The People's House

Monday and Tuesday of this week were spent inside Washington, DC. 

On day one, we rode atop one of those incredibly touristy, obnoxiously red, double-decker tour buses. (Which we later found out have decapitated several people by way of low lying branches.) Fortunately for us, we had the foresight to duck beneath any of these branches and prevent out noggins from being swiped off. That would not be pretty. Anyways, we saw the incredibly tall Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, as well as Arlington National Cemetery. In complete explanation of the first- it was enormously tall. For the next- he was ginormous. (Which should be a word) And of the latter- wow. We were unable to attain tickets to get to the top of the Washington Monument but, I did get some lovely shots of it from the ground. (check out the pics page, it’s actually updated!) The Lincoln Memorial was spectacular. Dad had Zach run up the steps to the top but hopefully, this won’t mean he’s becoming the next Rocky! As for Arlington, it is exceedingly large and incredibly easy to get lost in. We tromped around for about an hour searching for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. If you have never been to the Cemetery, let me tell you a little secret, BEWARE OF THE HILLS. It was, fittingly, not originally meant as a tourist attraction but, in time, more and more people have come to pay their respects. Considering that the original plans were not drawn to accommodate the masses, it is full of hills. Mum and I conjectured that half of the grave sites must have been tourists who had keeled over from heat-stroke. Nevertheless, it was amazing. The changing of the guard was a rather interesting ceremony. A little too much gun clapping, order yelling, metered marching, high saluting, ceremonious pomp for my taste but, if that is all to show the proper respect, so be it.

Day two in DC was even better. (Ivette, if you are reading this, thank you so much! We all had a fantastic time and would like to thank you sincerely for spending the day with us. We felt truly privileged.) Before meeting up with Ivette, we saw a band shooting a music video in front of the White House. We later learned that it was Locksley. I’d never heard of them but who knows, maybe they are really good? (If any of you have heard of them let me know!) Anyways, when we met up with Ivette, she took us on a tour of the White House’s East Wing. It was incredible to think that we were in the home and work place of the leader of the greatest nation in the world. Later in the day, we went back to the White House in order to watch Mr. President take off in Marine One. (his huge helicopter) That evening, Ivette had reserved the White House bowling alley. So we got to go bowling (horridly I might add) in our own private, 2-lane alley. Pretty cool experience if you ask me. Overall, I actually prefer Washington, DC to New York City. *gasp* I love New York and its high rise buildings and street vendors but, DC has so much more history and surprisingly, a much better sky-line. Wednesday, we’re going to Mount Vernon (home of George Washington) and then driving… a long way. :) This was a very long post.

Comment, Please?!

This is for all you lurkers:

COMMENT PLEASE!!

If you don't take a minute or two to leave a quick message every once and awhile, I have no way of knowing who is reading the blog. So... to all of you who have been silently reading (aka lurking) please post a comment!

I Give Up!

I realize that I am very, very, behind in my blogging. I have tried to catch up but I have just fallen farther and farther back and my writing has suffered for it. Therefore, I am going to stop trying and just move on. My next post will be about our time in Wahington, DC. To quickly let you all know where we visited between Philadelphia and DC, here is a list. (In Order) 1.  Mystic Harbor (fudge!) 2. Plymouth 3. Salem 4. Boston 5. Canada (Niagra Falls) 6. Hershey (yum!) 7. National Civil War Museum 8. Gettysburg

Two American Idols

(note: This post is from last Sunday.)

Today we went to Philadelphia. We arrived in the mid-afternoon and so (of course) Dad had to go find a cheese-steak. After asking a policeman who got right up in Dad's face to say that "Sonny's waitin' for us!" we headed over to his reccommended cheese-steak vender... Sonny. It was actually pretty good. Afterwards, we headed over to the Liberty Bell. There are so many reproductions that it was unbelievable to be standing by THE bell. It is a true American idol. And speaking of American Idol's, I saw another one. I dont know if y'all remember James Lewis but he was the tour guide from Philly who sang "Let My People Go". If not here's his audition: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/28Pb4ioWZnw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/28Pb4ioWZnw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

We were walking down the street and saw him standing on the street corner in his tour guide uniform. I was the one to spot him first and, of course, this was followed by, "Hey Mum! That's that guy from American Idol!" and "No it's not, who are you talking about?... Wait! Yes it is!" e&t. I got a lovely picture with him that you can find on the pics page. We'll be going to NYC and Boston soon!

FAMOUS Steel Pier?!?

(note: This post is from last Saturday.)

Today we went to the "Famous" Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Atlantic City is like the Las Vegas of the east coast so it was NOT my favorite place to be but, it was very urban. In Atlantic City we went to the "famous steel pier". It was... less than satisfying. The main attraction was the "Crazy Mouse" roller coaster; a jerky, death-trap on top of a rickety pier. The entire experience was pretty dissappointing. Tomorrow we'll e heading over to Philly for a cheese-steak and the Liberty Bell! Hopefully it will meet more of our expectations!

In The Town of James

note: This post is from last Friday.

Today we went to Jamestown. It wasn't my favorite place but, it was kind of cool when you thought of iy in terms of Pocahantas. (atrocious spelling) Jamestown was actually where the Disney movie was based upon but, there really was a Pocahantas and there really was a John Smith. (though he was many years her senior and there was no Disney-fied romance going on there) In the evening we took a ferry from Virginia to New Jersey. Tomorrow we'll be going to Atlantic City.

Colonial Reversion

(note: This post is from last Thursday.)

Today we went to historic Yorktown and Williamsburg. Yorktown had a Revolutionary reproduction army camp and a colonial farm. It was alright but not that incredibly interesting. However, Williamsburg was awesome! It is a restoration of the entire colonial town of Williamsburg. It was complete with actors in full costume roaming the streets to bid you a "good morn". There are also several shops within the town. The craftsmen (and craftswomen) that work there all make their wares with tools and techniques that they would use in days gone by. No modern machines, ect. are used. One that was particularly cool was the gunsmith who makes them all by hand! The silversmith and the wig-maker were also rather interesting. So... tomorrow we're going to a 3rd historic town, Jamestown. I'll let you all know how that goes.

Wright or Wrong?

(note: This post was from last Wednesday.)

Today we went to the Wright Brothers Memorial. It was actually pretty cool. I could not believe that people actually FLEW in that rickety thing they called a plane!! And then we drove some more. Zach and Jess went wild for the fire-flies at the camp ground. woo Tomorrow should be actually interesting! We're going to tour a couple colonial hands-on-history towns.

Quick Revision

Thank-you to David who was the first (and only) person who was observant enough to point out that on the post '15 Candles' the "shot heard around the world" was at the start of the REVOLUTIONARY War. NOT the Civil War. I have since edited the post so it is historically accurate. :) If any of you have any other corrections, feel free to leave a comment/text me/e-mail me/whatever. Thanks!!!

Without Loss of Life or Limb

(note: This post is from last Tuesday.)

Today we decided to go Myrtle Beach. It was lovely and the water was warm but it  started to rain pellets. (And I soon realized that my novel was becoming rather worse for wear during the torrential down-pour.) We high-tailed it back to the motorhome so that we could get farther on in NC. And we drove some more. When we finally got to our destination, a little campground in the middle of nowhere, dad and I ran to KFC for some dinner. We had been planning on a bucket of legs and thighs only to find out that they had discontinued that the day before. Much abashed at missing dinner by a day, we got the next best thing and went 'home'.

After dinner I was convinced to go with Dad to attempt to learn to drive. Just to let you all know, I am positively terrified of crashing the car. The last time I was told to simply pull the car into the driveway, I almost ran Dad over! That would NOT have been a good thing. Anyways, it went without loss of life or limb. (thank goodness) And I discovered that I can not park for beans. Tomorrow we will be going to the Wright Brothers Musuem and new pictures will be posted soon!

15 Candles!

(note: This post is from last Monday.)

Today was my 15th birthday! Yay! To celebrate, we went para-sailing in Hilton Head, South Carolina. I was really cool to soar 800ft in the air behind a boat. Afterwards, we drove all the way to Charleston, North Carolina to see Fort Sumtner, where the 'shot heard around the world' was fired. (aka The first shot of the American Revolutionary War.) The fort is located on an island in the middle of a bay. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, the last ferry over departed an hour before we arrived! Much abashed, we went out to dinner at a little Italian place in the downtown area. But they didn't have canoli! What kind of self respecting Italian restaurant dosen't have canoli!? Their claim was that they were 'northern Italian', but I'm not buying it! Anyways, instead of a birthday canoli, we picked up some Ben & Jerry's icecream from the local 7/11. (I now have 2 new favorite icecreams! :P) Actually, the name of this post is rather misleading... I didn't have a single candle! That's okay though because I don't think candles and icecream mix very well... :)

The Lighthouse

note: This post is from last Sunday.

Today we went to Tybee Island, Georgia. It is an adorable little island right off of mainland Georgia. The main attraction on tiny Tybee is it's lighthouse. Deservingly named the 'Tybee Island Lighthouse', it had been relocated 3 times and rebuilt twice! Although the view from the top was phenomenal, the climb up there was atrocious! (Auntie Julie, a long time ago you gave me a book about a real girl who had to take care of a lighthouse all alone. Now, I really appreciate how hard that must have been!) Every 8 hours one of the 3 families that tended the lighthouse had to carry whale-oil up to the top.

After the lighthouse, we went to dinner at 'The Crab Shack'. (Suggestion courtesy of Auntie Michelle!) We shared a sampler platter and it was massive! I must admit, the fresh crab leggs were my favorite. At the Crab Shack, they have alligators which you can feed. Unfortunately, they were rather tiny. :( Tomorrow is my birthday!! Yay!!

El Castillo De Santo Marcos

note: This post is from last Saturday.

Today we went to the Castillo De Santo Marcos. It was a Spanish Fort in Saint Augustine, Florida. (Saint Augustine is the oldest city in America) The remarkable part was that it never fell to the British. There was a lot of cool history and tons of awesome cannons pointing out to sea but, my favorite part was the chapel of Saint Mark. The original, ornately carved, stone basins for Holy Water are still there! Afterwards, we walked through the downtown and went to a fantastic little pizza place for lunch. The rest of the day we spent driving. Tomorrow we're going to Tybee Island, South Carolina.

post script: I'm not wearing down I jusst wasn't able to write for a couple of days and that has thrown me off. I'm catching up asap and then I'll be able to produce more in-depth posts.

Another NASA Space Center

note: Okay I got that wrong, we went from Disney World to the Kennedy Space Center, NOT Saint Augustine. :P That was the next day!

Sooo, today we went to the Kennedy Space Center. I actually like it a lot more than the Huston Space Center. It was a lot more informational than touristy and everything was done WELL. I mean, everything was produced and set up extremely well. There was a space shuttle launch simulator that was phenomenal and an excellent tour of the grounds. We saw where Apollo 13 launched from and where the first Apollo was buried, for future generations. There are also two IMAX 3D movies about the International Space Center and the first Lunar Missions. Althoug one of them was narrated by Tom Cruise (yuck!), the information was fascinating and actually wasn't boring. (the other was narrated by Tom Hanks) TOMORROW, we're going to the Castillo De Santo Marcos in Saint Augustine, Florida.

Snow in July! Oh my!

note: This post is from last Thursday.

Today we went to Winter Summerland. (aka Blizzard Beach) It is a snow-themed waterpark within the Disneyland complex. It's actually a pretty cool waterpark, as far as waterparks go. To get to the tallest slides, you have to take a ski-lift to the top of the mountain. Afterwards, we hopped back in the motorhome and drove to Saint Augustine, Florida. We'll be going through the castillo there tomorrow.

Downtown Disney

note: This post is from last Wednesday.

Today we pretty much just hung-out. We stayed at the motor-home all afternoon and played board games and the sort. In the afternoon, we took the Disney bus down to Disney Downtown. We walked around for awhile (check out the LEGO pics and Father and Cinderella) and went through the different stores, just looking. In the evening, we went to Fort Wilderness' Hoop-de-doo Review. It was really fun and the food was pretty good. We had fried-chicken, ribs, mashed potatoes, corn-bread, ect. and, (Grandma J, you should like this) strawberry short-cake for dessert. Tomorrow we're going to Winter Summerland (Blizzard Beach). It's one of Disney World's two water parks.

Chip, Dale, and Julie

note: This post is from last Monday.

Just to let you know, this is going to be another rather short post. Because... we drove all day again. We are now officially AT Disney World. (Which, here, does not just mean the theme park. Here, THE theme park is called the 'Magic Kingdom'. Considering there are actually several parks encompassed within the Disney World property (each with their own entrance fee of course! :P), I suppose that it could get rather confusing.) We are staying at the Fort Wilderness RV Resort, conveniently located within the bus-routes to all the theme-parks. Tomorrow we will be going to the Magic Kingdom but tonight, we went to the Chip and Dale campfire sing-along. In case you don't know, Disney's Chip and Dale are two squeaky-voiced chipmunks who solve cat-related mysteries on their own animated show. (Yes, I am guilty of actually watching such a thing in days gone by.) Zach and Jess roasted marshmallows and I got a lovely video of Jessica doing the hokey-pokey. The woman who actually lead the sing-alongs name was Julie and she happened to look an awful lot like my dear aunt from afar. (picture on pic page) And that is about as eventful as it has been lately. Oh, I finished my third book since the beginning of the trip. I just read through 'Northanger Abbey' by Jane Austen for the, surprisingly, first time. It is incredibly satirical and witty and all together rather fantastic. I recommend it to you all! hehe By the way, I miss you all exceedingly and hope you have a lovely summer without us. (Though I hope to hear all about how you missed US to the breaking point, when we get back! :)) See you all soon!

The Magic Kingdom: It's MaGiCaL!

note: This post is from last Tuesday.

Today we went to the MaGiCaL Kingdom. (Which is Florida code for what we in California would just call Disney World) Living so near to Anaheim and the first Disney Theme Park, we couldn't help but to compare it to this one. Unlike the ginormous 'Small World' castle at Disney Land (from here on out referred to simple as DL) the Magical Kingdom's (from now on referred to as MK) version was seriously lacking. Not like anyone actually sees the need for such a large castle for such an annoying ride but, it's tradition! Anyways, at MK it's just another hole-in-the-wall ride across from Peter Pan's Adventures. (which had a longer line than Small World, I might add) Although I'm sure we can agree that DL's version is much ado about nothing, it was odd having it so pushed aside. Another interesting difference between MK and DL was (and in my opinion this is actually quite a large flaw) that it does not have the Indiana Jones ride!! *gasp* I know! Tragic, isn't it? We had been all excited to compare them only to find out that there wasn't one at MK! Another ride that MK was lacking happened to be Mum's favorite. The Mattahorn (spelling is sorely off) was not included in the MK experience! Besides all of this, the pre-show for the Haunted Mansion was positively atrocious! Despie these flaws, the Pirate's of the Caribbean ride was done much better than at DL. Overall, both parks are Disney. They are both basically the same. Oh! Exept for the fact that it rained. While we were at the 'happiest place on earth', we had to wait for 2 hours in line at Big Thunder Mountain due to lightning storms and a torrential down-pour. And then we went on Splash Mountain. O_o Tomorrow we shall be going to Downtown Disney. (No, we aren't going to Epcott, but I hear we aren't missing much.) I'll let you know how that goes later!

!!!!!500!!!!!

YAY!!! I told ya'll (which I can use since we are in the South) that we would have to celebrate when Lovely Insanity reached 500 views. Well..... it received 294 on Monday!!! YAY!!! Since then, we have a total of 800-something views. And in recognition of that this post shall be filled with all kinds of lovely, dancing, animations!! Woot! Here you go:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="100" caption="CARLTON!!"][/caption]

  

Nada

note: This post SHOULD have been posted two days ago. So... this is actually ABOUT last Sunday.

Today we did a whole lot of nothing. We drove a looooooooooooooooonnng way to a little camp-ground on the Suanney River. (where Jessica has claimed to have seen an alligator) It is about 300 miles fro Disney World. This evening I was absolutely KILLED at shuffle-board by Father. (though I had never played before) And that was about as eventful as it got yesterday. Oh, Father brought along a whole surround-sound speaker system which we hooked up to Mum's computer. That way, we can listen to the 7th Harry Potter book (which we all read and promptly forgot) on audio CD, while driving. Tomorrow we'll be getting to Disney World so I'll let you know how that goes!

Hot Sauce and Powdered Sugar

Today we went from Louisiana to Florida. While still in LA, we took a quick tour of the Tabasco factory. It was just a quick walk-through and I actually think that we spent more time in the Gift Shop than we did in the factory itself. Both Jessica and I bought pairs of Tabasco bottle earring, if only for the novelty of such a thing. (Oksana and Sarah- I almost got you Tabasco napkins :P) Afterwards, we hit the road once more, this time in search of an elusive Rice Mill. After driving about aimlessly for quite some time without a hint of where it could be, we decided to give up our rice search and head to New Orleans. Despite the rather looong drive to get there, New Orleans was definately somewhere we had to go while in Louisiana. Our exploration of the city only encompassed select parts of the French Quarter (namely, Bourbon Street), but it was enough. We sampled some jazz around town (Zach bought a harmonica) and then headed to the origional Café du Monde. (thanks for the tip Ryan!) If ever you happen to be roaming the streets of New Orleans and have a craving for sugar, that is where you must go. They serve beignets. In case you don't know what those are (which you probably don't), they are like French doughnuts. They are little rectangular puffs that are buried under mounds of powdered sugar. Needless to say, they are fantastic. After our tasty snack, it was on to Bourbon Street. Jessica and I purchased some lovely feather masks and then it was time to leave New Orleans. The saying goes that once you've been there you'll "Know what it means to love New Orleans." But I don't. It was incredibly dirty, extremely humid, and Bourbon Street was an crowded, alchohol and smoke filled, tourist trap. In conclusion, Zachary's harmonica is making me want to jump off a cliff and if that is not the death of me, the humidity will be. (By the way, pictures are up to date.)

Independence Day

So... as you all know, today was Independence Day. That's right, the Fourth of July. The day when America finally declared it's freedom from the Mother Country. In celebration of this splendid day, we drove- a lot. Right now we are in Louisiana. Hot, sticky, swampy, Louisiana. If you can't tell already- I don't particulary care for Louisiana! The air is so humid, it's tangible and it is incredibly muddy. The camp-ground that we are staying at is actually right by a swamp. A real swamp. The type of real swamp they warn you not to walk near after night because the alligators will come and eat you! Personally, I don't plan on being eaten by an evil, swamp-lurking, alligator anytime soon. Therefore, I am sitting peacefully in our air-conditioned recreational vehicle, with a bottle of water and a good book. (Thanks Meagh!!) Staying in door also prevents me from being eaten alive by bugs. You walk out the door and the first thing you hear is a constant buzz. At first, you may think that it is the hum of a telephone wire, or possibly some really annoying child talking in your ear *cough*Zachary*cough* But no, it is in fact bugs. And no matter how many times you swat at them, they will always be there- watching and waiting for the right time to suck your blood. *shivers* Back to the Fourth of July... To celebrate, Father brought along some fireworks to set off at the camp-ground. Which actually isn't illegal in Louisiana... we hope. Anyways, we had a lovely time watching coloured sparks shoot into the night sky. And then we had s'mores! Personally, I don't like s'mores. The grahm cracker and chocolate ruin the deliciousness of the burnt marshmallow. So JESSICA had s'mores and Zach and I had toasted marshmallows. (I just happened to 'toast' mine until they were flaming and black.) The ironic part of all this was that we were 'toasting' them on our stove, inside the motorhome, instead of the traditional bonfire. Oh well, they still tasted good. Even though my birthday isn't for a little over a week, everyone thought it best that I open one of my presents now. (so that I could use it on our trip) I got a lovely, pink, Olympus, camera! And so... the firework pictures that I uploaded were actually taken with MY camera! Yay! Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day so check in soon!

p.s. I love reading all of your comments! It's nice to know WHO is reading instead of just looking at my dashboard and seeing that there have been 376 total views. We'll throw a party when we get to 500! :)

Quick Note

You might have noticed that the picture 'Natural Arch' features an odd, silver, shiny thing where my feet should be. That is actually my awesome, shiny, silver, shoes not a magical fairy from 'Fairy Land'. That is all.

Huston, We Have a Problem

note: This post is actually up to date! Finally! Yay!!!

note #2: This post was started yesterday when it WOULD have been up to date. As of now, it is one day late.

Today we went to the NASA Huston Space Center. We were expecting a very technical, space-age looking set of building with lots of scientific-looking people runung around doing scientific-looking things. However, that was definately not the case. When we first walked in, we were accosted by a gigantic children's play area taking up the entire center of the building. It reminded me of a space-themed Chuck-E-Cheese. We took the tram tour which was actually rather interesting and got to see where they train all of the astonauts. The starship gallery was also really cool. It had a full scale replica of the first space shuttle that you could watk through. After the Space Center, we went to the Kemah Boardwalk for dinner. We ate at a seafood place called Landry's. The food was fantastic but the service was atrocious! When we were done satisfying out hunger with delicious fish, Zach wanted to go on the 'Boardwalk Bullet', a rickety-looking, large, wooden, rollercoaster. So, (despite my better judgement) Zachary and Father got in line to bring back all of the seafood they had just consumed. Mum, Jess, and I waited for them near the base of the coaster. Everytime a set of cars went by, the entire structure shook menacingly. Surprisingly (Father has a weak stomache), they completed their escapade without returning their seafood to the sea or falling through the wooden planks of the Boardwalk Bullet. Tomorrow is the 4th of July! Yay! We don't know where we are going to be yet but, we brought a whole mess of fireworks so we can celebrate our nation's independence wherever we may be. NASA pics will be up soon!

p.s. 11 days until my birthday! :D Mum is freaking because that means I can get my permit in 193.5 days!

We Remember the Alamo

note: This is another of those pesky, late posts. When I say 'today' I actually mean Wednesday! Sorry for the confusing order of things!

Today we went to the Alamo. It actually wasn't all that interesting. The story of the Alamo is incredible but, considering that it is now surrounded by tall city buildings instead of a frontier, it was hard to imagine the actual battle. Walking through the walls of the Alamo, I couldn't really picture Davey Crocket and Jim Bowey making their last stands inside it's walls. However, it was chilling once you realized how many men fought and died on the ground we were walking. While touring the old church, there is a tile on the floor that said four bodies were uncovered in the late nineties on that very spot, and were reburied under the tile over which we were carelessly walking. Needless to say I avoided walking upon that spot again! Overall, it was an interesting place but, not one that takes more than a half hour to tour.

After the Alamo, we walked down the famous River Walk. It was gorgeous but the humidity was killing me!! I've decided that I like the clean, historic look of downtown San Antonio but, the humid air is atrocious! Unfortuantely, it won't be getting anything but worse the farther east we go! *sigh* Anyways, we ate dinner at the Hard Rock Café. I had a phenomenal Honey Citrus Chicken Salad or something of the sort. After dinner we went and saw 'Hancock' the movie. Although there was a large amount of foul language (specifically at the beginning), the real issue I had with the movie was it's plot. There was an odd twist about half way through that completely changed the point of the story. It seemed like they were trying to combine two movies into one. But this is not a movie review so.... tomorrow we are going to the Huston Space Center.

Apologies and Observatories

For the apologies part of this post, I'd like to humbly ask your forgiveness for not posting anything for the past two days! We're in the middle of Texas right now and there isn't good connections anywhere! So instead of writing one reeeeeaaaaaallllllyyyyyy long post about Tuesday AND Wednesday, I'm going to seperate them and we can all pretend that they were posted when they should have been! :P By the way, pictures are officially working again! To see them go to the 'Pics' page. If you click on them it will give you their descriptions.

Today we went to the McDonald Observatory. It is a series of 3 large telescopes and several smaller ones located over the span of 3 hills. Trust me, these telescopes aren't just 'large', they are GIGANTIC!! We took a tour of the two largest and Zachary actually got to man the controls of one of them. (he moved the entire 6ton telescope with his thumb!) That tour wasn't the most... interesting thing ever but, the night program was MUCH better. In the evening is the Twilight Program. (it dosen't get completely dark here until around 11pm) We sat in an amphitheatre as the sun was setting and learned about the different signs of the zodiac and how they are really just constellations. (there are really 13!! so it completley discredits astrology) Anyways, it was actually very interesting. Then came the 'Star Party'. We sat in the same amphitheatre (by now it was getting rather chilly) and as it got dark, the astronomer pointed out to us major constellations in the night sky. The funny part of all of this was that all of the guys who have been giving us the tours are scientists and therefore, have a scientisnts sense of humor. Their incredibly dry jokes were hilarious after you got past their laughing at themselves. (considering they give these tours all day and repete the jokes every time) Another interesting point was the laser pointer with which he was pointing out the constellations. All of the guys in the audience thought that was the coolest part. :P After the 'Star Party', we got a chance to look through some of the telescopes. We saw Jupiter and Saturn as well as some M-somethingorother star clusters. It was really cool. Tomorrow we are heading to San Antonio and the ALAMO!