The sky is no longer the limit. Now 35 is, for that’s the maximum number of would-be John Glenns–or Clint Eastwoods, if you prefer–who may sign on for Elderhostel’s Astronaut Training Program. And 55’s the minimum age. After an orientation session the first evening, the six-day camp begins in earnest, with three days of study sessions covering topics such as “Living in Space” and “The Principles of Rocketry.” Theory is put in to practice when participants build and launch their own rockets. The pay-off comes when trainees don space suits, enter the cockpit of an F-101 for a simulated flight, direct a lunar-rover mission and pull up to five Gs in a centrifuge. The $440 tuition covers the training program, lodging, meals and transportation between the hotel and the Kansas Cosmopshere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kan., where it all takes place. Spots book up early. But, if you’ll pardon a pun, space may still be available for the Oct. 22-27 and Nov. 5-10 classes. (800-397-0330, ext. 319; or at www.cosmo.org)
FAMILY FARE
How ya gonna keep ’em down on the farm after they’ve seen–Gene? Well, if anyone can do it, Gene can. He’s the $20 million bull from Wisconsin, world’s first cloned bovine, who now lives at the new Wells Fargo Family Farm exhibit at the Minnesota Zoo. He and cloned heifers Cookies and Cream, all rare in their own right, join critically endangered species such as Gloucestershire old spot pigs and American Cream draft horses that are part of a program that honors the role of farms in society. The zoo is in Apple Valley, Minn., south of St. Paul. Admission: $10 adults, $5 ages 3-12, $6.25 for 65 and older. (952-431-9500 or at www.mnzoo.org)…You have to go to Wisconsin to get steamed. By train, that is, Sept. 16 or 17. Both days, the locomotive Soo Line 1003 steams out from Waukesha at 10 a.m. and returns at 6:45 p.m., pulling ’50s-style passenger cars behind it. Rides stop at Milton, on Saturday for the Junction Function craft fair and on Sunday for lunch in the park and a historic home tour, before making the turn-around at Stoughton. Coach seating is $89; First Class in the Milwaukee Skytop Lounge is $249. (847-438-6133)
BIKING ALOHA
Itinerary, Day 6: “The big day of riding. We’ll be leaving the coast and heading high atop the volcanoes. While our big climb is only 4,000 feet of vertical, we roll through a number of hills providing us with bragging rights for almost 7,000 feet total cumulative gain for the day.” If you live through that punishment, you’ll spend the night in the village of Volcano, on Hawaii’s Big Island, having logged 85 miles of blacktop. On the seventh day, you can practically rest–it’s a mere 12-mile hike through Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Thus, Wyoming-based Cyclevents’ nine-day Big Island Hike & Bike combines the pedal power of its seven-day bicycle trip–Hamakua Coast, Waimea highlands, Kona Coast–with hiking in Waipio Valley and in the national park. The $1,350 for the nine-day Bike & Hike covers lodging in small hotels off the tourist track, most meals, baggage transport, airport shuttle and guides. Bicycle rentals are $130 if you don’t bring your own. Departs Hilo on Dec. 30, Feb. 3 and March 24. (888-733-9615; or at www.bike-hawaii.com)
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Tour prices generally are per person double.
