Model X

My brother-in-law rented a Model X to drive around this weekend...

Complete with gull-wing doors, and room for 7 passengers...

We went out for dinner for his birthday, so he picked us up and then let me drive it to the restaurant! It was so cool! Actually, for part of the drive, it drove me -- I enabled that self driving feature (or autopilot) and the car actually drove itself. Until I freaked out, and took control back again! It was an experience for sure, and makes me want one even more than I did before.

Bucket List Items

I got to cross something else off my bucket list!
I got the opportunity to drive a Tesla!

Thanks to my brother-in-law, who won a rental for 2 days. He chose the Tesla, and let me take it for a spin.

All I can say is Wow! It was amazing. There is nothing like driving a $100,000 car, and there is nothing like the Tesla. Problem is -- I now want one more than I did before!

Polar Bear Swim

Well, I did it!
The Polar Bear Swim!
My brother, my sister-in-law, and I jumped in our pool at around Noon today. The outside temperature was 1 degree C. The pool temperature was 2 degrees C. It was freakin' cold! But, we got in and then got out, and then sat around and drank hot chocolate talking and visiting and trying to warm up.
I can now cross that off my bucket list.

Tesla

I got to sit in a Tesla today!

Not everyone's cup of tea, but to me, the Tesla is my dream car. This is the first time I've been up so close to one, and actually got to sit inside one! I was at the mall today at lunchtime, and they had one on display. I entered the contest to win a Tesla for a day, and then took pics and sat inside. And smiled and dreamed about owning one, because (unless I win a lottery) I'll never be able to afford the $80-$120k price tag.

Books

I signed up for a Goodreads acct
I use an app called "Book Buddy" on my iPad and iPhone
I have 2 Kobo e-readers, one regular one (very old), and one waterproof one
I have lots of books to read, and lots of e-books waiting
BUT -- I only read about 10 to 15 books a year. I have to change that.
Goodreads has a challenge section. I set my challenge to 20 this year. I'm 35% of the way there, and I only have 5 months to go.
You can track my progress on the "Books" Tab of my blog.

The other BEST part

The other best part of my trip to the Houston Space Centre was the fact that I got to touch an actual moon rock...

Another thing to scratch off the bucket list!

Houston, we had fun!

I visited the Houston Space Centre (otherwise known as the Johnson Space Center) today. One of my Houston co-workers took us there with his family. And, despite it being kind of rainy and very cold today, we had a great time!
First, we saw a replica of the space shuttle (a full size replica!)

We saw real space suits, that were really in space!

A replica of a Star Trek shuttlecraft

The very large building that houses the Saturn V rockets

And inside... along side of the rocket, there was a display that outlined each of the Apollo missions, the crews, and highlights of each trip.

But, the BEST part of the trip was the actual Apollo Mission Central Command Centre. The real center was in the same building, just below us. This is the 1960's Command center that was decommissioned sometime in the 70's.

 It was a very cool day! I can now mark "Visit the Houston Space Center" off of my bucket list.