Scrambling our brains on a space-shuttle simulator

On Day 7 of my cross-country relocation roadtrip, my parents and I stopped by the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas — and made a split-second decision to ride this space-shuttle simulator in the museum’s lobby. The ride operator asks you to sing throughout the 30- to 45-second ride as a safety check that you’re still conscious and cognizant. She’s nice enough to sing along.

My mom noticed that as soon as the ride stopped flipping me around, I asked the staff a question about how the ride operates. Ever the journalist. Other riders take a few silent moments — or minutes — for the room to stop spinning.

And then there’s my dad, whose rendition of “99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall” was so entertaining that the staff let him ride twice as long. They bet he’d be so dizzy that he wouldn’t make it past 97 bottles…