This is Richard's Page

THE NASA YEARS. Richard worked for many years at NASA supporting the various program offices (Shuttle, Station, as well as the newest program, Constellation) as part of the cost estimating office. When he retired, he headed the cost estimating activity at JSC as Manager, Cost Estimating and Assessment Office.

Outside of work, Richard's activities revolved mostly about his family: scouting, volunteer work at church, coaching youth sports, and the like. Travel and vacations have always been a big part of the family life. The family has taken several trips to Europe, 30-something cruises, and even more "see the USA" driving vacations. (Almost) annual trips to the beach in Perdido Key, FL also became a family tradition.

Sports have always been an interest of Richard's, especially baseball and college football. The family has taken several baseball Cactus League Spring Training vacations in Arizona. He enjoys going to Astros games. He and Alex were at the Astrodome in 1993 when Darryl Kile pitched his no-hitter and, thanks to David's resourcefulness in getting tickets, he and David attended the 2004 All Star game at Minute Maid park in Houston. Since 2002, when he bought Longhorn football season tickets, most of Richard's weekends in the fall have been taken up by driving to Austin (or wherever) to attend UT football games with David, and often attending Houston Cougar football games with Alex.

RETIREMENT. Richard retired from NASA at the end of 2004. His retirement got off to a great start when, on the next day after he retired, he flew to California to see the Longhorns play Michigan in the Rose Bowl. Then came a Carribean cruise in February 2005 with the internet cruise group, a week-long Midwest bus tour to see baseball games in July, and a 2-week Panama Canal cruise in October (with Froggy and Mary Margaret). Richard went back to work in April of 2006 (long story - and not very interesting), but was able to re-retire in the fall of 2006.

Retirement has been good. First of all, Richard and Owen are still on speaking terms. Secondly, he has been able to catch up on some fix-it projects around the house, to watch more classic movies, to become more proficient on the computer, and to pursue some new interests.

TRAVEL...TRAVEL...TRAVEL. Even with the brief back-to-work stint, he and Owen continued to travel. In 2006 they went on Caribbean cruise in February an Alaskan cruise in June, and an Elbe River cruise in Germany and the Czech Republic in August. Of course the big event of 2006 was Camille and Alex's wedding which took place in New Roads, LA.

In the spring of 2007 Richard and Owen took their first trans-Atlantic cruise, sailing from LaPorte, TX to Dover, England, with stops in Bermuda, the Azores, France, England, and Ireland. There is no doubt that, for Richard, the highlight of this cruise was the day-long tour of the D-Day beaches in Normandy. They enjoyed their first T-A cruise so much, they have taken two T-A cruises each year since. In 2010 Richard and Owen tacked on a 2-week Mediterranean cruise to the Spring T-A cruise. This itinerary included stops in Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Greece, Turkey,and Egypt. The 2011 Spring T-A cruise included a follow-on cruise to the Baltic Sea, including stops in The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Denmark, and St. Petersburg, Russia.

Owen and Richard have had the good fortune to be able to spend a lot of their travel time with their families. The Whitlock sibs (and sibs-in-law) have started a tradition of taking family vacations of some sort almost every year. These have included a week-long driving trip in California and Nevada, an Alaskan cruise, a cousin reunion in Northeast Texas, a Hawaiian cruise, and family weddings in Oregon and Arizona. Visits with Owen's family have also been included in the retirement plans with trips to Utah and Virginia for family weddings. Richard also attended the BCS National Championship game in the Rose bowl in January 2010. It was a good trip although the game's outcome could have been better.

Our latest family news is our new granddaughter, Julianne Margaret Whitlock, born October 18, 2012. Alex and Camille are the proud parents. Richard and Owen are the proud grandparents.

Julianne is so proud of herself for learning to crawl.

Is there any doubt kids copy their parents?.