26 July 2005

How to nearly miss a shuttle launch viewing

1) Get up at 3:30 in the morning. Have a quick shower and then get the hell on the road because I've got to get to the Kennedy Space Center at 7am (3 hours is normally plenty of time. I've done this before. I'm a professional.)

2) Cruise north along the I-95. When going through West Palm Beach, get delayed for over 1/2 hour due to a traffic jam at ~5 in the morning!

3) Keep cruising. Know that last launch viewing attempt there wasn't very much of a line up with the route I took, so take it again.

4) Get in the line up of cars. Hit forehead several times as I realise every man and his dog is using the exact same route I chose, and that the line up is several miles long. At this point realise that I'm *not* really that professional and probably quite the amateur.

5) Move 3 miles in 2.5 hours.

6) Get past the Kennedy Space Center checkpoint. Arrive at Kennedy Space Center at 9:30am, 2.5 hours late.

7) Race through security and get on the VERY LAST BUS LEAVING FOR THE SHUTTLE VIEWING AREA.

8) Once on the bus find out that I got on with 15 seconds to spare.

9) Breathe a massive sigh of relief and get ready to watch some big firecrackers!

1 comment:

choza said...

Jam @ 5am in the morning? damn that sux...talk about stress levels and high blood pressure in the morning! All worth it in the end though :)