2nd Time's a "Blast"

Last year, when we were at Sumter Oaks, I did some research online and found out that there was going to be a Shuttle launch at Cape Canaveral while we were there. We made arrangements to drive to Titusville to see the launch and everything was right on schedule until 5 minutes AFTER we left for our 2 hour ride.

The launch was postponed for mechanical reasons, so we didn't get to see it.

Fast-forward to November 14,2008.

The Endeavor was scheduled for it's last night-time launch and we decided to try again. This time everything worked as planned.

We got to Titusville around 3-PM for the scheduled launch at 7:55-PM, and could immediately tell that there were a LOT of people planning to watch this launch. We went to the North end of Titusville and found a place to park close to the Max Brewer Bridge where we could wait.

While looking for a spot, I noticed a small restaurant (basically hot dogs and hamburgers) right next to the bridge and figured we could get something to eat without having to worry about a parking spot later. Turned out to be a good move.

We had several hours to kill, and the wind was blowing 15-20 mph the whole time we waited. It was a little cool, but not totally intolerable.

This Pelican might disagree. It wasn't getting ready to fly, it needed to keep using its wings to prevent getting knocked off the railing.

To give you an idea of the number of people and traffic, I took this picture on the far side of the bridge before we started back.

We got back on "our side" of the bridge and decided to grab a bite to eat before it got insane. We were almost too late to beat the insanity.

We were joined at our table (not enough available) by 2 couples from England who happened to be in Florida at the right time for the launch. We had a real nice chat and headed to our viewing area.

We had found a place between two RV'ers where we could put our chairs and watch the launch. It was fantastic, cuz the folks in the Class C had backed into position, and had their TV tuned into the NASA channel. We got a blow by blow of the whole procedure. It was very cool.

Now, you have to understand that we were almost 12 miles from the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, and I only have a 10x zoom lens on my Sony camera, so the photos I took are not as good as those taken with a high powered lens.

I took a couple of keeper shots of the launch. Because of the distance, about all you can see of the shuttle is the exhaust. Not bad, but could be a lot better.

After we got back to the park, one of Nick Russell's friends (Nick owns the Gypsy Journal) sent him a group of pictures taken from the Causeway near KSC. It's the closest place to view the launch, but they charge mightily. ;-)

Here are a couple of his pictures using a really good lens.

Very nice huh.

Anyway, if you ever get a chance to see a live launch, it's AWESOME.

Oh yeah, Allie got to take her first trip with us.

ttfn

Paul