Hello again Space Camp families,

Well, we are now safely at the Space Camp, and very relieved to get here too!
The stop-over in LA was just right, with most people getting a good nights
sleep. The beautiful beach and outdoor shopping mall were a gentle
introduction to America, but the number of people sleeping on the streets
and parks were a bit of a shock. On our bike ride we saw many tramps with
pretty major temporary shacks, obviously tolerated by the police. And in a
5 minute walk from the hostel I saw at least 6 homeless people on the
Saturday morning.

The flight to Chicago was good, with great views of the snow capped San
Berdino mountains just out of LA, then over the desert for an hour, across
the Rockies all in view before the great plains became cloud covered. I
was seated next to an engineer on his way to install a giant lettuce
washing and plastic packaging machine. He was an Obama supporter and
approved of the health care reform. I discovered that US hospitals will
treat anyone who turns up, one of the reasons health care insurance is so
high ... costs are just passed onto those who can pay.

A brisk walk between terminals in Chicago saw us with only half an hour to
wait for the flight to Huntsville. We were all impressed with the full
sized apatosaurus skeleton in terminal B. A pencil thin plane to take us
south, three seats across and duck down the aisle if you are tall.
Tremendous view of downtown Chicago this time, with the Sears Tower and
Lake below. Then over the sprawling city, kids getting an appreciation of
what these mega cities really look like. Lots of photos taken on that
part.

It was lovely to sit next to Jasmine on this flight and share her
enthusiasm for the trip. She claims to have enjoyed every minute of the 12
hour flight to LA, and loves turbulence! We watched the grid pattern of
farms pass underneath and then as darkness fell we descended into
Huntsville. I had to give Tim O a good shake so he could wake up and see
the lights of Huntsville ... quite a sight, as it sprawls over a large
area.

Huntsville airport has had a big upgrade and looks very flash ...
obviously doing well from the years of war. The adverts in the terminal
are unlike any others we have seen. "When you went into combat, we were
with you" Selling military support systems, weapons systems and more. The
main ads in other airports are for cars and mobile communication
gear/providers.

It was wonderful to see the Space Camp people there to meet us. The only
negative so far has been the progressive damage to Alex C's suitcase,
which is now firmly held together with duct tape. Off on the Space Camp
bus to the camp, with little Alex N completely hidden behind his massive
suitcase on the seat beside him. Still an amazing sight to see the big
Saturn V lit up at night as we drove into the camp. The kids were given a
sandwich and drink and bundled off to bed in temporary accommodation for
the night ... will be moving into the bunk room for the week today.

Today, Sunday morning they have been shown around all the facilities while
they wait for the programme proper to start at 2.30. They are a great
group and have been taking loads of pictures of all the rockets and space
museum artifacts. Many are really excited and impressed to see all this
stuff, even though the tiredness and time zone changes are starting to
kick in. They even went on the 3G spinner and gave the operator a big
round of applause at the end ... I sat that one out!

So they are ready to become astronauts ... been put into 3 different
groups, and have already met a girl from Peurto Rico and a boy from
Belgium who will be with them. Weather is sunny with showers, cold wind,
and there are one or two squirrels about.

Thanks for the greetings from NZ, I will pass them onto the kids. One
thing different about this trip is the number of mobile phones and other
electronic devices the children have .. even compared to 2 years ago, so I
assume many have contacted you.

All the best

David