On Friday, Jeff surprised me with a mid-day date. He picked me up at 10:00 and we jetted down to the Getty Center for a glimpse at history. The space shuttle, Endeavor, was on it's way to the California Science Center to be displayed for future generations. As this was the last time that the space shuttle was to be in the air, they decided to parade the shuttle around the LA Basin a few times before landing at LAX. We (along with scores of other people) were present to witness the shuttle being flown from a grand viewing point at Getty Center which is located at the top of the Santa Monica Mountains. We watched as the 747 carrying the shuttle emerged from a fog of haze in the west, crossed the sky over the downtown area. Then it faded from view only to reemerge, this time from the south (we understand it passed over Disneyland) and head directly towards us. It banked slightly west before turning east again and passing nearly directly over us. We were able to clearly see the shuttle. Jeff had always dreamed of going to a shuttle launch. Although this doesn't hardly compare, it was a small concession.
On Saturday, the parading continued for us. This past week has been Simi Valley Days, which culminate in a parade on Saturday. I have always wanted to go, and finally, we were clear of baseball games and other activities that allowed us to attend. Gabe and I decided to walk in the parade with the cub scouts. Allie and Jeff were standing on the sidelines watching the parade. The staging (or waiting) part was long and tedious, but I really enjoyed walking in the parade. Allie enjoyed watching all of the different people go by, and especially enjoyed the candy they passed out!
They flew the shuttle around here a while back when they put it at the intrepid museum. I was sure it was going to be on an aircraft carrier or something, and was quite surprised when it was on a plane, flying around by the statue of liberty. Pretty crazy stuff!
ReplyDeleteJenny