The heat is taking its toll on our new Japanese maples, I’m afraid.

Pardon the pun, but my re-entry after 11 days on the road is complete.

Had I been born 30 years earlier, this may have been my dream job. I have been a NASA geek since I was a child and I have wanted to visit the Kennedy Space Center for as long as I can remember.

So I did. Spent seven glorious hours being overwhelmed by the sheer determination, innovation and fearlessness of a generation of geniuses who believed man could go to the moon. From the Vehicle Assembly Building (above) to the Apollo/Saturn V Center to the space shuttle Atlantis display … I’m at a loss for words.

This was one of the most overwhelming days of my life.

The scale of the Saturn V is impossible to describe. The lower stages are 33 feet in diameter, it stood 363 feet tall – if you laid it on its side, it would not fit inside a football stadium. Think about that.

To see the shuttle Atlantis up close is amazing – the scorched tiles, the pitted windows. Every photograph you’ve ever seen of it in flight or landing does it no justice.

So as not to overwhelm this page, you can see a gallery of 70 images from my day at the Kennedy Space Center over on Flickr.

Two days outside of Miami are done, heading north … but there’s a stop I’ve been looking forward to scheduled for tomorrow.

Sun, skies and pressure washing … an interesting combo.

Seven straight days of teaching at the Poynter Institute have come to a close. The Barnes Pavilion is quiet … for now.

If you have anything to do with journalism, you need to get yourself to this place at some point.

But now, I’m headed further south to see an old friend and some new roads.

Storms move through St. Petersburg almost every evening and the light is spectacular.