Heading West

I'm in a cheap motel room in Biloxi, Mississippi, hoping to get a solid night's sleep after a long party weekend at the Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama. In the morning I continue heading west, en route to California.

I've uploaded some new photos to catch you up on my wanderings. Some miscellaneous photos of my travels can be found here.

After the launch I drove to Sarasota, Florida to see the Ringling Museum. It was cool, but I think I was expecting something more. . . over the top. Photos here.

After that I worked my way towards Pensacola. I stayed at Gulf Islands National Seashore near Pensacola Beach. Nearby was Fort Pickens, which was built in 1359 or something. Okay maybe not that old. I watched sunset from atop the fort. Photos here.

And then there was the Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama. A three-day festival on the beach. Five stages. Fifty thousand or so people. Lots of good times. I could have done better at planning out my festival time to see more of the bands that were on my wish list, but I still had a good time. And of course, there was an unhealthy amount of partying. Photos here.

Liftoff!

After two previously failed attempts to see a space shuttle launch, I drove back to Florida from Dallas Saturday and Sunday. I arrived at my pre-determined viewing area around 11pm Sunday for the 9am Monday launch. And it happened!!!

It was cloudy at launch time (though clearer about 20 minutes before and after), so I only got about 20 seconds of video. No stills because I was forced to scramble into a new position at T minus 30 seconds. Thus I only grabbed video because at least stills can be captured from that. However, due to the rushed shooting the view and clarity aren't so great. But I saw it live, and that's the important thing.

YouTube video is here.

Jazz Fest!

After two nights in North Carolina I drove to New Orleans for Jazz Fest. Met up with Stephen Millet from WPI, and we stayed with his friends Jimmy (demoted to Jimmy 2  - he knows why) and Susan in the Lakeview area of New Orleans. Three days of Jazz Fest and a day checking out New Orleans. It was pretty sweet. Pictures are here.

Gentilly Stage at Jazz Fest

French Quarter

Opening the Spillway

In Dallas for the next few nights. Saturday I'll drive back towards Florida for the shuttle launch, and then on to Gulf Shores, Alabama for the Hangout Music Festival.

Lost in Appalachia

OK, I'm not really lost but I am in Appalachia. Visiting family in Black Mountain, NC for a couple of nights before moving on to New Orleans for JazzFest. After that, I head back to Florida for a second shot at seeing Endeavour launch. It was delayed due to mechanical issues and won't launch until May 10th at the earliest.

By now you've figured out that I'm not highly skilled at keeping this blog updated. Perhaps you heeded my warning when I used the phrase "I'm not a big fan of blogs" in my tag line. Perhaps you did not. I could promise to be better at it in the future, but previous promises have proven fruitless so I will not bother. I'm updating it now, and that's all that matters.

After San Diego I spent three weeks in Dallas. Did a lot of nothing some of the time, and got some work done on my car, visited with friends and family, cut down a tree in my parents' yard, and went for some runs the rest of the time. Not many photos of most of that, but I do have some pictures from a weekend trip to Jack and Kelly Paadise's house on Lake Limestone. You can see them here.

Jack and Baby Joe

On Wednesday April 27th I hit the road with Jack Motherf@#$ing Paradise (TM) to drive to Florida to see the launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-134). We spent a few days there, Brett Bickel and Jason Rossi joined us on launch day, it was delayed a while, and you know the rest. Photos here.

As close as most will ever get. I got closer once, but that's a different story.

With some unexpected time on my hands, I followed Brett to Charleston, SC to hang there for a couple of nights before heading to Black Mountain. It was my first trip to Charleston, and I could definitely go back. Photos here.

Stopped by the Custom House on my tour of Chuck Town.

That's all for now. JazzFest is next, certainly with photos to follow.