Southernmost style.
Day 18 [Florida City, USA]
Me: "So why do you offer a discount for people who walk in without a reservation?"
Owhnn: "Well its less work for us, plus its more like real travelling... You know, when you get to a place and you find out they messed up your reservation and there's no more room and you don't know where you're going to sleep... I mean that's when your real adventure begins, right?"
My surprise continued as Owhnn gave me a tour around the amazingly unique Everglades International Hostel, complete with giant gecko pizza oven and fresh-water swimming hole tapped from an underground river. The garden was lush with overloaded avocado trees and a sign announced "Breakfast: free, all-you-can-eat pancakes". It seemed like a veritable paradise compared to the aggressive urban sprawl that lay just outside the hostel walls.
As I wandered around between the rope-swings, waterfalls and tree-houses, a book lying on a shaded table caught my eye: "Homework: Handbuilt Shelter" by Lloyd Kahn. It was a compendium of owner-built housing projects - all uniquely, intricately and sometimes chaotically crafted - a lot like the hostel and garden I was exploring. Not yet willing to believe that a lack of forward planning could land me in a such a nice place, I opened it and read the first page. Strangely it seemed Owhnn's seat-of-the-pants reservation philosophy was reflected in Kahn's advice to potential amateur home builders: "A tip: if you're not sure what to do, start!"
Day 17 [Miami, USA]
"Pre-flight last meal. What the crew ate before the final shuttle launch: Commander Chris Ferguson: Assorted fruit cup, scrambled egg with cheddar cheese and wheat toast. Pilot Doug Hurley: Strawberries, medium tenderloin steak, eggs over easy, hash brown and wheat toast. Mission specialist Sandra Magnus: Assorted fruit cup, toasted cheese sandwich with tomato on wheat, extra tomatoes on the side and tossed house salad with house dressing. Mission specialist Rex Walheim: Fruit cup with watermelon, strawberries and bananas, turkey sandwich with provolone cheese on sourdough bread."
"The final liftoff of Atlantis! On the shoulders of the space shuttle program, America will continue the dream."
"Good luck, Godspeed and have a little fun up there."
"Godspeed Atlantis! God Bless America!"
"Its very emotional. And I think its a sad situation for our country and I think we are going to miss the shuttle program and human spaceflight."
"It will be a better situation for the entire world the sooner we get back to manned spaceflight."
"I hope they don't take too long. America has to be strong in the space program."
"I hate to see America take a back seat in the space program."
"Dr. Frank Listello wanted to step outside his Melbourne [Florida] office to witness the final voyage of Atlantis but he had too many patients. He shuddered at the thought of a space program dependent on the Russians for transport and hoped the United States would once again move to the forefront of space exploration."
"I'm very saddened by today's last space shot. Of all the services provided by our government, NASA and the U.S. military have provided our finest moments, created our true heroes and have become the stuff little kids dream of."
"I want to give them the tape when they get older to say we were there to see the last shuttle launch ever. Who knows what we may or may not do in space in the future."
Day 16 [Titusville, USA]
When I arrived in 2 days ago in Titusville, Florida - the closest I could get to the Space Shuttle launch pad - I had no plan. I didn't know where I was going to sleep, I didn't know where I would be able to see the launch from, and I didn't know how I was going cope after just having spent 48 hours on a Greyhound bus. I was in a strange place, many thousands of miles from anyone I knew.
But luckily for me I met Donna and Bill.
Every shuttle launch, the Hamiltons open their riverfront backyard up to as many shuttle enthusiasts as they can squeeze in. For a small donation - all proceeds of which are forwarded to the American Cancer Society - you can enjoy the best view of the launching shuttle outside of NASA headquarters. Donna and Bill also provide the luxury of a clean bathroom, hot coffee, fresh donuts and a live simulcast of NASA TV in their garage. If you get in early enough, they'll also let you camp in their backyard.
And so despite the threat of million strong crowds and the tourist mania that descends on the small town of Titusville on launch days, I had the good fortune to get a great night's sleep and enjoy the spectacle amongst the friendly and welcoming crowd of "Donna's Donators". By the end of the emotional launch, it felt almost like I was among family.
It makes me wonder what a happy place the world would be like if all fundraising was this mutually rewarding. The Hamiltons backyard parties have been so successful that the American Cancer Society nets about $5000 per launch.
Kind of a shame its the last one, I guess.
Of course, you might be waiting to hear about what I thought of the launch, my opinions about the future of manned space-flight and my reflections about humanity's direction in general but in the wake of yesterdays events that's all going to take a little more time for me to process.
Until then, I just want to thank Donna and Bill again for their incredible hospitality. Whether or not we have the means or desire to expand human exploration of outer-space in the current social and economic climate, its certainly not stopping the Hamiltons from making their own small steps for human-kind right here and now on earth.
Day 15 [Titusville, USA]
"As soon as an artist knows what they are doing and how to do it and why, they are dead."
Day 10 [Rocky Mountains National Park, USA]
I'm meant to be on my way to Florida to see the last Space Shuttle launch,
but with distractions like these, who can resist a little detour?
Day 9 [Estes Park, USA]
After spending 24 hours on a Greyhound bus,
it seemed about as far away from a highway as you could get.
it seemed about as far away from a highway as you could get.
Day 0 [Sydney, Australia]
I'm rather nervous about this trip - it should have already happened. But NASA kept changing their schedule, and then they even added an extra mission. The space shuttle program that was meant to end over a year ago kept hanging on for dear life.
This time though, they sound like they're serious. Its really the end.
So I've booked my ticket and got a rough itinerary, hopefully leaving enough padding just in case Houston has some last minute problem. With all my fingers crossed, I'm hoping I'll get to see them light that very last candle.
My travel agent convinced me that it would be almost as cheap if I were to return via Europe, and when he suggested that final leg could include a stop in Johannesburg I knew this was turning into something more than simple space tourism. Its almost as if I'm attempting my own little orbit, albeit at a more Vernian velocity.
The prospect of such a voyage sounds terribly exciting and adventurous, but on the eve of my departure I'm actually feeling slightly anxious. Things haven't exactly gone according to plan this time. Firstly there was the ash cloud which has delayed my departure by two days. Although this gave the project a rather more poetic title ("Around the World in Seventy-Two Days" doesn't have quite the same ring), it means I have two less days to cover the 3500km between Seattle (where I will visit family friends) and Orlando (where the shuttle lifts off on July 8th). I had hoped I would be able to traverse this large expanse at my leisure with the help of an Amtrak rail pass, but after several late night, trans-pacific telephone calls I have discovered that all the trains covering these routes are already booked - another reason to be edgy. Of course I could always try reserving a flight between the two coasts, but I'm worried that with the amount of travelling I have planned afterward (including Europe and beyond), the cost of such a flight could have serious implications for my already strained and modest budget.
But enough of worrying and doubting: god-willing (and ash-cloud permitting) I'm going to be crossing the entire pacific ocean tomorrow! In just 14 hours I'll traverse over 12000km - even without the hazy prospect of a possible shuttle launch at the other end, this is an exciting concept in itself. Its time to stop fretting about how I'm going to travel in a far-off country, or where I'm going to stay in cities I've never been to. I have my passport, I have Bill's letter and I've emailed Jonathan Harris. Its time to try and make good on some old promises.
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