66. Accomplish something noteworthy that wasn't on the list.

So, I'm pretty sure that watching a shuttle launch - let alone the LAST shuttle launch before the space program gets shut down - qualifies in this category. This past weekend, Bill and I flew down to Florida for Julie's wedding. By a very cool coincidence, we arrived in Orlando just before Friday's shuttle launch. We hoped to get a glimpse, and ended up having a perfect view by pulling over to the side of the road on the way out of the airport (along with everyone else on the road).


It looked sort of like a missile from where we were, just a big fireball shooting up into the sky. The Orlando runway made a perfect open space for us to watch. We were told we'd be able to hear the sonic boom, but we weren't able to hear it over the roar of all the airplanes at the airport.


Super cool! My dad is an astronomer and used to work for NASA, so I grew up fascinated with space, space shuttles, etc. I'd still love to see a shuttle launch up close sometime, but this was pretty awesome for now. It was amazing how quickly it had moved completely out of sight, leaving behind just the smoke trail in the sky.