Up, Up and Awaaaayyyy!

So, that rocket that I saw roll yesterday went up tonight. It was a great evening for a launch. The sky was perfect. It was one of the best launches I have seen to date. I hope I have not been saying that about all the launches...but this one was good. We went up to the Air Force causeway on the Cape to watch, it was a good! Very good. I am so glad we have the honor of knowing "three doors down" he is the one responsible for this stuff at our base :) No matter what anyone else tells you it's true, he IS the rocket boy and we know him!!!!

This launch was awesome because it was carrying the new miniature military space shuttle, that is just really incredible to me! I mean in the nose of that rocket was a little space craft, wow, totally nifty! I don't think that info is classified or anything, but maybe you shouldn't repeat it just in case :) Nah, not really, you can find out more then you ever even wanted to know about this launch here.






Pretty neat stuff!

If you are following the "moving" story, the packers were here today...it went really good. Probably some of the best packers we have ever had, they were very professional, they did not take excessive breaks, they did not smoke, they did not have BO and they worked very hard the whole time they were here. They were done at 4 o'clock, that has to be some sort of record especially since they didn't even start til 9 A.M. Anyway there are now just over 150 boxes located throughout our house and garage, you cannot forget the garage people, it's an important area especially when you are moving! The driver will be here in the morning between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. with a loading helper and Lord willing it will all be crated on site and that will all be done at a reasonable hour as well!

Old Time Rock-et Roll

I went to an old fashioned "rocket roll" today, oh my goodness, talk about another pretty cool experience, it certainly was! In the midst of this crazy busy week we decided this would be my last opportunity to see something such as this so we cut ties at the house and headed to the Cape for the "rolling of the rocket." This is an Atlas V rocket, now I have seen an Atlas V up close and personal before but I have not seen it roll.

The rocket is assembled in a building, a very big building to be sure and the Atlas is one of only a few rockets that get put together in the vertical position, so the building is very tall so they can do that. Yes I did go all the way to the top of the building when I saw the other rocket! It was very high up but it was very cool! This rocket is 20 stories tall! And in other statistics it is very heavy weighing in at just over 1 million pounds, yeah, one MILLION! (And I want to shed 7, seems trivial, huh?) Anyway, once it is all together they roll it over to the launch pad. That is what I watched today.

There was of course a mandatory safety briefing!

The Atlas V starting to make the roll to the launch pad.

Rolling out to the pad right behind us!

Safely on the pad and ready for lift-off tomorrow!

This was such a neat thing to see and I am not even close to being a rocket scientist :) I wish I would be able to return to the Cape for the launch but the movers will be here and I won't make it up in time. I will still see it from the house though!

All right back to the moving prep, they will be here in the morning between 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. which is pretty sweet considering sometimes it is as early as 7 a.m. We will already be up and moving by 7 but we won't have to be ready for the movers that early which is totally awesome in my world!

Thursday Thoughts!

Trying to launch a rocket here on the SpaceCoast the last couple of days and so far not sure it is going today either. I am in tune to this website as I try to keep up with the latest. I went to the Cape yesterday in hopes of seeing the launch up close but the winds were too strong so it was scrubbed. The folks in the 45th Launch Support Squadron were outstanding host, they had a great room with live NASA feed and awesome windows that provided a phenomenal view for the launch. I am just really bummed it didn't go! Today, I wanted to return to the 45th LSS but different circumstances have prevented that so I am hoping for a nice view from my own patio on this beautiful clear blue sky day! This week also marked the last night launch for the space shuttle as we know it. We went up for the launch and it was scrubbed, of course, we didn't go the next night and it went! It never goes when we go up so I should just know that and not go. Again, though, my patio provided a nice enough view as the night sky turned into day for a few seconds as the shuttle went up. Very, very neat to see no matter where you are! The space business is changing, how, no one is really for sure, but it is changing. There is a another shuttle launch on 18 March, I am planning to see it!

Tomorrow marks another milestone here at Patrick as the change of command passes from one to another. The weather forecast is for rain and the ceremony is scheduled to be outdoors...that will be interesting, I will keep you posted! Speaking of weather, we are having record lows. I wore a "heavy coat" for the first time since being here, it's kind of weird and neat all in one!

Well, my thoughts this week are still jumbled, as if that is news! Many of the same things are still tumbling around in my heart; however, a few new concerns have crowded in. . . I know it's all under the control of our God, so why I am somewhat out of sorts is weighing heavily on me. I am usually so much less emotional and at peace with "whatever it is" I am not sure why this is feeling so different. But anyway...here goes nothin'!

• Life is what it is

• I already miss him...

• Does drama ever end?

• I am a master soup maker : )

• It is good to have good friends!
  

Thursday Thought returns :)

Please forgive my absence...it's been an unbelievable three weeks in my world!

To recap we have had a rocket and shuttle launch here at the Cape, which both were amazing. The Delta GPS rocket launch was the best one I have seen to date! The morning sky was the most amazing backdrop for the contrails of the rocket as it went into orbit. I do wish I would have had my camera; however, I was out for my morning run and cameraless... The night launch of the shuttle Discovery was super cool even if we did go through three scrubs or so and a whole lot of lost sleep before it finally got off the ground around midnight last Friday night. It literally lit up the nightsky into daylight!

Just hanging out waiting w/others from the court.

MiB and me!

Engine Ignition

An amazing sight!

Lighting up the night sky

In other news, we also had the honor and privilege of hosting the most senior ranking enlisted guy in the USAF at our base and in our home for dinner. That was a pretty big undertaking from the beginning and I am soooo glad Lil'Blue was still here to assist me with that evening; it went off without a hitch!

Speaking of Lil'Blue we put her on the plane back to the midwest for college and she is now attending classes as a full fledge college girl. She si settling in and so far it seems to be going very smoothly for her. This big house seems even bigger now. We are trying to stay busy and not focus on being empty nesters, I'll get back with you on how that works out...

MiB has loved the waves created by the two tropical storms. In fact he absolutely loved the playdates with Bill and Danny as they provided "doubleoverheads"! He is enjoying ever free minute on the beach he can!

We have been attending several functions and doing some fun out and about things as well as we continue to explore and get to know our new church and community. In fact this past Sunday night we had church on the beach followed by a time of baptism. Pretty awesome to see people baptized in the ocean!
Right now we are in the beginning stages of an indepth look at our base, so stress is a bit high and I for one will be glad when 23 September rolls around and it will all hopefully be O V E R. For those of you who are my military friends, read that as we are having an ORI!

We are looking forward to a "family day" tomorrow along with the Labor Day holiday on Monday. Since it is a day off we are taking the SMART in for it's first year engine upgrade and oil change so we will get to explore northern O for part of the day. Then head back to our area and hopefully, for MiBs sake, go to a surfing festival. I mean, seriously, who knew they had those? However, the weather may or may not cooperate so we may or may not go.

So my long awaited thoughts for today!

• Take time to love
• Enjoy what you have...
• Never, ever think you know it all!
• His mercies are new EVERY morning
• Attempt to learn something NEW everyday.

Sea Turtles are AMAZIIIING!!!

Last night we got to have the most amazing adventure we have had in a while...we were guests on a permitted turtle walk on the Cape Canaveral coast. There was a very informative program in which we learned a lot about the various species of sea turtles. The really amazing thing is that it just so happened that the turtle patrol had that morning found a hatched leatherback nest in which two hatchlings had not made it out and into the water so we were treated to seeing them, and holding them, it was sooooo cool. They were very soft and felt like velvet; it was neat, neat, neat! This is only the second time they have had hatchlings on hand for a scheduled turtle walk. Only two permitted turtle walks are held per year and we were thrilled to get this unique opportunity!

It was then time for the waiting game. We waited for the call on a nesting turtle sighting and we waited and waited and waited... And then the phone finally rang; a loggerhead sea turtle had come ashore and was beginning to nest and dig her clutch for depositing her eggs. In the next twenty minutes or so we would be able to go out and watch as she deposited the eggs, on average around 120 of them. They are about the size of ping pong balls. So we went to the 16th causeway and made our way down the beach waiting a safe distance until Martha, our guide, got word from Angy the turtle spotter, to proceed. Before we could approach the nesting turtle she had to be in the zone and laying the eggs or she would return to the sea without nesting, but once she has made the nest, dug the clutch and starts depositing eggs she will finish. This loggerhead was on the top end of her species size scale, she was 3.5-4 feet long, she was huge IMO!

Getting to receive the leatherback hatchling!
Oh, I am so amazed and thrilled to get to cuddle the hatchling!

MiB got to hold the hatching too!

Not a great picture, we could not use flash or flashlights, except for a couple turtle friendly ones, but this is a picture of the loggerheard as she is depositing her eggs in the clutch that she dug! INCREDIBLE. I already thought sea turtles were awesome, loved the ones in Finding Nemo, Crush and Squirt, but this was over the top amazingly coolio!

1-2-3 Blast Off!

The good news is the rocket launch was utterly awesome...the bad news is there are no pictures...the good news is there is another launch next week...there is no more bad news :)

I will try to get pictures at the next launch. It was our first launch and since it was off, on, off then back on again, they picked up the T count at -4:00 minutes and counting so we rushed to the outer viewing platform and by the time we got in place and had our binnoculars out, it was blasting off towards the moon before we could snap a picture. It was also very cloudy so the rocket was only viewable for a short amount of time, then it was in the clouds, we saw it again for a split second and then it was in the clouds again. Hopefully, next time I will be more prepared and ready to get a picture! While we did not feel it in our chest like they said we would the space shuttle we could feel the earth move and that was a unique feeling that was quite awesome. Looking forward to the next one and being a little more prepared.

Cape Canaveral Tour

Today I got to tour the Cape...it was pretty cool, okay, it was a lot cool. I have pictures but cannot upload them because I was in top secret areas...okay, not really, well, maybe I was, I don't know!

Anyway, the tour was outstanding and Mr D. was a great guide! Here are a few photos from the many we took!

Yeah, well, this here base I am at is the base that "the Jeannie" was at and her master often was at the Cape.

Many things here are NASA even though the range is run by the USAF, we have a great relationship with those space types at NASA and it all works well. Afterall, we are space types as well, we just don't launch the manned spacecraft, but you can thank the USAF everytime you use your GPS cause that is one of the things we do keep your satellites in place to make that thing work!

Our tour guide, was a wealth of info, I especially enjoyed learning about the partnership with the primates and how intelligent they were and how much they furthered our endeavors in the space arena. That was really amazing!

I really think lighthouses are awesome and until today I never knew that the USAF owns a lighthouse. Pretty nifty, I am hoping to be able to go in it before we leave...it is under renovation but hopefully it will be open before our time is up here.

It is off to bed for me...we have a launch in the morning (you may have heard about it, it's that big one called the Space Shuttle :) It will be o dark thirty before I know it and since we are actually going to the Cape for the launch I want to be ready, have I mentioned that the perks with this job the MiB has here are pretty fantabulous!!!!! Well they are :)