STS-126 Endeavour Shuttle Launch 11/14/2008

We drove down from Daytona Beach to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. We figured we were about 10-12 miles from the shuttle launch area and it was getting pretty close to 7:55 pm which was the launch time. We pulled off the road onto a side road. We only waited a few minutes before we saw a glow on the horizon. The glow got bigger and brighter.

A few minutes later, the shuttle could be seen. A little while later, you could hear the thunder of the shuttle.

When we got back to the resort, we found that other people had already posted video on YouTube. It appears that while they were a little closer (just across the water), their video was soon hidden by the clouds.
From where we were, no clouds were visible. This may be because we were north of the shuttle launch site and I believe their video was taken from the south. Or because we were further away than they were.

Baked Alaska

One of the things we took some time to do was to make a Baked Alaska. We used a brownie base, baked in a tinfoil muffin pan. Then froze them, added ice cream, made the meringue. Froze it some more. Then put it into the oven to brown the meringue.
Yummy!

Is that Alligator Alive?

We drove the Black Point Wildlife Drive on
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge near
Titusville, Florida. We saw some great birds as well as some small and one very large alligator. Greg & Justin were sure the big alligator was dead, until it moved, and then they could not get into the car fast enough!

Lots of Ibis, gulls, herons. a couple of kingfishers, a roseate spoonbill, osprey, and a bald eagles nest, and more.

Volusia County Fair

Went with Greg, Justin & Shelli to the Volusia County Fair. Enjoyed a "blooming onion."

We figured at a State or County Fair almost anything deep fried would become an instant hit at the food stands. The ultimate would be a deep fried fat. Take some fat, margarine, lard or something like that, dip it in a batter and deep fry it. What could be more greasy than that?

In the Blue Ribbon building, we say a table setting exhibit. One of the first prizes was for a contrasting table. One side for someone like Greg. Plastic cutlery, camp dish, outdoor warmer vs. lace, china and silverware.

And we saw a whole lot of cute and harey animals.