To infinity and beyond!

As Buzz lightyear from Toy Story would say, “To infinity and beyond!”

Teresa and I have had quite the adventure the past couple of days. First of all, we have had on our calendars for two weeks now, “Sunday - 4:39AM Launch.” On Saturday, I got off work at 10:30PM, was home by 11PM and we were on the road by 11:30PM. It is only an hour drive, but most people we talked to recommended being there four hours prior to the launch. I let Teresa do the research of who, what, when, and where.

We arrived in Titusville by 12:30AM, but little did we know how unprepared we were. It was insane the number of people camped out with tents and everything. We drove around the area to check out what we got ourselves into and we found a parking spot about five blocks from the park.

After finding a spot inside the park, Teresa and I watched “Beauty and the Beast” on her ipod to pass the time. It was rather cold and we realized many things we should have brought – chairs, thicker blankets, and a flashlight. After sitting for four hours, it was down to twenty minutes until launch and they scrubbed it. Weather conditions would not allow the launch to take place. It was unbelievable to us, but as we made our way home, sleep deprived and all, we decided we’d be back the next night to see the launch.

Our second attempt and Endeavor’s second attempt was successful. I was off work at 7:30PM Sunday evening so I was able to cook up some dinner and do some online homework before we left. We left about the same time, 11:30PM, but we were on the hunt for chairs. Our closest Walmart was actually out of the fold up camping chairs and I thought it was just normal for small town Walmarts to run out of stuff when big events are happening. We found chairs at another Walmart and hit the road.
Through discussion, we decided it would be less packed for several reasons. First, it was not a weekend anymore so families would not be out there with their kids because they have school. Second, the Superbowl was on so many people would rather be on that band wagon. Last, it was much colder outside. Our theory turned out to be true because we actually arrived later and found closer seats. It was worth it to come back and try again.

I curled up in my chair and went to sleep from 1AM until about 3:45AM. There were a couple of times the mission turned red for weather conditions, but it cleared up just in time and all was green. I couldn’t believe it was actually launching; I honestly half-expected it to be scrubbed again.

But, at 4:14AM, Endeavor gracefully rose about the horizon into the sky and everyone cheered. We videoed it happening and it honestly looks like the sun is rising. Once it hits the clouds, it looks like a giant fireball. It was so cool, but it still seemed unreal.

In between the launch and work, I have had about 7 hours of sleep in 2 days.

Let’s just say it was a really long two days.

What's next? Catching up on sleep. Skydiving Wednesday!