed to be covered to reach a certain town or city!! Sometimes he was enthusisatic and sometimes he just wanted to watch movies on his DVD player!!

Well, I turned on the radio to listen to good 'ole country music /classic rock for company!!! We at last reached the NASA center around 12.30 noon and went straight there. It was a cool place!! We bought the tickets for $52 each or less (cant remember much now) and also for the bus tour!!

We had great excitement building up within us as we were in the prestigious NASA grounds where all the Space related activities can be experienced !!There was a huge summer crowd of families with kids to enjoy the NASA fun!! It was worth every cents!!

We first went to the 3-D movie theater where they showed us the film "Man on the Moon". It felt as if they were showing us around where and what they did on their first landing mission on the moon! It was a wonderful experience which we would never forget!!

There was a long queue for this!! We were lucky to get there on time!! Next we went to the "Rocket Garden" and saw how they evolved from the past models to the more sophisticated and modern ones!! My son was awestruck by all these and I had a hard time trying to pull him out out of one of the moon rockets (lunar modules where you lay on your back and bend your knees).

Kids loved all those models trying to be an astronaut and posing for pictures in it!! There were lots of stuffs to see and do!! We also had space encounter with an astronaut named Bob Stringer who was on a satellite mission year ago.

He gave a talk and backed it up with a video which was very neat and informative!! We got to take pictures with him at the end of the talk show! He gave us so much information about space travel and the the NASA.

He told us that he had to undergo a very rigorous training schedule for the space missions like underwater training, shuttle simulation and many others!! He had to get used to eating Space foods which are packed after air vacuumed and drink recycled urine when there is less water for use in space!! It was awesome!!

Rocket garden, NASA at the Kenendy Space Center (NASA) in Florida .

My son was too short so he could not go on the "Space Shuttle Launch Simulation" but I very much wanted to experience it...so we had a talk...and came to an agreement that he would sit near the sidewalk and not be scared but be brave !!

I gave him a pep talk that the NASA was a center for brave people who went out in space shuttles and that we should learn from them!! and most importantly, that he was the son of a Manipuri mom who was unafraid & adventurous !!

And to keep himself busy by reading or coloring pictures on the activity book given by the NASA museum and also that he could always look up at the stairway where I was walking up the ramp to the "Simulation " room. He kept looking out for me and I waved back at him to reassure that I was still there and he not lost!!

The NASA did not allow anyone who had heart problems or any other medical problems for this "Simulation" experience as it had a lot of rattling, shaking, vibrating and thundering loud noise. This same kind of "Simulation"was used for the astronauts to train for their space missions!! It was great nerve -racking !! but great fun and excitement!! We had to strapped in for that!! I really salute all those space guys who undergo such hard training!! Its not for the weak-kneed or weak hearted ones!!

I have real appreciation for all these great job they are doing for mankind through the space missions for the benefit of all mankind!!

We also visited the memorial for the "Columbia" shuttle crew. We spent some quiet time there to remember them!! Was a really moving time for me as I read their bio and other interesting stories!! We spent the whole day there enjoying everything that we could !! We had to come in the next day for the guided-bus tour of the NASA center. This was a real Vasooli for our "Moolah!"

Now, we left the place and drove around the vicinity for a an affordable motel to rest for the night. I checked some of the hotel guides and found one "Motel 8" run by the "Patels" once again which was only 10 minutes away from the NASA center. I got a room for only $52.00/night and they provided continental break fast...which was all the more better for Vasooli again!!

There was a gas station near by so I did not have to drive out that far to fill up my car!! The motels near the NASA center were very expensive and way out of my budget. I was here on a shoe string budget to enjoy the max with the min!! Kya Kehna Hai !! Kari Hai Doiba!! (what more can you say?)

Well, if you search well and good enough, you'll get good deals everywhere and can travel anywhere within your budget!! I tell you this because everyone thinks you need to have lotta $$$ to go around travelling! Of course thats true too.

But for me, if I have enough Moolah for the gas and the motel, thats more than enough cos I gonna pack my car with snacks and drinks. It wont hurt nor kill us if we live on snacks for the day!!

I carry extra toilet roll, just in case we need to use the out house for an emergency deposit !! ha..ha..ha... like we do back home in the wilderness...Jungle Lam Haang....!!We can fill up our water bottles from the water fountains everywhere available!!

If you are very picky about everything, then car travelling on road trips is just not for you!! I have encouraged some of my friends that they can do so easily with a well planned itinerary. If they have small children, they can have kid friendly places to stop by and relax and stretch out their limbs and continue driving and enjoy family time while driving!!

We had a very good night's rest at the motel after eating good food we packed from myf riends' house in Miami Beach. Thank you for that as it was a great $$$ saver and most of all, it was yummy food!! My son was too excited to eat!

I let him be as we came to enjoy ourselves!!

Check out a picture gallery on this >here.





More stories later ...... to be continued ...!!

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* Shanti Thokchom, a resident of Tulsa, Oklohoma, contributes regularly to e-pao.net . She can be reached at sthok65(at)hotmail(dot)com . This article was webcasted on June 14, 2009.

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