March 15, 2009

Today we headed to Titusville, FL to see the shuttle lift off. We left the Daytona Beach KOA around 1:15 pm and arrived there around 2:00 pm. The park we have been trying to get into was full but as we were backing out, someone jumped in their car and left - so we had a parking spot. Great!!! We dragged our chairs, cooler, bag of goodies, camera and binoculars over to a spot that was shaded by the palm trees thinking this would be a good spot because it was out of the sun. Oops! It was a nice spot with the exception of no sun - it was actually cold in the palms with the brisk breeze that was blowing. But the vantage spot was wonderful to view the launch so we stayed there. We had a little over 5 hours to wait but entertained ourselves with our books, watching people and talking to the people around us. We enjoyed cookies with our neighbors from Toronto and enjoyed talking about Alaska from the family behind us. Got some good tips about our upcoming trip. Finally - lift off at 7:43 pm. The sight of the smoke/water vapor is always thrilling to see and as it ascends the light gets brighter and brighter. With this being a sunset launch, the plume picked up the sun's rays and it was incredible. You could audibly hear the gasps and prayers of the onlookers - including ours - as the shuttle and crew lifted higher and higher. It was a great experience again and we can now chalk up 2 night launches, 1 day launch and 1 sunset launch. Please don't ask me which is the favorite - they are each incredible and special in their own way. This will be the last opportunity while we are in Florida to see one as the next one isn't scheduled until May. Hopefully the next time we come south for the winter they will still be doing them. More news as we get on the road.