July 22-26, 2010 - "Cosmosphere"

We departed Oklahoma City in route to Spring Lake RV Park & Resort in Halstead, KS. One of Fester’s last business appointments (yes, he is STILL working) was to introduce his replacement to key accounts. This one was located in Hutchinson, KS, in close proximity to Halstead. While at Spring Lake, after a trip to Margaritaville, CC spotted an alligator on one of our evening walks, just below the bridge. (Pictured below) I can't verify that it was or it wasn't, but it WAS swimming faster than a turtle.

CC had never been to the Cosmophere in Hutchinson, as she has led a very sheltered and neglected life. So, it was only apropos, to right the wrongs of the past, that she be given the opportunity to experience a slice of the Smithsonian Museum in America’s Heartland. Some of the artifacts on display include a SR-71 spy plane, and Liberty Bell 7. This spacecraft was flown by astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom during America's first manned space program, the Mercury program. It was recovered from the bottom of the ocean in 1999 and restored by the Cosmosphere. The Gemini X spacecraft, as well as Apollo 13 command module Odyssey;"Houston, we've had a problem." This spacecraft served as the vehicle that housed the near fatal Apollo 13 crew through take off and reentry into Earth's atmosphere, later made into a movie by the same name with Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Ed Harris.

This really is an amazing place, so far off the beaten path. Traveling down the Interstates, one would have no idea such a place existed in the middle of nowhere. But it does, thanks to some pork barrel spending, no doubt. If you’d care to investigate more thoroughly, check out their web site http://www.cosmo.org/

We spent about 6 hours at the Cosmosphere touring the museum, sitting through an hour long presentation in the Planetarium on "Summer Constellations", and watched "Huble" in their IMAX theatre. (Great film, a must see for everyone, including the kids)