Day 4: Takin' It Easy

Outside the Saturn V hangar

Last night we realized that if we kept going at the same breakneck pace we wouldn't make it very far, so we decided that today we were going to sleep in and take things slowly so we could actually relax. It is a vacation after all! With that in mind, our only planned stop was to the NASA space center just South of Houston. Thanks to a tip from our host, Josue, we skipped the official space center (and the hefty price tag) and just stopped by the Rocket Park where a Saturn V rocket rests in a hangar the size of a football field.

Saturn V

We walked into the hangar through a small nondescript door that we almost weren't sure we were supposed to go through. The door opened into an expansive space where the Saturn V towered over us. We craned our necks upward to take in the awesome sight as we made the walk from the nose to the five monstrous F1 engines at the tail of the rocket. A small car could drive through the widest part of the mouth of each engine with room to spare, and looking up into their gaping maws I felt absolutely puny. Aside from being awestruck by the sheer size of the Saturn V, it was also just incredible to see something that was so integral to our exploration of space.

An F1 Engine

After spending some time inside we had a chat with Jason, a security guard that stopped us when we almost pulled into the actual working space center campus instead of the Rocket Park-- in our defense, the parking lot for the Rocket Park was tiny, and it was not at all obvious where to go. Anyway, he told us about some of his military experience jumping out of perfectly good airplanes, and found that he had actually been at Fort Benning in Georgia not too long ago. Small world.

Jason, a security guard at the NASA Space Center

The rest of the day was spent just wandering around Hermann Park again before meeting with Greta, a friend of Geries's from Georgia Tech, to go and stay at her place for the night. Since we hadn't gotten any Texan barbecue yet, we went to Luling City Market at the recommendation of Greta, and it was definitely worth it. The brisket was some of the best I've had, and the sauce was equally good.

Our Houston host, Greta

I'll be sad to see Houston go, but we'll be leaving bright and early to make our longest drive so far on the road to Albuquerque.