Thank you

Thank you all for such a wonderful experience. It was something that few people get to do, and I felt truly blessed to have Mr Blair and Harrison Cook with me for the ride. I doubt I shall ever forget the adventures we had and the people we met. Who knew boot shopping could be so much fun!

Thank you everyone!

Godspeed,
Travis

Goodbye America

This trip has been amazing, it is as simple as that. We have seen and done so many things; the trade floor, talks, boot shops and the Houston Space Center.
I would like to say thank you to all involved; Mr Blair, sponsors, the school and the families.

Thank you for giving us all this amazing once in a life time experience.

Saturn V

Today we had one of those adventures you never forget, the Houston Space Centre. We saw so many cool things, but one thing that really stood out to me was the Saturn V rocket.
This display wasn't a mockup it was the real deal, they salvaged all the components from the Apollo missions, cleaned them up and put them on display. The rocket takes up a whole warehouse with information around the sides, the size of it was absolutely amazing. It was so cool to see the rocket that took man to the moon, I will never forget that.

Our Adventure to Houston

A three hour bus trip did not deter us as we set off from Austin bound for the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.

It was a very early morning but the boys managed to rouse themselves after a very late night.  We took a cab to the Greyhound bus station and hopped on our coach. We were just a few minutes late but late enough that we had to wait 45 minutes for the next connecting bus. This one took us directly to the Space Center though.

We only had a short time at the Center but we were blown away by what we saw. Space suits, moon rocks, tools, capsules, engines and a new attraction outside - a real 747 with a full-size space shuttle replica on its back. They are still building the gantry tower alongside. Soon you'll be able to walk right up to the aircraft and shuttle.

Inside is a mix of authentic and recreated space memorabilia from the past 52 years. One of my personal favourites was the Apollo mission capsule mounted open so you can see how the astronauts were sitting together when they splashed down. You can touch the open door and, get you hand in behind the perspex cover and touch a door handle that has been touched by astronauts.

We hopped the tram tour and went through the working NASA Space Center. First, Mission Control! The room is preserved the way it was in the 1960s. The current Mission Control is located immediately underneath. We sat in the VIP gallery where families of the astronauts, presidents and other very important people have sat.

Next was the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility where they house capsules, shuttle cockpits, a full-sized International Space Station mockup, rover vehicles, robotics and zero gravity training equipment. The gear is there for astronaut training but also for engineering and design teams to work together in the planning of new equipment and testing repairs to existing, orbitting equipment.

From there we headed back to Rocket Park where, alongside actual test rockets, engines and rocket gantries, there sits a used Saturn 5 rocket, restored and displayed. I had no idea these things were quite that big!

Like I said, we didn't have enough time at the Center but it is one visit we shall never forget. We arrived back at Greyhound at exactly the right time only to find out our bus home has been delayed at least 45 minutes. Life is just full of adventure...

Houston, we have no problem.

Today we went to Johnson Space Centre in Houston and had a look around and a tour of a few of the buildings. It was amazing to get an up close look at the Saturn 5 rocket that took Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong to the Moon - it's absolutely massive. We had a look in the room that housed the old Mission Control for most of the missions to space in the 60s and also the Space Vehicle Mock up Facility, where young up-and-coming astronauts train in realistic environments similar to space to prepare themselves for the final frontier.

The journey there included an interesting taxi ride where we talked about supercomputers and code with the driver and a bus trip that definitely didn't make me feel on edge the whole time. The way back as of this post has not yet even begun, because we had to wait for 2 hours extra for the bus.

Moral of the story: Don't go with Greyhound buses. Go with Bluebus!

Authentic Texas Bar-B-Que

Tonight we joined with the teams from QASMT and JMSS for dinner at an authentic Texas Bar-B-Que at the Iron Works. The restaurant has been built in a disused iron works, hence the name.

There were a number of different meats available including beef brisket, pork, chicken and ribs. The Bar-B-Que was enormous and had at least three levels of racks - enormous!

The servings were generous and delicious and the atmosphere laid back and welcoming. You can choose two sides with your plate. I had the pork loin with pinto beans and corn on the cob. Delicious.

Goodies of the trade floor

One major part of SC is the trade floor, and most stalls give out free stuff ranging from pens and USBs to laptops and shirts. So far all of us have accumulated a large number of shirts and pamphlets. We have also got heaps of pens, lanyards and bags. Everyday we come home with bags full of stuff and are quickly fillin' our suitcases ya'll

American Bread

Today for lunch we got some American sandwiches with melted cheddar and Jack cheese. They were American because the bread was sweet and the cheese was kind of cold. Harrison and I were full after two slices, so we gave our last slice to a homeless man. Now we don't have to feel so sad when we walk past them. See? We're making a difference in the world!

Also, string ties are NOT A THING MR BLAIR.

TACC

The Texas Advanced Computing Centre was filled with very nice looking supercomputers, and it was very interesting listening to how many cores they had and how powerful they really are. We were only able to listen for a short while though, as they are incredibly loud when you go into a room with them running!

Alan Alda!

Lunch

Lunch today was some very big hamburgers that we got at a restaurant called Moonshine. It was quite delicious. Sama (the waiter) was very witty and fun and provided a lovely insight into the friendly culture of Texas. Even though we had to wait for half an hour for a table, it was definitely worth it; the food was delectable!

Monday lunch

We all fancied the pimento cheeseburger. I had green pepper grits as a side y'all. I also only remembered to take a photo after I ate half the burger :-/

What we actually saw today

Today was a nice day for walking so that's what we did. Once in town we just wandered around the  streets. Mr Blair found his big gaudy mug. We then made our way to a particular shop, "Mellow Johnnys". That store is absolutely huge with lots of stuff. Rows and rows of bikes it was awesome.

After that we made our way to Capital Hill, the state government building. It's pretty big and we got some nice photos of it. Also that place has heaps of squirrels, so many just running around and jumping into trees and onto the monuments.

After Capital Hill we made our way to lunch at Royal Blue grocery store and then back to the bus and to the hotel.

What we did today

Looked at squirrels!

P.S. We also presented our poster and talked to student volunteers about the sensor project at school. No big deal.

What we saw today

Squirrels!

Now our feet hurt...

We hopped the courtesy bus from the hotel and made our way downtown to the convention center this morning. We have registered and received our satchel bag and badge. This means we're official!

The rest of the morning was spent walking around downtown Austin, searching out placed to eat during the week, looking at historic sites and monuments and squirrels! See our shots from around the Capitol building. 

Our trip to Abu Dhabi

In the last few minutes of the plane trip to Los Angeles, an announcement came over the speakers saying that we would soon arrive at our destination. The only problem was that apparently we had not traveled for hours to get to the USA, and instead we had flown to Abu Dhabi. After a moment of confusion and bewilderment of the passengers though, the speaker piped up again saying sorry and that they had made a mistake and we were in fact going to America. Thus began the "our luggage might be in Abu Dhabi" in-joke for the rest of the day.

Our Journey to Austin

Today has been a very long day!

Everyone was on time at Brisbane International "this morning" at 9:20AM. All ready to head off on our adventure. I (Mr Blair) had our poster printed out and collected it the morning of our flight. Unfortunately, Officeworks had no poster tubes so Harrison's dad had to scrounge one up for us at the airport. It was certainly solid and promised to protect the poster but it took us a while to be mindful of having the extra item to carry. The tube was left at the x-ray machines (thanks Travis for remembering it) and again at the final screening (thanks Australian Border Security Officer for retrieving it). The poster did make it to Austin with us, despite our best efforts.

Our long-haul flight was comfortable and we were well fed. The boys found much humour in drinking their apple juice from the chilled wine glass the airline provided with dinner (yes mums, I assure you it was apple juice). We all didn't get as much sleep as we liked but the in-flight entertainment was certainly interesting.

Customs entry at LAX proved to be quite fast and easy. Once through, we checked our bags for our connecting flight and just had to wait a couple of hours before take off. Unfortunately, we were sitting on the tarmac for half an hour as there were plumbing problems in the faucets of the rear lavatory. But, once repaired, we were off on our final leg to Texas. The boys found it hard to keep their eyes open at this stage. To be honest, so did I.

We arrived in Texas and headed down to the baggage carousel. There we met up with the team from QASMT and my brother from North Carolina. We all shared the shuttle bus to our hotel - Wyndham Garden, Austin. After we settled in we took a short walk to T-Mobile and secured US SIM cards for emergency and data use. Now we're fully connected.

We had dinner with the teams from QASMT and JMSS and their teachers at the restaurant in our hotel. The students have forged a firm friendship and all look forward to working together.

This evening we are working on our presentation for tomorrow night telling everyone about Faith's version of the sensor project which, of course, uniquely includes the CO2 sensor. Our presentation is in support of our poster.

We are very tired and plan on sleeping in a little tomorrow then off to Austin Downtown to check in to the conference and scout out places to eat near the Conference Centre. Then back to the hotel to practise our presentations before our poster dinner with the academics of Students@SC.

'night y'all