Our trip to Hutchinson Island

So today (which was really almost a week ago) I went on a field trip with "Nate's" class to Florida Power & Light's nuclear power plant over on Hutchinson Island which is about an hour and a half south of usI was not really looking forward to all that time on a bus with 30 10 y/o's but it was a really nice charter bus with enough seating that I had a row all to myself and we got to watch "The Rookie" on the way down. So, comfy seat, Dennis Quaid ~ not bad at all. I also brought along a baggy with my yo yo makers and some fabric squares ~ perfect time to do some hand sewing. . My son and his BFF sat in front of me and were actually very well behaved. Actually almost all the kids were very well behaved. The girls for the most part read/traded teen magazines and ooh'd and ahh'd over Zac Efron and The Jonas Brothers Band. Nate and his friend Jacob fiddled around with rubic's cubes. They are both wizzes and can put them right in a matter of minutes ~ I was very impressed. In any case we got to the power plant without incident and were given a few "rules" before we got off the bus. Around the plant they have what is called a "Jersey" wall. Not sure where the name came from but basically its two cement barrier walls filled with rock in between. The kids (and adults) were instructed to NOT TOUCH these rocks and that there were camera's everywhere and they would be severely punished by FP&L if they did. Also there is to be NO PICTURE TAKING outside of the plant. Got me to thinking ~ it's a shame that this is the era our kids are growing up in. The reason for the wall is to stop any type of terrorist from driving a car bomb into the nuclear plant and the camera's are there to record any "suspicious" behavior. And even 10 y/o's on a field trip can be suspects when taking photos of the layout of the power plant. So, needless to say I have no pics from outside. I did get a few inside though. This is the class getting their "introduction" to FP&L and Nuclear power.
We didn't get to go to their "Turtle College" because of construction at the plant but they are very active in the conservation of sea turtles. We got to see a video and learn about the 5 types of sea turtles and what they eat. Here are some of the kids "helping" with the demonstration
I had 5 boys in my group. I asked the teacher what I did to piss her off! She laughed and said "hey, one of those is yours!". Besides mine I had two of the most challenging but also two of the best behaved so I guess it worked out and they actually were all very good. We got to wonder around and look at all the exhibits. Here is Nate, his "friend" Trinity and a couple of the other boys from my group. We were also given a demonstration of how nuclear power works and then got to do a few power experiments of our own. All in all it was a good day and I think we all learned something. I know I did.
We ended up eating our lunch on the bus do to a nasty storm that came in but was kind enough to wait until we actually got on the bus before the heavens opened up. It lasted just long enough for us to get back to the school and then the skies cleared again. I think someone was watching out for us.
So, How was your day?