Huntsville, Alabama. June 14-16, 2012
Awhile ago, on twitter and facebook, I noticed a post asking for class representatives for the 30th anniversary of space camp celebration. I applied, not thinking I would get in, but I did! Monday, June 11th was the last day of school, and my cousin and her friend arrived in Orlando on Sunday, June 10th for some harry potter/mickey mouse fun for the week, so needless to say, I probably should have checked the date before I applied. But, I'm so glad I did. After a tiring week of park hopping, Thursday morning I went to a rental car place, picked up a car, went to get @gabesalas then the two of us headed to Atlanta. We were picking up @glorialloyd, whom I had never met before, but I'm glad I did :) (if you're not a spacetweep, you may not understand road trips with people you don't know so much, but trust me, it's fun.)
We headed west, and made it Huntsville around 7pm. The 13 hour drive was not too bad, and we arrived at space camp in time to get our swag bags and see the retro fashion show in which @ssquire placed 3rd! I then headed to spend a few hours with my in laws in Birmingham (2 more hours in the car was not super fun, but I'm glad I got to see them!) before staying with them for the night.
Got up bright and early to get back to Huntsville...and, I should mention that it got me excited to type 1 Tranquility Base into the GPS every time. (nerd.)
The second day was full of fun! We had a happy group of 5 space tweeps, as @johnrsports had joined us and we went on a tour of space camp, a tour of aviation challenge, hung out under a SaturnV, I did an interview with a local TV channel, then ran to the hotel to change.
We went back to the Davidson Center, was part of the 30th anniversary ceremony, ate dinner made a top chef contestant under a SaturnV, and got to hear some awesome stories about space camp. This year, space camp also combined the 30th anniversary with the hall of fame induction, so we saw 4 super cool people inducted.
Afterward, I met some astronauts. 2 shuttle astronauts and 1 Apollo astronaut... that's right, I met someone who WALKED ON THE MOON. I wish I had time to actually talk to him, but he was on his way out. Maybe next time :) I feel a little silly mentioning this, but I really didn't know that Werner VonBraun was such a big part of making space camp. Space Camp is awesome though, so I probably should have known. We then ended up at Otter's, the fine establishment at the hotel next to space camp, and I must say, I never thought I'd see some of the things I did... but space nerds are cool. Here's the link to the space camp website photo gallery, where I stole some of these from. http://www.spacecamp.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=235
The last day we woke up early again, headed to see The Dream is Alive in IMAX (which I'm also ashamed to say that I had never seen before) and were told on the way into the theater that we were not allowed to tweet. We made a reputation for ourselves over the weekend, for sure. :) I then broke away from the group to geek out on my own roaming around the Dr. VonBraun exhibit and it was well worth it. We headed to Aviation Challenge for lunch and then it was time to head home.
It was a long drive and a whirlwind weekend, but so very worth it. There will always be a place in my heart for Space Camp.
Tweets:
Awhile ago, on twitter and facebook, I noticed a post asking for class representatives for the 30th anniversary of space camp celebration. I applied, not thinking I would get in, but I did! Monday, June 11th was the last day of school, and my cousin and her friend arrived in Orlando on Sunday, June 10th for some harry potter/mickey mouse fun for the week, so needless to say, I probably should have checked the date before I applied. But, I'm so glad I did. After a tiring week of park hopping, Thursday morning I went to a rental car place, picked up a car, went to get @gabesalas then the two of us headed to Atlanta. We were picking up @glorialloyd, whom I had never met before, but I'm glad I did :) (if you're not a spacetweep, you may not understand road trips with people you don't know so much, but trust me, it's fun.)
We headed west, and made it Huntsville around 7pm. The 13 hour drive was not too bad, and we arrived at space camp in time to get our swag bags and see the retro fashion show in which @ssquire placed 3rd! I then headed to spend a few hours with my in laws in Birmingham (2 more hours in the car was not super fun, but I'm glad I got to see them!) before staying with them for the night.
we've arrived!
fashion show!
Got up bright and early to get back to Huntsville...and, I should mention that it got me excited to type 1 Tranquility Base into the GPS every time. (nerd.)
good morning from space camp!
The second day was full of fun! We had a happy group of 5 space tweeps, as @johnrsports had joined us and we went on a tour of space camp, a tour of aviation challenge, hung out under a SaturnV, I did an interview with a local TV channel, then ran to the hotel to change.
rode the Multi-Axis trainer first thing in the morning!
space tweeps and a SaturnV.
really excited to be moon base commander and orion commander
this means an IUP alum was a space camp counselor. yay!
thanks to John for this photo. me, in love with the moon base commander station.
tweeting from the moon base and the middeck.
I <3 SaturnVs.
at aviation challenge. I was not good at flying and/or landing
this is the news station I did a live interview with. it was fun. :)
We went back to the Davidson Center, was part of the 30th anniversary ceremony, ate dinner made a top chef contestant under a SaturnV, and got to hear some awesome stories about space camp. This year, space camp also combined the 30th anniversary with the hall of fame induction, so we saw 4 super cool people inducted.
spacetweeps, astronaut Bob Springer and Dr. Deborah Barnhart, the CEO of Space Camp
we dance with inflatable astronauts.
someone shot the saturnV. in case you didn't hear the story...
the hall of fame inductees...
Stephanie Abrams from the Weather Channel, Astronaut Hoot Gibson, ISS operations lead Liz Warren and ISS Flight Director Ed Van Cise
Afterward, I met some astronauts. 2 shuttle astronauts and 1 Apollo astronaut... that's right, I met someone who WALKED ON THE MOON. I wish I had time to actually talk to him, but he was on his way out. Maybe next time :) I feel a little silly mentioning this, but I really didn't know that Werner VonBraun was such a big part of making space camp. Space Camp is awesome though, so I probably should have known. We then ended up at Otter's, the fine establishment at the hotel next to space camp, and I must say, I never thought I'd see some of the things I did... but space nerds are cool. Here's the link to the space camp website photo gallery, where I stole some of these from. http://www.spacecamp.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=235
me and Stephanie Abrams
gloria, Charlie Duke -Apollo 16, and me
Rhea Seddon and me
John, Gloria, Dale Levitski from Top Chef and me
me and Hoot Gibson
The last day we woke up early again, headed to see The Dream is Alive in IMAX (which I'm also ashamed to say that I had never seen before) and were told on the way into the theater that we were not allowed to tweet. We made a reputation for ourselves over the weekend, for sure. :) I then broke away from the group to geek out on my own roaming around the Dr. VonBraun exhibit and it was well worth it. We headed to Aviation Challenge for lunch and then it was time to head home.
cool posters outside the IMAX theater
paying my respects.
pretty sure i have a similar photo from when i attended space camp... I'll have to find it :)
and lastly, my space camp team photo...where it all started. August 2000.
It was a long drive and a whirlwind weekend, but so very worth it. There will always be a place in my heart for Space Camp.
Tweets:
No comments:
Post a Comment