Our RV Adventures

Today we never even left the rig.

We just did absolutely nothing all day.

It was glorious!

So to make up for the short post today, here’s a rerun of our trip to see a Space Shuttle launch in May of 2009.

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Now I’ve got the Complete Set…

Originally posted on May 11, 2009 by ourrvadventures

Well, it’s official.

I now have the complete set.

I got my first one on March 30, 1982 and it took me over 27 years to get the second one. But I finally did it.

I now have been at both a Space Shuttle launch and a Space Shuttle landing.

I worked on the Shuttle program at Johnson Space Center for ten years from 1978 thru 1987, but never was actually at a launch at the Cape.

In March 1982 I was part of the landing crew at the backup landing site, Northrop Strip, White Sands, New Mexico when the 3rd Shuttle mission, STS-3 landed there, the only time a Shuttle has landed somewhere other than Florida or California.

The Shuttle landed at White Sands because the landing strip at Edwards Air Force Base in California was covered with water due to recent heavy rains, and the landing strip at Cape Kennedy in Florida was not yet operational.

Coincidentally, before the landing, a movie called “Wrong is Right” was being filmed at White Sands. The White Sands area was standing in for sands of Saudi Arabia. And the movie crew was staying at the same Holiday Inn in Alamogordo, NM that we were.

It was a real kick to go down to the hotel bar every night after work and sit around drinking with Sean Connery, Katherine Ross, Robert Conrad, John Saxon, and Leslie Nielsen. And later I got to fix Katherine Ross’ hair dryer since she was staying in the hotel room next to mine. But that’s another story.

And now I have a Shuttle launch under my belt.

We’re presently parked in Homestead, FL, about 30 miles south of Miami. Friday we’ll be heading down for a few days in the Florida Keys. So we were glad that we were still close enough to try and see a launch.

We left our park in Homestead a little after 6am this morning and got to Titusville about 11:30am, a trip of about 250 miles. We also took some extra clothes with us in case the launch was delayed over the 3 day launch window and we had to stay at a motel. But we lucked out.

The launch went off as scheduled at 2:01:56pm and we had a great spot to view it from. And one that had a lot memories for Jan and I.

Jan and met in Titusville almost 42 (now almost 45) years ago where she lived, and I was working for the summer. We would go out to this fishing pier outside downtown Titusville and make out. We spent a lot of time there.

Unfortunately there is not a lot of the old pier left, but Jan and I are still going strong, and it made a great viewing area for the launch.

And we had a lot of company!

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Here are some pics of the launch. The first one is from NASA. The rest are mine.

And about 30 seconds after the launch, the shock wave and the roar from the engines washed over us. It was fantastic.

Well, that was it. A real thrill for Jan and I, I tell you.

And tomorrow, if the weather holds, we plan an airboat ride thru the Everglades.

Stay tuned…

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Thought for the Day:

If an expert says it can’t be done, get another expert." – David Ben-Gurion

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Our morning started when we left the rig a little after 10am. Well, we left the rig, but not the park.  The battery in the truck was absolutely, completely stone-cold dead. Not a peep when I turned the key.

Luckily the toad is parked right next to the battery compartment in the rig, so it didn’t take too long to drag out the jumper cables. But since the battery was completely dead, it took a few minutes to get enough charge into it so the engine would turn over and start.

The battery’s only a couple of years old and I’ve had no indication of any problems with it. The only thing I’ve done different is last night I left the power cord of my new Garmin GPS plugged in.

For a normal power cord this wouldn’t make any difference, but this is not a normal power cord. If also contains an FM Traffic Receiver. This receiver picks up traffic data that can be displayed along your route to show you traffic conditions ahead, i.e. congestion, wrecks, detours, etc. I assume that as long as the cord is plugged in, the receiver is active.

I’ll know more tomorrow when I try to start the truck again.

Finally about 15 minutes later we were on our way up to Brady’s Landing to meet all the kids.

It’s really good to have the whole family together for Christmas.

While we were eating Brandi showed us pictures of Landon with the new tricycle that Santa brought him this morning. He’s pretty happy with it.

After finishing our great meal we all headed our separate ways to spend Christmas Day. Brandi, Lowell, and Landon headed out to Katy to spend the day with her BFF Shawna, and her family. The rest of us just headed home.

Everyone waited around to see if I would need a jumpstart, but no problems. I still think it was the Traffic Receiver, but I’ll see tomorrow.

On the way home we stopped by Brandi’s to pick up some laundry and let out Kitty, their 105 pound Black Lab. She was very happy to see us.

We got these pictures of Jan’s sister Debbie’s family. From left to right, that’s Debbie’s daughter Christina, daughter Tana, Tana’s daughter Gwen, daughter-in-law, Laura, her daughter Ella, her husband, Jason, and their other daughter, Avery Jane.

Our Christmas afternoon consisted of a very nice nap and then a light dinner of potato skins, Jan’s Sausage Balls, and some of Chris’ Habanero Jelly spread over cream cheese, and used as a dip for crackers. For dessert we had a selection of Jan’s Christmas cookies, along with coffee made with the fresh beans and bean grinder that Chris and Linda gave us for Christmas.

All in all, a really great Christmas Day.

And Jan and I wish everyone out there a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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Thought for the Day:

"God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever."

— Thomas Jefferson

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