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7/25/04 It�s Michelle and we have had an icredible few days. We spent Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center which is where NASA has the space programs and where they launch the space ships. We were there for most of the day, so much more to do than we thought! We saw two amazing IMAX movies about space and different programs they have done throughout the years. It was a history lesson for sure. They we got a bus tour of some of the compound�saw where they build the shuttles and where they take off from. We couldn�t get too close but it was still very neat. Then we saw a few films on the Apollo missions which is when they got people to the moon and they have one of the Apollo shuttles on display, it was HUGE! Friday was a day trip to Key West. It was awesome. We started off by climbing the lighthouse that is down there. It was a few years coming for us because when we first went to Key West almost three years ago we missed out on climbing the lighthouse by litterally 10 minutes�it would have been our first to climb. We were SO bummed so we made sure it was the first thing we did once we got into town. Then we of course took a trolley tour of town, which was imformative and fun. Then I went parasailing� it was amazing. I was about 350 feet over the ocean and I could see all of Key West. It was very calm and peaceful up there with a cool floating sensation. Keith got some cool shots from the boat. I got dipped into the ocean before they reeled me in. It was neat to see the world with a different perspective�a bird�s eye view. Saturday we drove to Tampa, and are staying at our friends� we know from NH, who now live just outside of Tampa now. Today was a nice lazy day that has been a long time coming. See ya.

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7/29/04 (Michelle) We started our day off on Wednesday in Pensacola Fl watching the Navy Blue Angels do a practice session. There are six jets in all, they did stunts and tricks right above our heads. It was amazing how fast and loud those planes are. We then blew thru Alabamand had lunch in Biloxi, Mississippi. Drove past the lighthouse that is right in the middle of the main road along the beach, pretty accessibly I�d say! We then went to New Orleans where we started our touring down by the Mississippi River on a riverboat called the Natchez. It was a cool boat with a huge paddlewheel that moved it along. We passed some wharfs, oil refineries and sugar mills� not too pretty, but interesting. We walked around the French market, tried an aligator on a stick (aligator sausage) and snacked on beignets (french doughnuts) at Caf� Du Monde. We ate dinner at Bubba Gump�s resteraunt which is a chain that is based on the movie Forest Gump. I mention it because it was INCREDIBLE especially the shrimp hush puppies and the fried shrimp. New Orleans has been a huge culinary experience. Then we got drinks and walked down Bourbon Street, we are not party animals so it was early and not crazy like you would expect. Today was another busy day touring the area. We started off with a bus tour that took us around French Quarter, Garden District, out to Lake Ponchatrain and to an above ground cemetary. We got a history lesson�. New Orleans is pretty much landfill and 7-10 feet below sea level so they can not bury people. They have above ground tombs that family share for years and years. They call the cemetaries the �cities of the dead�. Kind of creepy but so interesting at the same time. We then took a tour out to Oak Alley Plantation which is a sugar cane plantation. It is so beautiful and was actually in the movies Interview with a Vampire and Primary Colors. We tried a Praline and Mint Julep, a popular plantation drink made with bourbon and mint. We then ate in the French Quarter and had a true Cajun Experience�gumbo, red beans and rice, jumbalaya for me and a fish po�boy for Keith. WOW. Keith said they should advise tourists on their travel guides to take something like Tagamet before you get here! This is such an old town with so much history and different styles of architecture. We are off tomorrow for our treck across Texas. I�m sure we�ll be back with more stories and pictures very soon. We miss you and thank you for sharing our journey with us.