This post may make more sense if you read the #NASAtweetup posts first. (Part 1 & Part 2)

So launch was delayed until Monday at the earliest, and the tweeps were all scrambling to see if they could stay. For most folks, it was a matter of seeing if they could get another day or two off work and rearranging flight/hotel reservations to accommodate a few extra days on the space coast to see the launch.

For me, however, there was no question of if I could/would stay to see the launch. There is absolutely no way I'm missing a chance to see the space shuttle launch from this amazingly close! With a portable job and relatives to crash with, I'd stay til Christmas if I had to.

No, the question was, "Hmm... not launching til at least Monday, eh? Well, it's Friday, and I'd like to be in Philly for Saturday afternoon... that's enough time to fly home and back, right?"

Yep, you heard me.

Remember what I said about not having a reasonable bone in my body?

See, my dear friend Rachel is having a baby, and her surprise baby shower was Saturday. I wasn't expecting to be able to be there, once the tweetup date had been moved from mid-April to the end, since the launch was supposed to be Friday afternoon, and with a couple gazillion people there, traffic would be all sorts of impossible getting out of the area afterward... and since we drove down, there literally wouldn't be enough hours between when we could leave and when the shower would start, even if we drove straight through...

But with the delay, it occurred to me that this trip really hadn't cost me much, so I had just enough time and money to fly home for the shower and fly back for the launch, and drive home with Daddy as planned.

He, of course, thought I was insane. But when I get an idea in my head, it's hard to stop me, and I had decided I wanted to go to Rachel's baby shower!

Surprise!

I found a reasonably-priced flight for Saturday morning that would get me back just in time, and my mom volunteered to pick me up at the airport. It was pretty funny, because I talked to Rachel via email Friday night, so she knew about the delay and that I was still in Florida... then.

So when I turned up in her house the next day, she was pretty surprised! ^_^

It was kind of epic, and just as well that I came home for it, because now it sounds like it's going to be a little while before the next launch attempt. They're not setting a new date yet (until they make sure the part they're replacing fixes the problem, I guess), but not before the 8th, they say, so Dad's driving home, and once we get a date, we'll see if he can go back, and if not, I'll find a flight back! One way or another, I will see Endeavour fly!