Baneza Montalvo Reflection

   ~Baneza Montalvo~     

   MY TRIP TO FLORIDA!


    ~FIRST DAY & FIFTH DAY~

The first day in Florida we went to
Sea World. We saw a lot of animals. We saw stingrays, dolphins, killer whales, sharks, manta rays, and manatees. We also saw a killer whale show and a dolphin show. I think both of them were very cool. I had never seen that before. The fun part of the whole show was when the killer whales would get us wet. We got on a ride called the Manta, which allows you to feel how a manta ray moves by having you ride parallel to the ground, twisting, looping, and moving quickly. I also touched and fed a dolphin and touched a stingray. I learned that dolphins don’t like it when you rub them on top of their heads. They liked it when you do it under their chins. This was a nice day to start a fun and educational adventure. It was a great way to spend Halloween.

~SECOND DAY & FOURTH DAY~

The second day in Florida we went to Kennedy Space Center with Stephanie Donald, Cathy Collins, and Bekah J Collins. The first thing we did in Kennedy Space Center was take a picture with all of us in it. After that we got on a ride that simulates what it feels like to be in a shuttle launch. That ride was fun except it shook my cheeks too much. We also got to meet astronaut James Riley and take a picture with him. He talked about his experience in space. We also met Mitch Currah who helped the astronauts from Apollo 13 come back to Earth alive. Then we went to the Rocket Garden, where we saw and got in the Mercury Capsule. When I got in it, it was very small. I couldn’t stretch my legs that good. I saw the Titan II and Saturn V. I also got to see the inside a full size replica of the shuttle. I got to see the Astronaut Memorials. When I entered the the shuttle I realized it was big enough for people to stand straight inside of it. The second time we went to Kennedy Space center we saw 2 Imax movies. One of them was about the Hubble telescope and the other one was about the International Space Station. We also went to the Astronaut Hall of Fame. In the Hall of Fame, I got to see a statue of Alan Shepherd. He was the first American in space. I saw his space suit, gloves, and helmet in which he trained in. I saw all the astronauts in the hall of fame and their mission patches. Two of them that I saw were Buzz Aldrin, the man who is famous for walking in the moon and Roger Chaffee who was in the Apollo I mission. I saw and learned a lot of interesting things. We also had a BBQ and we swam at Stephanie Donald and Cathy Collins house. By the way the BBQ was great!

            ~THIRD DAY~

The third day in Florida we went to Epcot Center. My favorite thing we did in Epcot center was when we got on the Future Ride, also known as the BIG GOLF BALL. I like that ride because it showed you how everything started from the beginning of time till present. The people they used in this ride looked so real. At first I thought they were human beings, but as we got closer they weren’t. We also got a tour to see a green house. That was pretty interesting. We saw a tomato tree, which holds the worlds record for the largest number of tomatoes grown from a single plant. We saw a ghost pepper “which is the hottest pepper in the world”. The interesting part of the green house was that they didn’t grow the plants with soil. They used liquid nutrients. Some of the food grown in the green house is used in the restaurants in Epcot center. We also got on a ride that simulates how it feels to land on mars. Esmeralda was the commander, Mayra was the pilot, and I was the navigator. That was an adventure. Hence, lets just say we landed safely on the Martian planet. We also saw many cultures.  One of the performances we saw in Japan town was a lady making candy. That was very cool to see. She made all kinds of animals. Some of the ones she did were a flamingo, a monkey with a banana, a tiger, a dragon, and a pink cat. “We asked her to make the monkey and the banana”. She did the animal candies super fast. The candy was 220 degrees hot. We got on a ride called test track which it showed you about how they test the transmission by going up a steep hill, how it feels when the car gets out of control, and how it handles large bumps in the road. Also this ride went very fast in the test track. We got on Soarin’ which it took us on an adventure to California.


        ~THE FOURTH DAY~

The fourth day in Florida I tried something new! I tried Grilled Maui Maui and clam strips. Not the best food I tried before, in my opinion. Miss Bushman tried blue crab, Mr. Hanks had oyster strips, Esmeralda tried Grilled Maui Maui and clam strips like me, and Mayra tried the Dark Maui Maui and steamed shrimp. After that we went to the beach in the afternoon. It was a bit chilly but it didn’t matter we wanted to get in. Mayra and I tried body surfing, which was fun “we liked it when there was big waves” and Mayra also tried boogie boarding. The water was warm but it was windy, so when we got out we were freezing. Later that afternoon we watched Apollo 13. I learned that when Apollo 13 was on their way to the moon both of their oxygen tanks blew up. So they had to go into the moon lander, there was a problem with that. The moon lander was built for only 2 persons, but there were 3 of them in Apollo 13. Either way they tried their best so all 3 could fit, but there was a problem with that too. Now they had too much carbon dioxide, which could lead them to death. So now Mitch Currah the man we meet in Florida and Ken Mattingly “the astronaut that was suppose to be on board with Apollo 13 that was not allowed to fly because he was going to get the measles, which he didn’t” came to the rescue. They started building a filter out of a square that would fit into a circle. Using materials only found in the moon lander. After that they had to turn off all the power, to make sure they had enough for re-entry. They made sure that everything worked in the simulator run by Mitch. Ken discovered a procedure of the order to turn things back on to minimize power usage. He also discovered a way to take battery power from the lander back to the Apollo capsule. The whole world held their breath as they came back. If they were even a little bit off they would burn up and never come back to Earth. Apollo 13 made victory when they arrived home safely. This movie made me appreciate Mitch a lot more. He was up at least 21 hours a day until they were home safe. He was fresh out of college and only 23 or 25 years of age at the time. That average age of NASA engineers at that time was 25 because they thought everybody else was crazy and went somewhere else to work.


            ~FIFTH DAY~

The fifth day in Florida we went to Merritt Island animal refuge with Stephanie Donald, Cathy Collins, and Bekah J Collins. We saw a lot of different plants, one turtle, and a couple of birds. The animals were not out as much because it was cold. When we were done with that Miss Bushman was by the water and out of nowhere her battery flew out of her camera recorder and fell into the water. She never found it again. After that we went to the beach, there we saw the shuttle on the launch pad through a telescope. When I saw it I couldn’t believe I was seeing it. It was very sad and disappointing not getting to see the shuttle launch. After that, we walked in the beach and I found a lot of different seashells. When we left from there we went to eat to a BBQ place called Beef “O” Hardys.  When we were done eating, we went to the Planetarium. There we tried this electrical static ball, but Miss. Bushman’s hair didn’t go up. There was also some whisper disks. When you would talk through the metal hole the other person across the room could hear you. We saw a show of the constellations and then we saw a laser mania show. That got me really dizzy but it was really cool to see.


              ~SIXTH DAY~

The sixth day in Florida we went to Trax. There we played miniature golf, go carts “my favorite thing from there”, and laser tagging. When we were on the go-carts Cathy bumped with Esmeralda, also nobody would let Mayra pass, and Mr. Hanks was speeding. When I was driving, there was a turn on the track and I forgot to slow down which almost made me get out of control. When we were finished with all the games Mr. Hanks found an airboat ride. So on our way there, there was a little stand that was selling gator jerkey. Everybody tried it except Mayra and I. After that we went on the airboat ride, which was fun and very cold at the same time. We also meet Captain Gil who has worked there for 20 years. We got to see an alligator in its den because it was too cold for them. That day we only got to see one because the weather wasn’t so good. Later that day we went to a restaurant to eat. Everybody tried something new except Bekah and I. Everyone tried gator and Miss. Bushman and Mr. Hanks tried “FROG LEGS”. Esmeralda and Mayra tried deep fried gator and stuffed crabs. This was our last day in Florida. The sad part of this was we didn’t see the shuttle launch and we had to say good-bye to Stephanie, Cathy, and Bekah. Hopefully we could go back soon and see the shuttle launch we were hoping to see. The most important thing I learned was if you try hard you can accomplish anything you want to do. My advice to anyone is to try hard and never give up.