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| Now that's a welcoming! |
Once a year the
Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in Pasadena has an open house for the weekend where it is open to the public from 9am-5pm. Parking is free and so is admission, which is great because you'll spend your money on food (cash only) and the JPL gift shop! But first you'll do A LOT of walking up and down hills upon hills upon hills upon...you get the point. I was so happy that I wore my hiking shoes and felt sorry for the foreign girls in heals or sandals. One Russian girl standing in line with me was in 4' heals! Eeek! Any way, the signs were the first thing I noticed like the one above and bellow:
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| This is why I get along with scientists! |
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| He had to work on the weekend! |
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| Nice view |
This is one of many exhibits/ buildings that we were able to casually roam (after waiting in line to get in) and there were display tables. Here is where they make materials for space craft.
One thing that I do have to point out is the amount of time you'll spend waiting in line to get into an exhibit/building. They can only let so many people in at a time, but there are many volunteers and workers there to keep you entertained and dishing out answers to all of your questions. It was very warm today though and I wished that I were in shorts and mad that I forgot my hat, but I solved that problem:
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| Slumming it in my new favorite hat! |
There are many spots set up for you to take photos like this one called "Photo Stop":
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| We live in one of these!!! |
I went to town at the gift shop! Haha...
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| My JPL "haul" |
What surprised me the most was the crowds! I got there 2 hrs after they opened and after me they had to turn people away! The lines were very long, but most of them moved quickly. Yet during lunch it was so crowded I had to eat on the sidewalk! Never thought that I would be eating a hot dog and drinking a Coke on the streets of JPL. Surreal! Also, there were so many activities for kids that I wanted to do like take a picture on Mars or play with remote control rovers! Oh well I played with the big kids by listening to scientists talk about their specialized research projects and took photos at their exhibits. Some areas reminded me of a science fair where scientists stood behind their table with boards or models of their spacecraft laid out and they would go over their work. But it was very informative and nice to meet the people behind the research. This was my first time at JPL so I was trying to take it all in and I would like to go back on one of their tours during the year. Overall, I'm exhausted but it was so worth it. I will be dreaming of outer space tonight!
