Houston

In September of 2003 we took a Labor Day weekend trip to Houston. Houston is only a few hours from our home in the North Dallas area so it seemed like a good choice for a weekend getaway. Also, Joni and I are both really interested in space stuff so we thought it would be cool to visit Johnson Space Center.

Photography was very new to me at this time so the pictures I got were nothing special. Having said that, let me also say that I did manage to get one shot that is still a favorite of mine. There's a saying about a thousand monkeys typing at a thousand typewriters and eventually turning out the works of Shakespeare. I think that's what happened; I just kept shooting until something good finally came out of the camera.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics. This was kind of our first 'vacation' as a family so it holds some special memories for me.

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Approaching the Houston city limits.
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Johnson Space Center! This is a scale-model replica of the international space station suspended from the ceiling of the visitor's center. For our next vacation we're hoping to visit the real station in outer space!
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I'm not really sure what this is but it looks neat. The "Manned Spacecraft Center" was opened in 1963. The center was renamed in 1973 in honor of President Johnson who was a native of Texas.

Here's what the cockpit of a space-shuttle looks like.

Adam wants to be a spaceman when he grows up. And a writer. And an animal saver. And a psychologist(?!). And a fireman.
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Here's a shot of the Galveston coastline. This is in the area of Moody Gardens which is a tourist complex made up of three glass pyramids. One pyramid has the gardens and a rainforest inside, another has the aquarium, and the third is a science museum.

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As you may have guessed, these next few shots are from the aquarium. I know nothing about fish so I won't bore you with any facts here. :)

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More fish!
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The aquarium pyramid is about 12 stories tall and contains around 8,000 species of fish and other sea-life.
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Penguins are cute even when they're a little blurry.
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Joni and Adam enjoyed seeing all the animals.
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Ahhh, the rainforest. This was my favorite part of Moody Gardens and this is the picture I mentioned earlier that is one of my favorites.

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There are many species of tropical birds which roam freely inside the pyramid.
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This one was taken from behind a small waterfall.
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You wouldn't believe how hard it was to coax a group of parrots to pose for this picture!
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Adam spent a little too much time in the rainforest!
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And another parrot...
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Joni and Adam discussing what we should see next. I voted for the local pub!
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Adam enjoyed all the birds.

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So that was our trip to Houston. I would definitely like to go back there someday to get some better pictures now that I've had a little practice. Thanks for visiting with me!
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If you're not too bored yet, check out some of my other photo blogs. You can find a list of them in the Archive on the right edge of the page. Or go back to my Home Page to see what else might be available!