We have LIFTOFF!

All I (we) can say is WOW! What a spectacular sight! It's all you can do to take pictures and not just watch it blast off. The weird thing about it--SCIENCE!--is the rocket blast lights up the sky and no sound, as we were 11 miles from the site. Then all of a sudden, here comes the roar, and the Shuttle is gone. Endeavour, it's crew of six and the payload left on time at 4:14 am & by the time we got to our car..8 minutes..the spaceship was 680 miles downrange and 46 miles high. It reaches orbit in just over 11 minutes at 17,500 MPH! We also made some adjustments to our viewing. We slept in the camper until 2am & then drove to the beach and stayed in the car until 15 minutes before launch. This also enabled us to get out faster & back to the KOA in 25 minutes, but it may be tough to go to sleep. more later..and pics! OK, we slept in until 10:45 & 11:00, respectively, and lounged around for awhile, before cooking breakfast..at 12:30 & ate on the patio as it was a nice 65 degrees and sunny. Then we decide to go on a little bike ride, but long sleeves feel good. Off on a nice little loop toward the Salt Lake Mgmt Area & KK ends up with 12 miles & me, 17 and a massive 300' of climb! Hit the showers & decide to have leftovers for supper..pizza, fish, ribs. Jump in the MDX and off to historic Titusville, Chop's Restaurant & Wally World & finally, DQ! Then up I-95 to camp & some blogging, facebook & e-mails. We also call Joan and get info for our trip down to Venice & a visit with her & her friends. Maybe it'll be warmer down there, but first we may have too get an electric blanket! (It's supposed to be a low of 36 on wed night!) What a Day! And the Shuttle is scheduled to hook up with ISS on Wednesday.