We Have Lift-off…Finally!

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We had planned to attend the Discovery space shuttle launch on Feb. 12, but as you know, it was canceled and rescheduled for a Wed., Mar. 11, night launch. Scott had never seen a space shuttle launch so was going to make the 1-1/2 hour drive with us to Titusville, and we had never seen a night launch so were excited about that. Lift-off was scheduled for 9:20PM, and we had decided to stop for dinner on the way so left here at 3:30. Unfortunately about 1/3 of the way there, we learned that the launch had been scrubbed yet again due to a hydrogen gas leak, so we turned around and came home. We were more fortunate than some folks we know who left here at 2:30 and found out the mission had been scrubbed after they were already in the area in the middle of dinner.

Launch was re-scheduled for a 7:43PM lift-off on Sun., Mar. 15, which would be only shortly after sunset. We left at 2PM figuring the crowds would be even larger with a Sun. launch, and we had heard the restaurant, the “world famous” Dixie Crossroads (http://www.dixiecrossroads.com/), is always packed on Sundays. We had eaten there when we saw the shuttle launch in Oct. 2007 and were anticipating another delicious meal! You might remember from our blog entry back then that Dixie Crossroads is the “Home of Rock Shrimp”, small shrimp that have an extremely hard shell. The hard shells can make them difficult to clean, and if the vein is not taken out, it's said that chewing the rock shrimp is like eating a mouthful of beach sand. Rodney Thompson, the owner of Dixie Crossroads, invented a machine back in 1969 that made it easier to crack open the shrimp and remove the large sand vein (all done in the kitchen). They are considered a delicacy and commonly referred to as the "shrimp that tastes like lobster." The restaurant itself is a virtual art gallery - large wildlife murals, photography, stained and etched glass, and sculptures that portray this region's unique habitats. Outside we noticed that they’ve added a plaster shuttle replica with an alligator painted on it! There was quite a crowd when we arrived but were told the wait was only 20 min., and in fact we waited only 10 min. The menu is quite extensive, but Russ and I ended up ordering the same thing, the Cape Canaveral Special. This "sampler" consists of 1 dozen shrimp, 2 dozen Rock Shrimp, and 1/4 lb. scallops plus two sides…more than enough food! In spite of Scott’s limited ability to eat very much, he ordered the 20oz. Porterhouse steak dinner planning to take most of it home for sandwiches during the week. By the way, when we left, the wait time was 1 hr. 15 min.

After dinner we drove across the bridge to where we had last watch the shuttle launch, which is approximately 11 miles across the river from the launchpad. There was quite a large crowd already assembled 3 hours before lift-off…fishing (some standing right in the river!), tailgating, chatting…just having a good time. It was a gorgeous day…warm, sun shining, cool brisk breeze blowing off the water, hardly a cloud in the sky. A group next to us had turned their radio to the local AM station for the live feed from NASA. The sun had begun its descent into the western sky, and all eyes were geared towards the east awaiting the countdown. Suddenly we could see the bright orange clouds coming from the base of the shuttle as it lifted off, blazing into the night sky!! For some reason the “live” feed from that radio station was a little over a minute behind the actual launch! Russ scrambled to get the lens cap off the camera and turn it on, and even with our little camera from such a distance, got some great shots. What an incredible sight!! As the shuttle rose into the night sky, the trail changed colors as it was captured by the setting sun. Some 10-15 seconds after lift-off, the roar of the engines began to reach us, and with each passing second, the sound became louder. Another 15 seconds later, we could feel the ground below our feet begin to tremble even at 11 miles away. As we continued to follow the trajectory, we could see the separation of the booster rockets (the picture on the left is a little blurred but when you double-click on it, you can see the 3 separate pieces). It’s so hard to put into words what an awesome experience this is.

STS-119 (Discovery) is delivering a fourth and final set of U.S. solar arrays that will put the International Space Station into full-power status. As we stated in the blog entry following our last shuttle launch experience, space exploration is an expensive endeavor, but one which we feel is worthwhile. Since the beginning of written history, man has always explored the unknown. History is littered with their travels and discoveries. Columbus and Magellan explored the seas. Ponce de Leon, the Pilgrims, and others followed to the New World. Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark, all headed West looking for new discoveries. Man has strived to be the first to the North Pole and to the top of Mount Everest. Jacques Cousteau ventured underwater to discover what we could not readily see. Space exploration seems like a natural extension of man's journey here on Earth. We know nothing about flying saucers or Klingons, but when you look up in the sky and see all the stars and all the opportunities for life to exist, it does present some exciting possibilities. After all, for those of us on Earth, to think that we are the only intelligent life form in the entire universe would seem to be extremely arrogant and not very intelligent. But what do we know?

Unfortunately the only down side was the ride home…that 1-1/2 hour drive to get there took us 4 hours to get home. We wasted no time loading the car back up and getting out of our spot onto the road, but then we proceeded to sit on the bridge for nearly a full hour. We’re guessing that this road was blocked off while all those that had amassed on the other side of the bridge were allowed to get out of the way. Seems there should have been someone alternating traffic. Once on the other side of the bridge, it was fairly smooth sailing until we once again came to a grinding halt on I-95. The lane merging onto SR-407 was inching along, and we could see the same ahead of us on the overpass which was SR-407. With all the toll booths we were going to encounter taking this route, we knew this was going to be an even longer process so Russ decided to take a chance and head further down I-95 and try to cut over somewhere else. It took us quite a bit out of the way but probably still saved us time and aggravation. All went well until we went the wrong way on the FL turnpike but finally found a spot to get off (albeit illegally since the exit did not accept cash only Sunpass) and made our way back around to the northbound lane. We finally arrived home safe and sound at midnight. Just all part of the adventure, right? :-)

The other thing that kept us busy this week was scoping out a new home for “next season” (for us that means Dec.-Apr.) We had heard about another resort (Elite Resorts at Citrus Valley) approximately 4 miles from here that had been totally refurbished and just re-opened this past Oct. We told Paul, Anne, and Scott about it, and over the course of a couple days, we went back several times to scope out locations (you get to pick your spot), which had the best shade at which time of day, etc. The cost at Elite is virtually the same as where we are this year except it will include electric, which is a huge cost savings. Right now at Lake Magic, electric is paid separately based on your meter reading each month. It seems they’re constantly raising the price per kwh, and without running our A/C and keeping our electric usage to a bare minimum, it’s still costing us nearly $75/month. If we ran the A/C, it would easily be over $100/month. We’ve heard the monthly site rates will be increasing, and since we’ve been discouraged with some of the changes and practices here at Lake Magic anyway, we signed up for 5 months starting the middle of Nov. Scott signed up for the same timeframe while Paul and Anne signed up for 4 months starting early Nov. We’ve got 3 spots all near each other so we’ll already have instant friends! The people we’ve met over there already have been extremely nice and hospitable, and even invited us to join in their activities right now!

Fri. I went with Scott to see the oncologist. Since Dr. Robinson had prepared us so well the week before with the worst case scenarios, what he said didn’t come as such a shock. Temporarily he has categorized the cancer clinically as a stage 3, recommending chemo and radiation to run concurrently for 4-6 weeks followed by surgery. One of the scans showed a spot on his spine, and they are not sure if it’s simply a cyst or possibly more cancer. Scott is having an MRI tonight to help make that determination. Because he will need a lot of care during his treatments, he is leaving Wed. to head to a campground in NC, closer to family. The campground has many patients who are going through cancer treatments at Duke or UNC, which are both only a few miles away. Scott’s brother is affiliated with Duke and is lining up doctors, and we got copies of all his records to take with him. Please continue to keep Scott in your thoughts and prayers, and you can follow his adventures on his blog at http://www.serenityadventure.com/ . We look forward to Scott catching back up with us out West this summer.