#81 Mar 2015 Wild Florida Airboats and Wildlife Park

Our final day we visited Wild Florida Airboats and Wildlife Park less than an hour from Orlando.

The airboat ride was noisy, windy and exhilarating.

The airboat skimmed over the water and moved along narrow channels through the Florida Everglades.

Each passenger had headphones to cut the engine noise. When there was something to explain or point out the boat stopped and the engine was silent.

Our Captain Marc Evans was very knowledgeable about the wildlife, the Everglades and points of interest along the shoreline.

We saw quiet ponds of water lilies

Egrets among the wildflowers

And of course alligators!

This mama alligator was letting her brood (on the right side of the photo) explore their surroundings.

She had at least 6 babies who were just a few weeks old.

It was a great opportunity to see natural Florida after the manmade parks in Orlando.

Of course, even away from the city there was a gift shop.

The adjacent Wildlife Park provided closer views of alligators.

Danica did not enjoy the gator bites for lunch but was not worried about becoming a snack for the gators.

We saw Watusi cattle

Peacocks

Zebras

Sand hill cranes

As well as a presentation about several animals in the park, including a blue-tongued skink.

Fluffy was the highlight of the presentation.

Fluffy was 4 feet long, 4 years old and comfortable with being handled.

Everyone in the audience had an opportunity to hold Fluffy individually and as a group.

This sign summed up our Florida family adventure.

We enjoyed our Orlando experience and had a great family time. Our granddaughters do not have many opportunities to spend time together. Lindsay and Danica were able to be spontaneous and have fun in "The Happiest PLace on Earth". We enjoyed being part of the fun.

At the end of seven very full days we were all tired and ready for home with memories to last a lifetime.

#80 Mar 2015 Disney's Epcot Park

I have always wondered what Epcot stands for and why that theme park is different from the other entertainment parks in Disney World.

In the early 1960s Walt Disney, who had many grandchildren, began to worry about the future of the world they would inhabit.

Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT) was his dream of a planned community. Its purpose was to be a “community of the future” designed to stimulate American corporations to come up with new ideas for urban living.

After Walt Disney died in 1966, most of his ideas for the planned city were abandoned. Utilizing some of his concepts, Walt Disney World Resort opened in 1971 with only the Magic Kingdom and a few hotels. The Epcot theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort opened in 1982 to reveal the world around us in a World Expo fashion.

Epcot was the last park we visited as a family. The huge shiny ball at the entrance to Epcot has always been a Walt Disney World icon.

There are several interactive exhibits and rides that provide opportunities to pilot a spacecraft, create a virtual concept vehicle and even design your own thrill ride.

Our family had very different interests for this park. We went separate ways as everyone was tired and wanted to maximize their energy.

Ralph and I particularly wanted to explore Living with the Land and the World Showcase. We had one more day on our tickets so went back to Disney World the next week to finish Epcot. The following is a combination of those two days.

LIVING WITH THE LAND is a ride through greenhouses that showcase innovative methods of food production. The ride piqued our interest with unusual ways to garden for the world or at home.

We took the “Behind the Seeds” tour. In the greenhouses at least part of every plant is edible and production is carefully controlled. The results are scientifically monitored and applicable to effectively feeding the world.

There is Disney showmanship in the Mouse Ears cucumber shape.

Fish excrement provides fertilizer for the edible flowers.

Cucumbers dangle from support beams. They have lots of room to grow but have a small footprint.

Marigold roots grow in enhanced water. No soil needed.

Tomato vines are wound around and around poles.

Winter melons grow and grow.

The peanut butter tree sign says the fruit is edible!

This “planter” rotates to provide even light for the lettuce.

WORLD SHOWCASE consists of international pavilions and eateries organized around a lake promenade.

We explored Norway (Ralph’s heritage) and found lefse, our favorite Norwegian treat.

The Canadian pavilion showcases a reproduction of Butchart Gardens in Victoria. It is very well done.

The Chinese pavilion features a miniature replica of a portion of the Terra Cotta Warriors. It provides a sense of the immensity of the original 7,000 life sized cavalry troops, chariots and horses created for the afterlife of Emperor Qin Shi Huang in 210 B.C.

We watched an incredible drumming presentation at the Japanese pavilion.

I was thrilled to explore the Epcot International Flower Garden Festival.

The topiaries are stunning.

The evening "IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth" offers a global perspective of Epcot.

Altogether, a spectacular finale to our Walt Disney World experience.

#79 Mar 2015 Kennedy Space Center

We planned a break from Disney with a trip to Kennedy Space Center hoping to see a rocket launch.

The Delta IV rocket launch went off beautifully. What a thrill!

We watched from bleachers near the Apollo/Saturn V Rocket Center about seven miles from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral.

The rocket was carrying the ninth of twelve GPS satellites for the US Air Force. This series of GPS IIF satellites is essential to US national security. It improves military signal and navigation, assists with search and rescue operations and commercial aviation.

NASA has re-invented itself since the end of the space shuttle program. The launch pads are leased to various private agencies and are being redesigned for numerous space related projects.

Included with admission, the Apollo/Saturn V Center contains a Saturn V rocket with detailed information about its construction and utilization. There is so much to learn and marvel about man's creativity and ingenuity.

So many people surrounded the Saturn V rocket after the launch that I couldn't get a clear shot with the camera. These photos of the Saturn V are from the Houston Space Center which we visited in February.

A thrilling highlight is an actual piece of the moon that we can touch. It seems impossible that here on earth we can touch a piece of that beautiful beacon in the night sky.

A new exhibit shows a movie about the challenges of creating a re-usable spacecraft. It is very well presented then a curtain opens and there is the actual space shuttle Atlantis.

There was a collective gasp of awe!

You can see that she has been well used in her 33 missions covering more than 125 million miles in space.

The robotic Canadarm is deployed and makes Canadians proud to be part of such an inspiring machine.

In retirement she is now honored in her own display building.

At the front of the building is a full-scale, upright, replica space shuttle stack, including external tank and two solid rocket boosters. The 184-foot-tall assembly gives a true sense of the awesome power used to thrust the shuttle into orbit.

Ralph and I grew up in the space age and have a special connection to Atlantis.

1/ in the 1990's, one frigid minus 30*C morning in Calgary, we heard on the radio that Atlantis was about to reenter the atmosphere over the city. We jumped out of bed, put on boots and winter coats over pajamas and went outside. We watched in awe as a fiery trail sped from horizon to horizon in a few seconds. Minutes later Atlantis landed in Florida.

2/ 2007 was our first visit to Kennedy Space Center. During the course of the day we saw Atlantis moving very slowly towards the launch pad.

3/ In 2013 an opening party for a conference in Orlando took place at Kennedy Space Center. The coup de grace was a peek at Atlantis during the construction of its building. Atlantis was completely covered in protective bubble wrap!

4/ Now in 2015 we were able to see Atlantis up close and marvel at this vehicle that launched like a rocket, flew in orbit like a spacecraft and landed on a runway like a glider.

The International Space Station is the next step in space exploration and cooperation among nations. To date, is appears that international cooperation can be achieved when astronauts rely on one another for survival in a very hostile environment with no immediate outside resources.