Chapter 4 – the Lone Star state
Arriving in Houston 2 nights after we boarded our bus in Vegas was such a relief and we just blobbed around Frank and Di’s home in Pecan Grove willing ourselves to stay awake as long as possible to ensure a full and amazing nights sleep. Ang and I had not realized how big and spread out Houston is and we didn’t realize how far away from downtown Frank and Di were which left us struggling to go into the city regularly as they were working long days. I suppose it worked out that they were preparing to move and we were free and staying at home which meant we could help sort out stuff for this move. Thankfully they were also able to take us on a few adventures around Houston giving us some idea of the beauty of this Texas metropolis. One of these adventures was our first ever live baseball game between the Astros and the Brewers. Unfortunately we did not catch a victory for the Astros but I did see my first ever home run. The game was rather short but I loved every minute of it and am so grateful for this experience.
Directly after this game we climbed in the truck and charged north from the stadium towards the lake house Frank and Di own where we went to spend the weekend. We were still struggling to get accustomed to the weather as it was hotter, stuffier and more humid than we had experienced yet in the states. We managed to take a few strolls around the lake area and explored some of the forest area surrounding this lake spot. Then as quickly as we had arrived we were heading back home to Pecan Grove looking forward to an exciting week heading into down town Houston and our Jars of Clay concert. And then crisis hit Houston on Monday evening when Tornado and violent thunder storm warnings were given to the city. It was a very scary and exciting time seeing the weather change and control people’s lives when we woke up on Tuesday to discover that most of Houston was flooded and not many people could go to work. But it couldn’t last and eventually on Thursday we made it down town where we went to visit the science museum and the fine arts museum of Houston. Grateful to visit and see some of Houston Ang and I quickly set out for the science museum where we could view different genres of science like the energy section, the dinosaur exhibit, precious gems show, the historical section and even a king Tutton exhibit from Egypt. Looking forward to some art we moved on to viewing the fine arts museum where we caught sights of some very old European and American art paintings, sculptures from Italy and Greece, ruins from ancient cities and even some African art. Though this was a short visit to Houston we loved every minute of the museums and managed to wander up and around the park area and the sky scrapers of down town.
A definite highlight came as we began to prepare for our next exciting stop going to watch Jars of Clay as they began their new tour promoting their new album Long fall down to earth. A surprise for us came during the opening act when we were blessed by a new band never before heard or seen by South Africans called Sea Bird who opened the show for Jars. A four piece band with the sound of a Coldplay Keane style mixing in two of our favorite bands and expressing their faith, we really enjoyed their performance. We even managed to meet the band and spent some time chatting with them. Jars performance was flawless and spectacular with a brand new show full of new songs and redefining the old ones we so adore. Thankfully our camera has a video function although we are running out of space for all our photos and videos. Anyway, the concert was a superb hit for us and we enjoyed every second of our time watching one of our favorite Christian bands. Thanks boys!!!
I guess the last highlight or place we really wanted to and begged Frank and Di to show us was NASA – the Johnson Space centre. Our wish was granted on our last day in Houston where we got dropped off for the day to spend our time exploring the space time continuum. Not really but we were exploring the space journeys, rocket ships, progress and new programs soon to be employed by NASA. Our first stop had to be the tour bus leaving for the Johnson space centre where we would get up close and personal with scenes from movies such as Armageddon and Apollo 13. We were able to view the private shuttle communication booth where only family and employees are allowed which was a real privilege. Another stop on this tour was the warehouse where they do astronaut training for in space getting accustomed to the equipment and environment of space life. Other training happens in the water tank 20 miles away or on an aircraft flying like a rollercoaster to change the g-force and create an antigravity environment for weightlessness. These were two of the highlights of the tour and probably of the whole day but there was still more to discover.
Once we arrived back in the space centre from the tour bus we began to explore and uncover the different areas and aspects of the space centre. As there is just so much to see and do, we needed to break the smaller sights up and follow the movie times or tour times to make sure we didn’t leave anything out. We got a little guidance on how to control the shuttle during take off and what many of the different gadgets are used for. During this presentation in the blast off theatre we also learnt that a new shuttle called the Atlantis Orion was taking off on Monday 11th May from Kennedy space centre exactly when we would be in Orlando Florida. Amazing!!! From there we went on to learn how space travel began and saw some really old treasures including moon rock samples. We also observed a live presentation of the realities and difficulties of living in space before seeing a movie of space life and astronaut training. And just like that it was time to go having explored the space centre thoroughly we left exhausted but satisfied seeing a great historical past of the US space initiative.
So too ended our tour and travels in Houston Texas and with a wave and farewell we boarded our greyhound for the new adventures of Orlando Florida.
Arriving in Houston 2 nights after we boarded our bus in Vegas was such a relief and we just blobbed around Frank and Di’s home in Pecan Grove willing ourselves to stay awake as long as possible to ensure a full and amazing nights sleep. Ang and I had not realized how big and spread out Houston is and we didn’t realize how far away from downtown Frank and Di were which left us struggling to go into the city regularly as they were working long days. I suppose it worked out that they were preparing to move and we were free and staying at home which meant we could help sort out stuff for this move. Thankfully they were also able to take us on a few adventures around Houston giving us some idea of the beauty of this Texas metropolis. One of these adventures was our first ever live baseball game between the Astros and the Brewers. Unfortunately we did not catch a victory for the Astros but I did see my first ever home run. The game was rather short but I loved every minute of it and am so grateful for this experience.
Directly after this game we climbed in the truck and charged north from the stadium towards the lake house Frank and Di own where we went to spend the weekend. We were still struggling to get accustomed to the weather as it was hotter, stuffier and more humid than we had experienced yet in the states. We managed to take a few strolls around the lake area and explored some of the forest area surrounding this lake spot. Then as quickly as we had arrived we were heading back home to Pecan Grove looking forward to an exciting week heading into down town Houston and our Jars of Clay concert. And then crisis hit Houston on Monday evening when Tornado and violent thunder storm warnings were given to the city. It was a very scary and exciting time seeing the weather change and control people’s lives when we woke up on Tuesday to discover that most of Houston was flooded and not many people could go to work. But it couldn’t last and eventually on Thursday we made it down town where we went to visit the science museum and the fine arts museum of Houston. Grateful to visit and see some of Houston Ang and I quickly set out for the science museum where we could view different genres of science like the energy section, the dinosaur exhibit, precious gems show, the historical section and even a king Tutton exhibit from Egypt. Looking forward to some art we moved on to viewing the fine arts museum where we caught sights of some very old European and American art paintings, sculptures from Italy and Greece, ruins from ancient cities and even some African art. Though this was a short visit to Houston we loved every minute of the museums and managed to wander up and around the park area and the sky scrapers of down town.
A definite highlight came as we began to prepare for our next exciting stop going to watch Jars of Clay as they began their new tour promoting their new album Long fall down to earth. A surprise for us came during the opening act when we were blessed by a new band never before heard or seen by South Africans called Sea Bird who opened the show for Jars. A four piece band with the sound of a Coldplay Keane style mixing in two of our favorite bands and expressing their faith, we really enjoyed their performance. We even managed to meet the band and spent some time chatting with them. Jars performance was flawless and spectacular with a brand new show full of new songs and redefining the old ones we so adore. Thankfully our camera has a video function although we are running out of space for all our photos and videos. Anyway, the concert was a superb hit for us and we enjoyed every second of our time watching one of our favorite Christian bands. Thanks boys!!!
I guess the last highlight or place we really wanted to and begged Frank and Di to show us was NASA – the Johnson Space centre. Our wish was granted on our last day in Houston where we got dropped off for the day to spend our time exploring the space time continuum. Not really but we were exploring the space journeys, rocket ships, progress and new programs soon to be employed by NASA. Our first stop had to be the tour bus leaving for the Johnson space centre where we would get up close and personal with scenes from movies such as Armageddon and Apollo 13. We were able to view the private shuttle communication booth where only family and employees are allowed which was a real privilege. Another stop on this tour was the warehouse where they do astronaut training for in space getting accustomed to the equipment and environment of space life. Other training happens in the water tank 20 miles away or on an aircraft flying like a rollercoaster to change the g-force and create an antigravity environment for weightlessness. These were two of the highlights of the tour and probably of the whole day but there was still more to discover.
Once we arrived back in the space centre from the tour bus we began to explore and uncover the different areas and aspects of the space centre. As there is just so much to see and do, we needed to break the smaller sights up and follow the movie times or tour times to make sure we didn’t leave anything out. We got a little guidance on how to control the shuttle during take off and what many of the different gadgets are used for. During this presentation in the blast off theatre we also learnt that a new shuttle called the Atlantis Orion was taking off on Monday 11th May from Kennedy space centre exactly when we would be in Orlando Florida. Amazing!!! From there we went on to learn how space travel began and saw some really old treasures including moon rock samples. We also observed a live presentation of the realities and difficulties of living in space before seeing a movie of space life and astronaut training. And just like that it was time to go having explored the space centre thoroughly we left exhausted but satisfied seeing a great historical past of the US space initiative.
So too ended our tour and travels in Houston Texas and with a wave and farewell we boarded our greyhound for the new adventures of Orlando Florida.
No comments:
Post a Comment