Shuttle Endeavour

Today we were lucky to have one of those "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunities - to see the Space Shuttle Endeavour during its final flight, albeit one in which is was transported on top of a 747 jet and escorted by a fighter jet. It was completing the final leg of its 3 day trip from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Los Angeles where it will be on display. To recognize the efforts of all the NASA workers in the Bay Area they took special care to be sure the Bay Area got a good look. 

Andrew, Nana, Papa and I headed up to Grizzly Peak in the Berkeley hills as it was the best view of the Bay I could think of. After a longer than expected wait we were rewarded by some amazing views of the shuttle. When it flew out of sight the crowds erupted in applause. Andrew, of course, just yelled "plane!".

Waiting...

"Cheeeese!" says Andrew

This dog kept Andrew entertained during the hour long wait we had... 

Here it comes! 

A brief history of this shuttle as written by CNN.com:

Named for the first ship commanded by British explorer James Cook, Endeavour rolled out of an assembly plant in Palmdale, California, in 1991 at a cost of $1.7 billion. It was the baby of the shuttle fleet, built as a replacement for Challenger. Over the next 20 years, Endeavour flew some of the most high-profile shuttle missions, covering 25 flights and nearly 123 million miles. It flew a Spacelab mission and numerous International Space Station assembly missions and rendezvoused with Russia's Mir Space Station.

We finished off the morning with a trip to Little Farm to feed the animals then a nice outdoor lunch in Lafayette. What a great morning!