We Have Liftoff!

Never having seen a Shuttle launch before and not knowing what kind of crowds there might be, we felt it best to leave very early in the morning for the 11:38am liftoff. So about 6:30am we headed out in the car, picked up some ice for the cooler and pastries on the way, and backed our Saturn into a perfect location a little after 7. Many people were already there, but there was plenty of room to pull out our table, lawn chairs, and patio umbrella. About 20 yards from us were a couple employees of the KOA and their wives fishing along the Indian River as were several others, which made for interesting conversation. In hindsight we probably could have shown up a half hour before the launch, parked behind someone, and watched the launch from almost the same spot. But then again we would have missed out on a glorious sunrise and some passing dolphins and manatees. I guess we would describe the 4-1/2 hours leading up to the launch as similar to being at a college football game and tailgating. Of course, this would be without the liquor! We met and talked with a number of different people, not only from different parts of the country but different parts of the world. Some had seen launches before, but it seemed like most were just like us, seeing their first launch. Because of what was going on around us, the time flew by.

Our location was approximately 11 miles from the actual launchpad. Since 9/11 the opportunity to see launches from a closer location are limited. As a matter of fact, only one viewing site is closer (at 4 miles from the launchpad) but that area is reserved for family of the astronauts and NASA VIPs. At about 11am we picked up a live feed from the Control Center at Kennedy Space Center on our portable radio. We listened as each discipline reported a "go" for launch. And then the Mission Commander announced "We are go for launch." The last 10 minutes seem like a blur while following developments on the radio, and all around us counted down the final 10 seconds and stood in awe as Discovery roared into the sky. We have a few pictures but really wanted to enjoy the moment and not be so worried about capturing it on film.
STS-120 (Discovery) is to deliver the Harmony module, christened after a school contest, that will provide attachment points for European and Japanese laboratory modules. It has additional life support equipment that will allow the Space Station to expand out beyond a three-person crew. The STS-120 is the 23rd shuttle mission to the International Space Station with 12 more launches scheduled to complete the Station. At that point the Shuttles will be retired and replaced with new launch vehicles, Ares and Orion, already under development. NASA will return astronauts to the moon by 2020, using the Ares and Orion spacecraft and will set up a lunar outpost – possibly near a south pole site called Shackleton Crater – where they’ll conduct scientific research, as well as test technologies and techniques for possible exploration of Mars and other destinations.

We have seen the Shuttle land at Edwards Air Force Base in California. We have also had the opportunity to walk inside the Shuttle Endeavor when it was being updated at Plant 42 in Palmdale, CA. Along with that we have seen it takeoff while riding atop a redesigned 747 for its return to Kennedy Space Center. Each of these were pretty cool and will be lasting memories, but none of them compare to an actual launch. Even at 11 miles you can feel the ground begin to tremble. Some 10 - 15 seconds after launch, the roar of the engines began to reach us. With each passing second, the sound became louder requiring you to yell at the person standing next to you to be heard. It is definitely a sight we will never forget, and we encourage everyone we know to add it to your list of things to see.

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 nor 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 all of the universe would seem to be extremely arrogant and not very intelligent. But what do we know?

Kennedy Space Center

We actually split our visit to the Kennedy Space Center over two days, last Thursday, Oct. 18, and today, Oct. 22. The ticket we purchased was a two-day pass and also included admission to the Astronaut Hall of Fame. We had actually visited the Space Center about 5 years ago and had not planned on going back this trip but heard that there had been some changes so off we went. We found a coupon for $3.50 off, so each admission was only $36.50 + tax.

While there we saw two 45 minute 3-D IMAX presentations, one featuring the International Space Station and the other showing footage of the 12 men who have walked on the moon. Both were highly entertaining, and the 3-D feature really made the trips come alive. We also spent some time at the Launch Status Center getting an update on the Space Station and tomorrow's Shuttle launch. The scale model replica of the the Shuttle and the Space Station hanging from the ceiling was very interesting.

Part of the admission includes a bus tour with 3 stops along the way. Stop #1 was the LC-39 Observation Gantry. We guess the height to be about 60 feet, and the view offered a fabulous look at the LC-39A, which happens to be where STS-120 Discovery was waiting for launch on Tuesday. Although we could not see the orbiter, as it was located on the other side and covered, it was still a site to behold. Also located beside the Observation Gantry is the Crawler Transport System. This 114 foot long, 131 foot wide, 6 million pound machine transports the Shuttle from the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) to the launch pad. The Crawler/Transporter is powered by 16 traction motors powered by four 1,000 kw generators, driven by two 2,750hp diesel engines. Its maximum speed is 1 mile per hour when loaded. We finally found something that gets worse gas mileage than the RV as the transporter burns 150 gallons of diesel per mile.

The VAB is one of the world's largest buildings (by volume) in third place and is the largest one story building in the world. It is 525 feet tall, 716 feet long and 518 feet wide. The building was originally built to allow for the vertical assembly of the Saturn V rocket for the Apollo program. It is now used for housing external fuel tanks and flight hardware, and is the location of the orbiter mating (stacking) with the solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank to make up the Space Shuttle. On the outside of the building is painted an American flag. One indicator of the building's size is that each of the stars on the flag painted on the building is 6 feet across, the blue field is the size of a regulation basketball court, and the stripes are as wide as a standard road lane.

Stop #2 brought us to the Apollo/Saturn V Center. As mentioned earlier, we had been here a few years back, and there have been many improvements and additions to this area. The tour of this building started with a re-creation of the launch of Apollo 11, the first manned mission to land on the moon. The original consoles, overhead screens, and audio of the launch countdown were incorporated in this 15 minute theater presentation. The roaring of the engines as the Saturn V rocket lifts the astronauts into space creates not only a sense of excitement but of pride. During liftoff you could actually feel the windows behind you vibrating, and the glow of fire as Apollo lifts off the pad.

From there the theater dumps you out into a large expanse filled with all types of both life-size and scale model launch and orbiting vehicles as well as tributes to all the Apollo astronauts. Perhaps the highlight of this exhibit features an actual Saturn V moon rocket. The Saturn V was the largest operational launch vehicle ever produced. Standing over 363 feet high with its Apollo Spacecraft payload and 33 feet in diameter, it produced over 7.5 million pounds of thrust at lift-off. Let's just say....it is big!! From there we entered another theater that re-lives the first moon landing by lunar module Eagle. Again, actual footage takes you through the final 60 seconds until touchdown and includes Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon. It's hard to walk out of this building not being proud of the job done in realizing such an ambitious mission. The computer that flew in Apollo 11 has less memory than a cheap handheld calculator does today! Most of the calculations were done on slide rules and in the end when the Apollo splashed down in the ocean, it did so within 6 seconds of the mission plan. Truly amazing!

Stop #3 was at the International Space Station Center. Since we had already been here for over 6 hours that day, we passed on this stop but understand that glass walls and ceilings allow you to view preparation of future Space Station payloads.

On Monday we headed back to the Kennedy Space Center touring the Rocket Garden, a grouping of the actual rockets used in past space launches. Here visitors can view the Redstone, Atlas and Titan rockets that first put NASA Astronauts in space, and in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules one can see firsthand just how cramped the quarters were for America's Astronaut pioneers. The nearby Astronaut Memorial contains a mirror monument to the astronauts who have been lost in the name of space exploration as well other plaques in recognition. We also visited a mock-up of the Shuttle Explorer.

From there we went to the Astronaut Hall of Fame located just outside the Kennedy Space Center, which houses the world's largest collection of personal astronaut memorabilia, particularly focusing on those astronauts who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, as well as spacecraft. Among the Hall of Fame's displays are two spacecraft: Sigma 7, the Mercury spacecraft piloted by Wally Schirra which orbited the Earth six times in 1962, and CSM Kitty Hawk, the Command Module used in the Apollo 14 spaceflight to the moon. There are many hands-on exhibits as well, which help one experience some of what the astronauts go through during training and flight. Russ tried out the Shuttle landing simulator but kept crashing. Guess he needs a lot more training!

Wildlife Refuge

Friday we loaded the dogs in the car for a drive through the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge was established in 1963 when NASA created the Kennedy Space Center and sits on 140,000 acres of land, of which 130,000 are completely undeveloped, and provides a buffer for space operations while also protecting key habitat such as wetland, hardwood hammock, pine flatwoods, and scrub. The refuge manages habitat for over 500 different species of wildlife and 1,000 species of plants. We were told that the best place to see wildlife on the refuge is Black Point Wildlife Drive, a 7-mile, one-way, self-guided auto tour traversing several shallow salt and freshwater marshes, so this is where we started.

Being the naturalists that we are ;), we would like to tell you what we saw on our drive, so we will guess on some and let the pictures tell the rest of the story. We believe we saw a couple of bald eagles flying but sorry, no pictures of that. However we did see some Roseate Spoonbills, and the only reason we're really certain of that is because a gentleman who was there with his grandson taking pictures (with a more professional camera than ours!) said "Weren't those spoonbills amazing?" right after they flew across the marsh. We saw egrets, storks, shorebirds, and many others. Though the pamphlet said we might see alligators, the only one we saw was just as we were entering the drive, his eyes peeking up out of the water, but when I got out of the car to take a photo, he went back under.

At the Allan D. Cruikshank Memorial Trail we were able to let the dogs out for a stretch (on their leashes, of course). Ah, all the new smells! They always love when we stop and they're able to get out of the car. The trail is actually five miles long, but we simply went to the lookout right at the parking lot and enjoyed the view. No hiking for us.

A short distance from the exit of the Drive is the Manatee Observation Area. The endangered West Indian manatee frequents this spot at the Haulover Canal year round. The manatees can grow up to 12 feet long, weigh up to 2,000 lbs., eat 150-200 lbs. of seagrasses and other aquatic plants each day, have no natural enemies, and may live for over 60 years. They surface to breathe every 3 - 4 minutes, and pretty much all you see is their nose. We had seen a couple at Epcot, so had a better view of what they looked like, but it was so cool to see them here in the wild. They are gentle, slow-moving creatures with large gray-brown bodies, similar to a seal's, with a flat round tail.

On our way back to the campground attempting to cross the road was this turtle! Now, I don't know what kind he was, but hopefully he made it across without getting squashed!

Being retired definitely has its advantages, such as we don't have to spend the weekends doing tourist stuff....we can do it during the week! So this weekend we are sticking around the RV and doing things such as watching our Missouri Tigers beat Texas Tech 41-10 like they did today! Yay team!! It's supposed to rain anyway, so probably not a good time to go to the beach. We'll save that for next week.

Breakfast & Launch

Made it to just outside Orlando on Sunday afternoon and settled into the Merry D Campground for the night. Very quiet campground with very strong religious overtones. We passed on the Sunday night prayer session since we had to get up so early the next morning. We were at Camping World Monday morning to get our awning fixed and rather than just hang around there (and since we had the dogs and the cat with us), we took a drive to an urban park in downtown Orlando. Lake Eola Park was very nice, allowed dogs on a leash, and had many feathered types of wildlife including black swans, which we never knew existed. The total acreage of the park, established in 1888, is approximately 43 acres of which 23 acres is water.

Afterwards we headed back towards Camping World, stopping for gas at the Hess station in Disney World. It's hard to believe that the gas on Disney World property is cheaper than off! We wonder if we can count this "short visit" as one of our trips! :-) From there it was about an hour and a half to Titusville, and we settled into the local KOA around 2pm for a 2 week stay.

They were just finishing up some new super pad sites, and we were directed to an end site with large oaks providing shade in the afternoon and still allowing for satellite reception. On Tuesday we noticed that we had been overcharged by $5 per night for the stay, so we walked up to the office to inquire about the discrepancy. We were told that this was the price for the new sites (which we had not requested), and they did not seem very willing to adjust the rate. They suggested that if we wanted a cheaper rate that we would have to move to a different site. Now moving the RV after you've already set up is a real pain and something we were not interested in doing. It is in these types of situations that Russ is at his best and explained that we had no intention of moving unless it was to the RV park next door that we had visited earlier in the morning. Russ suggested that the appropriate thing to do was to credit us the $5 a night for 14 nights, and we would stay here. That seemed to get their attention, and we received the credit.

That evening Russ was standing outside when one of the neighbors stopped by to chat, and we found out that there was actually a rocket launch scheduled for today. Our new neighbor told us where he and his wife would be watching it from, and we went onto the NASA website to confirm the launch time. This launch was a Delta II Expandable Medium-Launch Vehicle carrying a Navstar GPS Satellite. McDonnell Douglas was awarded a contract for construction of 18 Delta IIs and the first Delta II launching a GPS satellite happened on Feb. 14, 1989. GPS provides real time accuracy and permits land, sea, and airborne users to determine three-dimensional position, velocity, and time 24 hours a day in all weather anywhere in the world. It is also, when equipped on a golf cart, excellent in determining your golf ball's distance to the pin. This particular satellite will orbit the earth at 12,300 miles using solar power and has a life expectancy of 11 years.

So off we were at 7am to catch the 8:23am launch! As it turned out, there was no need to get there quite so early as these types of launches are old news to the locals. We did enjoy talking to a local gentleman, who we now believe is Robert "Ozzie" Osband, who in the late 90s, when the area was splitting into a second area code, recommended to the Commission the area code of 321. How appropriate! He even has the cell phone number 321-LIFTOFF! A fun person to talk to and extremely informative about all launch and landing activities at the Kennedy Space Center. As an added bonus he and two others from his group had radios with a direct link to the morning's launch control room. We actually got to listen to the countdown over these radios knowing exactly when to expect liftoff. We also received a certificate from him titled "United Launch Alliance Delta II Launch Witness". To the best of our knowledge it was not a Hollywood production! You can visit his website at http://www.spacelaunchinfo.com/ .

The launch was spectacular to see, and we were amazed at the roar of the engines as it reached us at about +10 seconds after liftoff. We were able to follow its path for about 2 minutes until it disappeared into the rising sun. When we headed down this way, we didn't expect to see this launch and it is only added to our an anticipation in seeing the much bigger bird fly next week.

Ft. Myers, FL

It's amazing how fast this week has gone, and we basically haven't done much of anything!

Our campground is located on Pine Island on the outskirts of Ft. Myers. Now when we arrived, initially we couldn't find the KOA campground where we had our reservation. So we pulled into a parking lot and called. Well, it turns out that the campground was sold a month earlier and is no longer a KOA. It's now the Pine Island Resort, and we had actually passed them trying to find the KOA. They not only did not have our reservation but didn't have our deposit either! But they had space (there's only 3 other rigs here), and after showing them our reservation confirmation, we were able to work out getting a space at the confirmed price, and they were going to contact KOA to get the deposit. Guess this is all just part of the adventure, right?

After we got everything hooked up and somewhat settled with the office, we drove down the road to find a bite to eat and ended up at Hogfish Grill, a funky little place right on the canal waterfront. They have some very fun, creative artwork on the walls,and it must be Christmas year round cause they had several decorations up around the restaurant. Out at the bar in back, it's all fun fishing and seafood decor. We just had sandwiches, but the food was very good and planned to go back again before we leave.

Sunday was spent doing household chores...vacuuming, emptying tanks, laundry, etc. But Monday I got to spend time with one of my favorite people. Linda is the person I wrote about in an earlier post who I've known since 4th grade and who lived next door. We were on the swim team together, we went on trips to Grant's Farm, there were sleepovers, and so much more. Some people even mistook us for sisters! I visited her parents when I was in St. Louis, but she's lived in Tampa for about 15 years now. It's been about 5 years since we last saw each other, but she was off work Monday so drove down here, and we met at a place called The Shell Factory (http://www.shellfactory.com/llfactory.com/ ). She hadn't been there in several years but said it was a fun place to walk around. The restaurant wasn't open, and we didn't go to the nature park, but just enjoyed shopping, chatting, and catching up. In fact we'd be in the middle of an aisle looking at something, and one of us would be sharing an event in our life, and just stop right there and chat. The store is huge, and we thought we covered the entire place until we went back to have a fun picture taken and found a whole Christmas section that we hadn't seen! Now an explanation of the "fun" picture. In this store for some reason there's a stuffed musk oxen against a snowy backdrop. We had passed it earlier in the day and wondered about it. When we left the store and headed to the parking lot, we both said we wanted a picture of us with a tropical background and stopped someone to take our picture against the miniature golf palm trees. Then Linda said we should have taken our picture with the "buffalo" (that's what we thought it was initially), and I said that we could still go back in and do that. We thought it would be a hoot, so that's what we did! We're such silly girls! We ate lunch at Applebee's and just enjoyed spending more time together.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent relaxing mostly in the RV though I did go to the pool for a bit on Wed. There are no beaches here on Pine Island, and Russ hasn't really felt like venturing out. The nearest beach is about 45 minutes away, and it seems kind of silly to drive that far to stay for 15 or 20 minutes, then turn around and come back. So Russ has been busy working on some financial paperwork and getting everything balanced in the computer. As you can see, Jo has been relaxing, too, which she does most of the time! She likes to sit in the front window to get some sun and keep an eye on the world. I know we've had pictures of the dogs on the blog so thought maybe you'd like to see Jo, too.

My Aunt Joan and her husband, Leroy, live here in Ft. Myers, so we went over to their house Thursday for a visit. Aunt Joan and I had not seen each other in over 30 years, she'd never met Russ, and I had never met Leroy! She was my mom's youngest sister, and when we arrived, she gave me copies of some photos from when they were kids that she'd thought I'd like to have. There was even one of their whole family that I had never seen before. After a tour of the house, we sat outside getting acquainted and reconnecting, then it was off to lunch at Matanzas Inn Restaurant at Ft. Myers Beach right on the water. We had a great visit and hopefully it won't be another 30 years (that would mean Joan would have to live to at least 105!)

Friday and Saturday were spent with more relaxing, going to the pool again, watching football, and me watching some of the Sweet Adelines International Competition webcast being held in Calgary this year. I have friends competing in quartets and choruses so have been trying to catch their performances. The quartet of one of my friends actually took 9th place out of 48 worldwide competitors!! Congrats to Shimmer! And congrats to my friends in Harborlites who took 1st place in the chorus competition out of 34 worldwide competitors!!

Tomorrow we leave for Orlando to get our awning fixed Monday morning, and then it's on to Titusville, which is near Cape Canaveral. Originally the shuttle launch was scheduled for Oct. 20, but it was moved to the 23rd...the day we were scheduled to leave. But we called and extended our stay till the 29th so that should hopefully give them enough time to get that thing launched! So until then!

Fiesta Key, FL

Obviously we aren't the only ones who are bitten with the Disney bug. Whatever power company there is in Florida must be too! We passed this transformer on the way down to Lake Okeechobee. We didn't see the Lake since the campground wasn't close to it, but the campground was nice though nothing special. It's located in Clewiston, FL, which is the corporate home of U.S. Sugar, so has earned the name of "America's Sweetest Town". Unfortunately, Russ learned from some construction workers staying at the site that they were there to automate the sugar factory, which will take the staff from a couple hundred down to a couple dozen.

The next morning we headed for Fiesta Key, located about 70 miles north of Key West, and just on the other side of this 2 mile bridge between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. We arrived about mid-day and the registrar said the campground was really slow so he was going to move us to a site where we'd have a great view of the sunsets. When we arrived at the site, the view was already incredible and we couldn't wait to see the sun set over the Gulf. We went out about 7pm and were not disappointed!

Once we got settled we decided that we would just take it easy for a couple days as it seems that we have been constantly on the go since we left over three months ago. We spent a lot of the day just sitting in our home and looking out the front window while enjoying the view of water as far as the eye can see. It is such an incredible blue-green color, in many spots more green than blue.

There's a pet walk area and at the end of it is an spot where the dogs can swim right in the Gulf. We took them down there, and Abby especially seemed to enjoy it. Later we headed to the pool for a relaxing swim and even spent some time in the Gulf. We spent Thursday evening knocking down two bottles of wine while sitting under the thatched hut listening to the waves lap at the sea wall, enjoying another sunset, and marveling at the number of stars we were able to see in the sky. Neither of us can remember ever seeing so many lights in the sky. It was so clear that we could even see the Milky Way as it spread all the way across the sky. Maybe we'll pull our telescope out if the skies remain clear.

On Friday we headed further down the Keys just enjoying the view. We decided not to go all the way to Key West as we had spent a day there while on a cruise a couple years ago and have no real interest in spending time in that tourist trap. On the way back to our campground, we stopped and had lunch at a little seafood restaurant dining on conch soup and fried dolphin fish sandwiches. Now we have read and been told that this is not the mammal dolphin but rather a gamefish that in the Pacific is known as Mahi-Mahi. Why they don't call it that here, we have no idea, but after we finished eating Russ kept singing the theme song to Flipper!

We decided to head to the pub here at the campground for happy hour and have a couple beers. With only 3 other rigs in the campground, it was not surprising to find it empty except for a couple campground workers, but the beer was cold and we had a couple appetizers in lieu of dinner finishing just in time for another spectacular sunset. Each one seems to be different. We didn't pull out the telescope because there were too many clouds. Perhaps another time.

On the way back to our site, we stopped at another camper's site who we had befriended. Andy and his girlfriend, Theresa, were doing some night fishing, and suddenly she snagged a small shark! (Though it was still about 3 foot!) Andy released it, but what a site to see!

We leave tomorrow morning and head for Ft. Myers, but both of us have said we wish we could stay longer. It's so peaceful, beautiful, and relaxing here. Even Mikey doesn't want to leave! He had walked over to the hut with Russ earlier and was just lying down looking out at the Gulf, and when Russ said "Come on, let's go", he said Mikey just looked at him as if to say, "Do I have to?" Mikey finally got up but reluctantly. :-)