3...2...1...Blast Off

On the Space Coast (basically the eastern coastal area surrounding Cape Canveral) we spent about a week parked at Uncle Lloyd's house in Titusville.  We had planned to go on to an RV park, but it worked out that the weather was great and there was room to conveniently park outside the house and plug into the electricity.  Uncle Henry, Aunt Ellen and some other friends of Uncle Lloyd's also were there to watch the Space Shuttle Discovery make it's final trip into space (I think).  There are 2 more launches scheduled of the other Space Shuttles in April and June.  We had been looking forward to this since the beginning of our trip!

Max and Joe went to the Kennedy Space Center Museum.  

Here they are with a Saturn 5 rocket - like the ones used to go to the moon.

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And here's the future astronaut...

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So for the BIG event...on February 24, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched at approximately 4:50pm.  Uncle Lloyd lives about a block from US 1, which runs just across the Indian River from Cape Canaveral.  So, at around 4:30 that afternoon we walked down the street to join the estimated (as was reported on the news later that night) 300,000 people who had come to see this launch.  We didn't really see that many people although the traffic out of the area didn't clear until well after midnight.

We found a nice place to sit, right on the water, with a clear view of the launch pad.  It was pretty spectacular, and there was cheering and laughter all around as the Shuttle headed for space.  SPACE!  Can you believe it?  It all lasted about 3 minutes, all the while we were taking pictures and trying not to miss anything!

Joining us at Uncle Lloyd's house for the week  - Uncle Henry and Aunt Ellen, down from Ohio.

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