Day 3 NASA 28 Dec

Lance slept like a baby. I slept in short bursts, I woke at 3am and just couldn't get back to sleep. I thought maybe my body clock was a bit out of sync, but realized what the problem was early this morning.  Of course, it all makes sense now, sleeping with a four story mall on the other side of the wall was just too much for my system. 

We were up at 7am, enjoyed a hearty breakfast and waited in the hotel lobby for our tour of the city and then NASA. After a while I checked with at the hotel counter. Oops we were waiting at the wrong place. They have a sister hotel at the other end of the mall. Off we ran, luckily the shops weren't open so we had a clean run. City Tours was waiting for us and off we went to meet the double decker bus. 

I haven't yet mentioned that over the last couple of weeks we have been checking the temperature in Houston. It has ranged from highs of 7 to 24 so we were at twos and threes about whether to pack our puffer jackets. Last week it was 17 to 24, so we both opted to leave the jackets behind. BAD MOVE, it was bloody freezing. We had layers of thin clothing on and on the open top double decker bus they gave out blankets!  The 90 minute tour of the city was informative, highlights were the prison that has false windows on the outside to make it look more hospitable and the witty tour guide. There is not much to see in Houston, but we did go to NASA. 

We took the tram tour that took us to see some history. After a freezing open sided ride we arrived at Mission Control. This is the real mission control from the sixties, as they updated it they stored the original equipment, viewing seats and even the carpet. I thought,when we sat down to listen to the guy talk, that the viewing area was a bit shabby! But it was original 60s stuff. You could also see a live stream from a rocket orbiting earth. It takes one and a half hours to orbit earth and is traveling 17,500 miles per hour. That means that it could get from Houston to Paris in 17 minutes!   

The actual touristy building was not that large and after a 45 minute queue for the tram ride we opted out of the other queueing attractions and just wandered, people watching and looking at space suits and stuff. 

NASA: we have done it, but wouldn't rush back. 

Arriving back at 5pm we still had 4 hours until the mall shut. Lance suggested that we split up, good move I thought. So I managed a couple of pairs of boots and some other stuff in 2 and a half hours. Not up to my usual standard but the queues to pay were horrendous. 

Houston is apparently an eating sort of town and we had panned to find somewhere nice for a meal. But the freezing weather made us stick close to home and we ended up just next to the hotel at Del Fresco's Double Eagle Steak House. 

Lovely restaurant. And even better food. As it is Lance's birthday in NZ we thought we would enjoy a nice meal. I was happy to find some Kim Crawford on the wine list and of course Heineken for Lance. The meal was great, oysters fried and fresh, steak which Lance ordered rare and myself medium. For the first time ever the waiter asked if Lance wanted his rare steak cool or warm. Lance asked for warm "not quite walking but with a little wiggle ". 

Tucking into our meal Lance said "all I need now is for Hugh Hefner to arrive with his bunnies".  Well not ten minutes later out of the corner of my eye I spotted a pair of rather pale jellies coming up the stairs. A couple of young women with implants not only on their chests but also on their butts arrived. Wish almost complete. Sleep now and New Orleans tomorrow for Lance's USA birthday.