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Day 7
Location: Bowman, SC
Miles Driven: 310.4
Total Miles: 2,005
Woke up with the sun at the Flying J. Although I am continuously waking up early, it’s an altogether different sensation waking up with the sun as opposed to waking up with an alarm. I wake up feeling refreshed and not rushed, even if I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep to begin with. And if I get tired later in the day, it’s always easy to take a quick nap in the car.
Used the trucker’s facilities at the Flying J to grab a shower. It’s a pretty nice set up – you get your own personal bathroom – sink, toilet, shower – in addition to a couple towels so you’re not lugging anything wet back to your car. It cost $10, but I felt it was worth it. I looked into getting a Flying J loyalty card which could reduce my fee for shower facilities, but those are only beneficial for truck drivers filling up 30+ gallons at a time.
After cleaning up, got on the road and made it to the Savannah area in just about an hour and a half. Parked at the visitors center and decided I would just walk around as opposed to hopping on one of the tour buses. Had recommendations to check out River St. along the water, as well as check out one of the town’s eight squares.
The River St. area was bustling. There were a lot of shops and restaurants, in addition to a market area set up alongside the river where people were selling hand-made crafts and paintings, and food. I found a place selling some fresh-squeezed lemonade and immediately grabbed a cup – it must’ve been at least mid-90s out there and I was sweating like crazy.
River St
After walking up and down the riverfront for a bit, I made my way towards a cafe area that was recommended to me by a few Marietta friends who had just visited Savannah. There I got a nice lunch – gyro, pasta salad, and bread pudding – while listening to some live music by two guys who played a lot of Neil Young covers.
Marilyn Monroe by the Market Cafe
From there, I wandered around the historic district, saw a lot of old-fashioned homes, some beautiful park areas, and streets lined with huge trees.
Statue of James Oglethrope, founder of the Georgia Colony
Big trees with Spanish Moss are all over Savannah. Very beautiful
Statue of Sgt. Jasper, a Revolutionary War hero
Andrew Low House
Old Sorrel-Weed House
Another big tree with Spanish Moss
Had a nice time in Savannah, but figured I should hit the road and head towards the next destination – Charleston, South Carolina – which was only about 2.5 hours away. My plan was to check out the view of Ft. Sumter. Ft. Sumter was a Union fortress that Confederates fired upon in 1861, prompting the start of the Civil War.
Leaving Savannah
It was a little tricky to get to, as the Fort is in the middle of the water, and I was initially looking for an overlook from the wrong side.
On the way to Eastern Charleston
I did finally make my way to Fort Moultrie (which is part of the Ft. Sumter National Monument), and from there you could get a view of Ft. Sumter. It doesn’t look like much nowadays from shore, but it was pretty cool to be standing where so much history had taken place.
Ft. Sumter
Mortar at Fort Moultrie
View towards the water from Fort Moultrie
It was after 8pm and I was feeling a bit tired, so I figured I might check out a local sports bar and watch the Celtics/Lakers game. Before I arrived, though, I realized I was wrong and the game wasn’t airing until Sunday, so I decided I would head in a northwest direction towards the city of Columbia.
My goal is to arrive at my cousin Dennis’ house in Charlotte, NC, on Sunday, so this was the general direction to head in. Drove through some sparsely populated, flat areas that would have been ideal for some night shots; however, it turned out to be a cloudy night. Oh well. Came across a big Pilot truck stop, and hunkered down for the night.
Looking forward to checking out Charlotte and seeing Dennis. Haven’t seen him in a couple years, and I’ll get to meet his girlfriend and check out his brand new home (he’s been there less than a week).
joe
Day 6 – Wondering what bit my ear, and Rocketships
Location: Brunswick, GA
Miles Driven: 289.5
Total Miles: 1694.8
Spent the early morning lounging about with Tim for a bit…it was great to sit back and talk with an old friend for a while. Also enjoyed an early morning free from a weird sensation in my left ear. I think I was stung by something in Clearwater, as my ear got itchy and a little swollen over the next few days. But some ice on it the night prior seemed to help alleviate the strange feeling.
Eventually got ready to head out towards the Cape, a 45 minute drive from us. Earlier in the week, Tim had told me there was a planned rocket launch for this exact day – Friday, June 4. As I mentioned in the last post, the timing seemed to be good to be true…I hadn’t adjusted my plans at all for any kind of rockets. Last I checked several months ago, the next shuttle launch isn’t until the fall (one of the last few remaining). So to find out there was a rocket launch planned for the same day I was planning to be near the Cape was quite “serendipitious” as my friends Nate and Melissa described. The weather would play a big role in whether the rocket launch went up or not, and I’ve seen rain all over the state (along with some bad storms), so I was cautiously optimistic.
I followed Tim towards the Cape, and being the astronomy/space exploration nerd that I am, got some chills getting closer and closer, especially as I saw signs for the Kennedy Space Center.
Too cool
We headed in the direction of Cocoa Beach. I had considered going to the Space Center to get a tour, but the admission is somewhat pricey, and I would only have a limited time there if I wanted to keep myself available during the launch window, which was 11AM – 3PM.
Arrived in the Cocoa Beach area not long after 9AM, and Tim showed me some of his favorite areas of the beach. Got a bunch of walking in as we made a big loop, exploring a big pier in-between.
Cocoa Beach
I kept a nervous eye on the sky – it wasn’t overcast, but there were a lot of thick clouds. At the same time I was checking status updates of the launch online via my phone. At 9:30AM it was reported the “90 minute countdown” had started, so things were looking positive so far.
Tim getting the sand off his feet, and struggling with the spigot
Around 10:30AM we were making our way back to the cars. Tim knew a good spot to view the launch from – Cape Canaveral Lock – so we drove there and arrived with about 10 minutes to spare. Before I get further in the story, a note about this launch: this rocket, the Falcon 9, was built by SpaceX, a private firm. SpaceX also developed the Dragon spacecraft, which is planned to be supply craft (eventually with the capability to ferry people) for the International Space Station, after all the space shuttles are officially retired. It took SpaceX $400M to reach this point, and this planned rocket launch was only a test – the rocket held a mock-up of the Dragon spacecraft.
Turned out no rush was necessary a some folks already on a bench, waiting for the launch themselves, and said they heard 11:20 was the updated launch time. We all waited anxiously, trying to learn whatever updates we could from one another. Checking the spaceflightnow.com website, I found the following message:
1505 GMT (11:05 a.m. EDT)T-minus 15 minutes and holding. The launch has been delayed, but there is no explanation from SpaceX.
Ok, no luck right away, we felt. But remember, the launch window was from 11AM – 3PM, so an early delay wouldn’t necessarily preclude liftoff. So I was continually refreshing the website on my phone, hoping to see if there were any more details as we sat there. The next meaningful message was:
1538 GMT (11:38 a.m. EDT)The Air Force Eastern Range is reviewing signals from the Falcon 9’s flight termination system to ensure the destruct package can work as advertised.
“Ok, they’re just being very cautious,” we were saying to ourselves. The story was this launch was somewhat experimental in nature, so the ability to self-destruct the rocket if something went awry was absolutely necessary. No problem, understood. Then the next message:
1604 GMT (12:06 p.m. EDT)SpaceX says they have a “path forward” for launching at 1 p.m. EDT, and possibly earlier if they can resolve the flight termination system connectivity issues soon.
For some at the Lock, 1PM was not a convenient time to catch the launch. This included Tim who had to go to work for a bit. As for me, I had no rush to be anywhere, so I figured I could wait it out. Tim and I parted ways, and I figured I’d squeeze in a nap in the car and get back out in time for the new 1PM launch time. I have a nice little nap, get my supplies back out (camera, binoculars), and then make my way to the bench once again. I get settled, and then decide to check the status online:
1647 GMT (12:47 p.m. EDT)The range went red just before the countdown was supposed to resume. The reason is unknown.
I didn’t know exactly what was meant by all this, but I do know from my four years of government contracting that red = bad. So no countdown yet, and I was sitting there, continually refreshing the website to see what was going on.
1705 GMT (1:05 p.m. EDT)Air Force helicopters are intercepting a sailboat off the coast of Florida that strayed into the danger area.
Silly boaters! Get outta there! Frustrating, but not a big deal, as I figured the Air Force would get the sailboat going in the other direction and the countdown could start once again. The next message got me thinking more and more that the launch was really going to happen:
1715 GMT (1:15 p.m. EDT)T-minus 15 minutes and counting! After overcoming an issue with the Falcon 9’s destruct system, and clearing a sailboat out of the ocean danger zone, the countdown clock has picked up for launch at 1:30 p.m. EDT
Now I was getting pumped. The launch window was to cut off at 3pm, so this might be one of the last few chances to organize a full countdown and get things going again. And I was getting more and more anxious as the next few status updates appeared:
1724 GMT (1:24 p.m. EDT)T-minus 6 minutes and counting. Launch remains set for 1:30 p.m. EDT.
1727 GMT (1:27 p.m. EDT)T-minus 3 minutes. The ground safety officer will soon enable ignition. All systems remain “go” for launch, according to SpaceX.
1728 GMT (1:28 p.m. EDT)T-minus 2 minutes. Range has given their final clear for launch.
Woohoo! Here we go, right??
1729 GMT (1:29 p.m. EDT)T-minus 60 seconds. In the final minute of the countdown, the relief valve on the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage will be closed and the propellant tanks will be pressurized for flight. The Merlin main engines will ignite beginning at approximately T-minus 3.5 seconds.
Now it’s going to happen, I’m sure of it. I’m looking forward to seeing the bright flash of the engines igniting. But 1:30 came, and no bright flash. Then 1:31…1:32…still nothing. I check for an update:
1730 GMT (1:30 p.m. EDT)ABORT! The countdown was stopped a few seconds before launch.
Bummer. My confidence in this launch happening was waning just as the launch window was waning. I hung around for the next several minutes to see if I could get any news.
1736 GMT (1:36 p.m. EDT)SpaceX can recycle the countdown and try again during today’s launch window, if they can resolve whatever problem triggered this abort. The window extends until 3 p.m. EDT.
All right. At this point I wasn’t sure if I should give up, or if I should stick it out. It was very hot out, and I was getting a little hungry. The following status updates didn’t help me decide one way or another:
1744 GMT (1:44 p.m. EDT)We are still waiting on word about the cause of the countdown abort and whether SpaceX will make another attempt today.
1748 GMT (1:48 p.m. EDT)The countdown is back at T-minus 15 minutes and holding.
1759 GMT (1:59 p.m. EDT)SpaceX will try to set up for another launch attempt this afternoon. There’s a little over an hour left in today’s launch window. The launch try at 1:30 p.m. EDT was cut off because an engine parameter fell out of limits.
I went back to my car to take a break and cool off with the A/C. Over and over, I was refreshing the website to get updates, but didn’t get one until over 20 minutes later:
1822 GMT (2:22 p.m. EDT)SpaceX confirms the new target launch time is 2:45 p.m. EDT. The countdown should resume in eight minutes.
All right, now we’re talking. This would definitely be the last chance for launch today. If it didn’t happen, I’d be out of luck, as I wanted to head North in the late afternoon.
Talked with Tim via text and since his work site was close by, he drove down to join me to wait out this final countdown. We went over to a graddy area and joined a family equipped with big binoculars, video cameras, and watches.
1835 GMT (2:35 p.m. EDT)T-minus 10 minutes and counting. The terminal countdown has started and the rocket’s propellant prevalves have been opened to flow liquid oxygen into the first stage’s nine Merlin engines.
A few minutes later and I am reminded of the harsh realities of launching:
1840 GMT (2:40 p.m. EDT)T-minus 5 minutes and counting. Computers are controlling the launch countdown within the last 10 minutes to liftoff. Any issue now would trigger another hold and likely a scrub today.
At this point, I couldn’t get any more status updates from the website. I presumed the site was overloaded with visitors, but one of the men in the family we joined had a countdown of his own going. Their kids were hoping for some kind of explosion – not wanting the mission to fail, but in the hopes of seeing something spectacular. I gave Tim my binoculars, got my camera ready, and hoped for the best.
And then, the payoff:
My apologies for the shaky video, I couldn’t view the LCD of my camera in the sun’s glare, so I was practically guessing where to aim the lens. You can get a slight hint of the noise this thing generated after the 0:30 point. Also, pay close attention at the 0:43 mark, as you’ll see a flash as another stage fires and the rocket picks up more speed.
Success! Though we were several miles away, the noise generated by the rocket was pretty powerful. And the rocket sure moved fast – within about a minute, it was gone from view. But what a shot in the arm for the private space industry! I later learned the rocket did achieve orbital insertion and this test launch was a success. I’m glad I stuck it out.
If you want to see better video of the launch, go here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/04/spacex.rocket.test/index.html?hpt=T2
So after almost four hours of waiting I saw the launch, and now it was time to leave the Lock. Grabbed a bite to eat, did some work on the computer, and eventually got on I-95 as the journey turns northward for almost the remainder of this month.
I’m now sitting at a “Flying J” truck stop about 80 miles south of Savannah. Planning to arrive in Savannah by late morning, and some friends who have recently visited gave me a couple recommendations of things to check out. Looking forward to seeing such a historic place.
Despite some sunburns, it was another great day. To think of the lucky timing I had to catch that launch – a launch that was moved to today because an unrelated launch was postponed earlier, at the only time I’ve ever been to Cape Canaveral, and at a time that synched perfectly with my Florida portion of the roadtrip. Indeed…serendipitious.
The end of a great time in Florida
joe
Day 5
Location: Orlando,FL
Miles Driven: 127.8
Cumulative Miles Driven: 1405.3
Although Maria had to leave for work around 7AM, she generously offered me her apartment as long as I wanted it – be it to sleep, do work on the website, workout, etc. So after we said our goodbyes, I laid down on her comfortable couch with the intent to nap for a little bit. I set the alarm for 8:30 with the goal of hitting the road by 9 or so. I must’ve been more tired than I thought, because at some point I shut off the alarm and did not end up waking until 9:30. Oh well, I figured, not like I’m late for my job or something.
So I was able to get driving shortly after 10:30AM and set a path for DisneyWorld. It was not a bad drive at all, maybe an hour and 20 minutes passed before I saw signs directing me to the Magic Kingdom.
The Entrance
At the Magic Kingdom, I met my brother’s (and our family’s) friend Andrew, and he provided me with a guest pass for all of the DisneyWorld parks. Pretty amazing thing, especially considering I had never been to any of them.
So I began to explore the Magic Kingdom area and definitely noticed it was a pretty intense atmosphere. Within 10 minutes of being there, a parade was kicking off with dancers, men on stilts, and people dressed as famous Disney characters. Loud music, lots of smiling, waving, and jumping up and down by the performers. I found it to be pretty overwhelming, but the kids in the park were digging it.
Parade on Main Street
Eventually the parade reached a mini traffic circle in front of the Disney castle and the performers set up shop in the street. More Disney characters were appearing out of nowhere, and they would play the characters’ voices over the loudspeaker – Sebastian the Crab, that candle guy from Beauty and the Beast, and the Genie from Aladdin. Soon park guests were in the street dancing along with the characters.
Disney castle
Woody from Toy Story
And as soon as it started, the parade had gone back in the direction it started and the streets were clear once again. Everything seemed just to be run so efficiently – park staff clears the streets, ropes are set up, the parade comes along, and then it everything happens in reverse and the performers are gone. What a well-oiled machine.
Checked out the different stores and shops along Main Street, and found a store that specialized in Disney art. I’m not a big art person, but there were some very cool paintings:
Winnie the Pooh
The Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland
The Little Mermaid
Caught a show along Main Street – the “Dapper Dans”, a barbershop quartet. They performed a quick 20 minute performance with a number of songs. Definitely a lot of fun.
After the performance, I walked around the different areas of Magic Kingdom – one was Fantasyland, another was Adventureland. In Fantasyland I was happy to find one of my favorite Disney characters, Buzz Lightyear.
To infinity....and beyond!
And do you remember these little guys from Toy Story? “Farewell my friends, I go on to a better place.” (as he gets picked up by the toy claw grabber)
Toys at Pizza Planet
A lot of the rides that seemed interesting had long wait times, unfortunately, but that’s ok – I’m not a big rides/amusement park guy. I did hop on a “Pirates of the Caribbean” ride that takes you in these dark caverns in a little boat and you see animatronic pirates talking. There were a couple animatronic Captain Jack Sparrows, and the resemblance to Johnny Depp was uncanny.
The Epcot area of DisneyWorld was recommended to me by a couple people so I left Magic Kingdom and made my way over on the monorail. As I arrived at the big golf-ball looking thing, it started to rain. At first, it wasn’t anything bad, then soon it turned into quite the thunderstorm – driving rains, strong winds, and lightning. I hunkered down in a souveneir store. It took probably a good 50 minutes or so for the storm to dissapate.
After the rain let up a bit, I took a stroll around Epcot where there were little areas dedicated to different countries. Each area had buildings, shops and restaurants that (supposedly) resemeble their respective cultures: Beijing’s Forbidden City, a German beerhouse, Aztec pyramids (small scale) in the Mexico section, etc. It was pretty cool, though I was concerned if some Americans at DisneyWorld took these representations of cultures as 100% factual.
The German section (Frank - is this accurate?)
View from Japan section of Epcot
I had plans to meet friends at 6pm, so around 5 I was fixin to go (I love that southern saying), and I also had enough of the steady rain. Hopefully if I return to DisneyWorld it can be on a dry day. Not that I should complain, but Sunshine State my ass. Everywhere I’ve gone to in Florida the rain has followed me. Maybe I’m just bad luck. Then again, I heard June rain here is quite common. No worries.
So met my friends Tim, Susan, and Tony at a restaurant called “Gators.” I know Tim and Susan from my time working in Rockville, MD, and I know Tony through our job program when I met him at a conference last August. All great folks. I actually went to school at Binghamton University the same time as Tim, but we didn’t know each other then.
Me, Tim, Susan, Tony
Tony and Susan both work in Orlando, and Tim works out on Cape Canaveral. So the plan for Friday will be to join Tim out on the Cape, as there is a rocket launch planned (what lucky timing for me, eh?). The weather forecast doesn’t look too optimistic, however, but it’ll be cool to be out there all the same.
After dinner, headed over to Susan’s, watched some of the Lakers/Celtics game (what a disappointing outcome), and eventually crashed. Another great day in the books – new experience (Disney), and met up with some great friends once again.
joe
Day 4
Location: Tampa, FL
Miles Driven: 315.5
Cumulative Miles Driven: 1277.5
Never saw a sign like this before…
Be on the lookout for bear crossings near St. George's Island
All right, 1,000 miles in the books! These first thousand miles have been an amazing experience…let’s hope it keeps going for the several thousand miles remaining.
So this morning I awoke shortly after 7am and continued along Highway 98 with the plan to get to my friend Maria’s apartment in Tampa. Specifically, I needed to cover about 230 miles on one highway. Now that was a haul. A rare treat is when I actually had to turn the car in some direction. But there were certainly some scenic stretches along the route; driving so close to the Gulf was particularly enjoyable.
A view of Hwy 98
Encountered my first tolls of this trip on this leg of the journey on FL route 589. They were cheap, but there were several of them. I remember from a work recruiting trip to FL back in November that there were lots of tolls. I have a large bag of coins near the front seat for such occasions. It seems the Northeast and FL are big on tolls, but my bag of coins should last me well through both regions.
After a couple pit stops and a nap, made it to Tampa shortly before 3pm. Since Maria wouldn’t be getting out of work til after 4, I figured I’d find a local park to get a workout in. Stopped at the Citrus Park (I think it was called), but it was a little shady looking. Lots of unused baseball fields, some worn down accommodations, and not a soul in sight. Like a baseball ghost town. Anyway, was perfect for me and I had a grassy area to myself to exercise.
Met Maria at her apartment not long after, and she was an amazing host from the first second I stepped in the door. Maria fed me some fresh fruit and water, let me use her shower to clean up, and showed me to the guestroom. She has a really nice apartment – feels more like a house than an apartment, in fact. We had plans to meet up with some friends for dinner, but had some time beforehand to sit and chat. I hadn’t seen Maria since Christmas back in NY. She’s originally from my hometown, we worked in Owego, NY at the same time, and also belonged to the same rotational program (OLDP) at Lockheed.
Went to the Courtside Grill to meet up with Dan and Rich, two guys I got to know in November during that recruiting trip to Orlando. Both are from NY, Rich is a current OLDP participant like Maria, and Dan graduated from the same rotational program a few years back. Also, Dan went to the same high school as Maria so the three of us have many mutual friends.
Maria, Rich, Me, and Dan
Rich and Dan are two guys who really helped me out during a hectic period when we were in Orlando for recruiting last year. Now it was time to relax, tell some stories, share some laughs, and see what’s up ahead for everyone. After dinner came back to Maria’s to relax. Maria kindly let me use her washer and dryer and also gave me some gatorade, so when I load the car up in the AM I’ll be fully stocked on clean clothes and refreshments. Watched a little TV, and for the first time I saw the show “Man vs. Food” (I guess I’m slow to the uptake on this one). Many people have suggested I try similar things the host does in conquering giant meals at various restaurants across the country. In this episode, he had to eat this layered ice cream thing that looked as big as a human torso, and then later, in Hawaii, he was challenged to eat four pounds of pancakes in one sitting. Ughhh. I think he finished off the ice cream, but was unable to eat all of those pancakes. Fortunately, I’m trying to keep things frugal on this trip so I will probably not be going after the same challenges the host of “Man vs. Food” does, and perhaps I’ll save myself a heart attack or two in the process.
Tomorrow will be a nice break from driving as I only have about 85 miles to go to my next destination – Orlando. In Orlando, I’ll meet up with my brother’s friend Andrew (he is a performer at Disneyland), see some of the park (never been there before), and meet up with some friends who live in that area.
Thanks again to Maria for hosting this vagabond.
joe
P.S. Thanks for all the well-wishes and support from the readers out there. Today was a record day in the brief history of this website – 216 hits. Incredible. I’m glad people are finding it interesting…hopefully I can maintain that interest through the end of the summer.
Day 3
Location: Port St. Joe, FL
Miles Driven: 348.8
Cumulative Miles Driven: 962
Left New Orleans shortly before noon and headed east on I-10 in the direction of Florida. It was a nice drive for the most part, but once again I encountered some rain. At one point it got so bad I had to pull over and wait for the downpour to cease.
Ominous looking clouds ahead
Later in the afternoon I crossed the Alabama/Florida border and made a pit stop at the FL Welcome Center.
FL Welcome Center with Blue Angel model
Eventually I reached the Pensacola area and was treated to some nice views of the bay, where there were a number of people out fishing. I took a seat on a bench and relaxed enjoying the breeze coming off the water.
Pensacola Bay
Big fish. The guy who caught it told me it took an hour to haul ashore.
I continued east along Highway 98 which ran right along the Gulf coast. Got an oil change done (the first of many) in the city of Gulf Breeze. Not far from there were a number of easily accessible beaches, and I made my way to Navarre Beach, took off the shoes, and spent some time walking along the nice white sand. For a little while I walked along the shore, and I don’t think I ever felt ocean water that was as comfortable as that.
Navarre Beach, FL
On the beach
Got back in the car a while later and continued east. As it got dark, I realized the skies were pretty clear and I thought I might have a chance to pull out my camera later, and I was able to do just that around midnight. Found a public beach not far from the road and took the camera and tripod out. Had to battle some lights from a resort area and a waning gibbous moon, but was still able to capture a good amount of stars.
Now it’s time to sleep. Tomorrow I have roughly six hours of driving ahead of me, as I make my way to Clearwater, FL to visit with some friends. Here’s hoping for a rain-free drive, but I definitely can’t complain…I get to be out here driving instead of working.
joe
Trip route – Summer 2010
Joe's Roadtrip 
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