Launched not

On February 4, I was getting a rolfing session to loosen up some of my stuck body so I could walk more easily, when my husband mentioned to our rolfer and good friend that we were going to go to Kennedy Space Station to see the last night launch of the space shuttle. My husband asked if he and his wife wanted to ride along since we were going in the RV. They both said a definite YES and he asked if his folks could come along, too. Of course they could. We had known them for over 20 years, also.

So, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 6, we set off with 6 people in our RV designed for 2. We had a good time as we drove over as we are all good friends. We had reserved a spot in an RV park where we were going to sleep until time for the launch, but they suggested we go reconnoiter to see the lay of the land. We drove along US 1 and came to a boat ramp directly opposite the space shuttle launch pad. We could see the shuttle across the Indian River Lagoon. So, instead of going to the RV park, we back into a good spot and visited until about midnight. The launch was set to go up at 4:39 so I set an alarm for 3:15 and around midnight we tried to get some sleep. It was very, very cold that night and we were not really prepared for it so we huddled down as best we could.

When the alarm went off everyone went about making coffee and getting ready for the launch. Preparing cameras, etc. At 4:10 I walked out to the end of the pier to get a good place to watch from where I could sit down. When I saw the parking lot I was amazed; the cars were parked 4 and 5 deep with only a foot between any of them. Everyone was cheerful and having a good time. Some folks had brought lawn chairs and a cooler and were sitting out on another pier next to where I was. Excitement was high as we eagerly awaited the launch. I had never been to one; the other two times we had driven over, it had been scrubbed. Someone with a smart phone kept us up to date about whether or not the launch would go. At 4:29 he announced that the launch had been scrubbed, just ten minutes before go. Disappointed, we went back to the RV and waited for traffic to clear so we could get out. Everything was organized and there were no traffic problems. We decided to drive straight back and skip sleeping at the RV park. We were totally drained when we got back to Tampa around 11 AM on Sunday. No shuttle launch. It was a launch not.

The good part of this story is that the rolfing session enabled me to walk down to that pier without a cane. To move my legs freely for the first time in over a year. Now I am going to schedule an appointment once a month to keep from freezing up as much as I had. Thank God for rolfers!