Like Jesus in Reverse

So if you recall the post I did back in June about when I watched the space shuttle launch from near my house (and I am sure you all have it memorized by now)- I mentioned it was a life long dream of mine to watch a night launch of the shuttle right up near the Kennedy Space Center. Well, I am proud to say, Dream Fulfilled! The Shuttle Endeavour blasted off last night at 7:55pm and me, my dad and Cindy made the 2 hour drive to see it. I hadn't really even remembered that it was happening until I heard it mentioned on the radio that morning. I half-heartedly mentioned it to my dad, who was totally game for the adventure, and by 5pm we were gassing up and hitting the road. I must say, for having no real plan or no real knowledge of where to go and what to do for a night launch, we ended up in the sweetest spot for maximum shuttle viewage. Talk about beginner's luck! We drove north into Titusville by way of last minute decision, thus shunning the Cocoa Beach southern direction. (Which was only fitting since Cocoa Beach was the spot where we were hosed 14 years ago when our only other night launch attempt was scrubbed with 1 minute to go....Bitter? Who's bitter? Certainly not me.) (What are all these parenthese for? I don't know!) Once in downtown Titusville, it was immediately apparent we were in the hot spot. There were people absolutely everywhere- lining the roads, in the street, in parking lots, cars were absolutely everywhere and parking everywhere! And the good old free market is alive and well because all the businesses had become paid parking lots. $10 was too steep for me, so we drove just far enough away from the Titusville nucleus and parked on the side of the highway. Then we decided to take a chance and follow anyone who looked like they knew what they were doing. Most were heading down the parking lot on the side of the Clarion hotel, so we did the same and came upon a large field, PACKED with people and it was right on the ocean. AND, just across the water was KSC and the lit up launch pad. Such an awesome sight! After about a 10 minute wait and minute-by-minute updates by the Space Crazies (you know, the guys who set up there that morning with TVs, laptops, telescopes, are wearing earphones and listening to the live NASA feed, oh yeah- they take this very seriously), we had liftoff! My amatuer video shows a little what it was like- but definitely does not do it hardly any justice. It was so bright! Literally like the sun coming up in the morning. (Hence the title of this post- the description my Dad uttered as we walked back to the car.) As we were watching it lift off, my dad kept saying "The sound wave will be here any minute" and finally after about 2 minutes, it arrived and it was loud! Deep and rumbling. It totally made the whole experience. That really made you feel close the action. After the launch, well, things weren't exactly the picture perfect ending I had hoped for. My car overheated, (thank you Dad for bringing "the curse" with you- but also for making sure we made it home:) and traffic was something out of a horror movie where all of New York City is trying to evacuate down a one lane road at 3mph. Seriously, the backup was about 40 miles long. Bumper to bumper, stop and go, it was horrendous. The launch was done at about 8:10, we got home at 2:30am. We finally found that the entire backup for 40 miles was pretty much because of an OPERATING toll booth at the 417 in Orlando. It was absolutely mindblowing that they would be operating the tolls while traffic was that bad, that late into the morning. Simply astounding. However, the long drive did make for a good time of watching The Princess Bride, trying to play guess the animal (which Cindy never did want to play), some awesome radio cranking of toe-tapping country music (seeing as how my mom was not around to roll her eyes and make fake throw up noises when it came on), and consuming mass quantities of Teddy Grahams. So enjoy the video and if you ever get the chance to see a night launch- (in the words of Nike) Just Do It! But book a hotel room, beacuse you ain't going no where when its over. :)