Inside the Portage County line By GENE KEMMETER of The Gazette SPACE TRAVEL: Fifth-graders throughout Portage County got a taste of space travel without visiting Cape Canaveral, Fla. The Wisconsin Retired Educators' Association provided the students with the opportunity Monday, April 23, at the Holiday Inn & Convention Center during the annual WREA convention. Monday was billed "Day in Space in Portage County." Astronaut Mark Lee told the students about space travel including weightlessness, showing them a film of astronauts in space. Brushing your teeth is easy, he said, explaining that an astronaut squirts toothpaste into the mouth and then brushes. When sleeping, he said, astronauts use Velcro strips to keep their arms near their body. Without the Velcro, he said, an astronaut's arms float away from the body in the weightlessness of space. Students also saw displays similar to those at Kennedy Space Center, including cutouts so students could poke their heads through a hole and appear to be astronauts dressed to go into space. Outside, students toured the buses from Eau Claire and Wausau that have been converted into simulated space shuttles.