We are loving visiting family.  Playing with Grandchildren.  Helping with projects.

It is definitely not for everyone but I really enjoy going to Pensacon. This is the 5th year and was bigger than last.  I have attended every one. This is unlike almost any of its type because the one on one with the celebrities. I am a big SciFi nut.

I will keep with the character names for the most part for simplicity and recognition. This year I was able to talk with Q, Data, Tom Paris, the holo Doctor, Captain Lorca from Star Trek. From Galaxy Quest Quellek and Teb. From Star Wars the actor who played Darth Maul, the man who designed and build the Death Star and other models used in the movies, the puppeteer of BB8, Greedo, Rogue One, Biggs, and Hugh Spight who operated several puppets in Star Wars but was also the operator of several in the Dark Crystal.  Actors from the Hobbit, Pirates of the Caribbean, Guardians of the Galaxy, Barbara Hershey of Once upon a time,   Adrienne Barbeau of Swamp Thing, Prince Humperdinck, Teal'c....

I had the most fun talking with Eddie McClintock of Warehouse 13 and the cast of Land of the Lost. They were all fantastic.

The Q and A sessions were great and being my shy self asked questions to many of the guests.

​Along with all the stars there were hundreds of people who came in costume.  Most were fantastic.

We are back in Pensacola.  Helping Mom and Dad, visiting family, and getting ready for Pensacon.  Ok I am getting ready for Pensacon.

We have been still and resting for several days.  Some of the time we did a little  organizing but most of the time we were resting.  Today we move again.  We will be back in Pensacola Friday.

We hope that we pull some warm weather with us as we move back north.  The trip has been fun.  After making it to Perry, we set down for a few days.  We don't like to travel during storms.  The weather will slow us returning to Pensacola a few days.

We decided to visit the Kennedy Space Center today.  Because there was a successful launch the day before, we found that we could get tickets to visit the space center.

During the bus tour, we were able to see the launch site of the Falcon Heavy.

Being so close to the launch site of the largest rocket in the world was amazing.

​We had a great time visiting the center. It is always impressive.

Comparing rockets that were launched now to those of over 45 years ago was amazing.

Jonathan joined us after enjoying a day at Disney.  We all drove over early in the morning to watch the launch of the Falcon Heavy Rocket.  After getting a great parking spot, we watched the dolphins and pelicans feeding on a school of fish.  Later a couple of horseshoe crabs swam right in front of us.  We then settled in for a long wait.

After 6 hours and being disappointed with countdown delays in the launch, the rocket blasted off.

Going! Going! Going! GONE!

It took so long for the sound to make it to us at 12 miles away.  What a rumble!  It was fascinating seeing the most powerful currently available rocket on the planet fire off.

After it was almost completely out of sight the two outer rockets seperated and returned to the Kennedy Space center. It is hard to see from my pictures but they both stuck the landing. Perfect!

I know it looks a bit hard to believe but these are pictures of a car being "driven" by a Space suit to Mars.  He has one hand on the wheel and his arm on the door.  The dash has Don't Panic on the center screen as a tribute to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book. A copy of the book is supposed to be in the glove compartment with a towel  because as the book reports "No one should travel in space without their towel".  The radio is playing a song by David Bowie about Starman and life on Mars.

We had a great time and even with the long wait it was worth it.

Wooohooo! We are back on the coast. Ocean breezes off the Atlantic are keeping things really nice. 66 degrees and 67% humidity. All set up and waiting for the big rocket launch tomorrow afternoon.

Off we go to the space coast after being in one place for a whole month.  For us that is not normal unless visiting family.  Our time near Orlando has been great but now it is time to move.  Tuesday the most powerful rocket at this time is to be launched.  We hope to be able to see that launch.

​For those who are curious, as of yesterday, we have been to WDW 14 days this year. We took several days this month for the Tampa RV Supershow, for Rocket Launches, and  just to rest. Our Annual Pass was the weekdays only version.  You can't vacation every day for a month because it's just too exhausting.

Last January we visited the parks 18 days so combining this January's 14 days we were in the parks a 32 days in the last 12 months.  Of course we did not go stay the entire day most of the days that would have been even more exhausting.  Our norm was to decide if the visit was an early or late day.  On early days we would arrive as early as the opening/rope drop and then on the late days we would arrive after lunch and stay through closing fireworks.  We did get our entrance cost per day to less than $7 each and tried to keep our average food costs to about $30 per day in food and snacks.

The easiest way to save money on snacks is to buy the popcorn bucket for $10 and all refills are $1.50 for the rest of the year.  Okay it was not supposed to be for a year but they kept refilling it anyway, so thanks Disney. To save money on drinks we would each bring a water bottle and refill it at the park when thirsty.

This does not mean we did not enjoy food at the parks.  We ate at every country in Epcot  and the Festival Arts  food choices which were all incredible. Look back at previous posts for pictures of those. We had nice meals most of the days in park we were not shy about buying food just careful to not waste it.