Like my 2006 road trip, this one too is beginning on a rainy note.  Hopefully, the rest of the trip will see sunny skies, or it could be a long two weeks;-)  I’ve just finished packing the car and trailer and am getting ready to hit the road in just a little while.  This first leg on the way to Mammoth Cave is going to be an overnighter.  I figure I’ll drive for about 4-5 hours and then break for a couple.  It’s about 13 hours to Mammoth Cave, so with breaks I’m figuring to be there sometime late Sunday morning.  I’m going to try to take some tour through the cave and then get to my camp site and relax.  Monday will be a short hop over to Great Smoky Mountains which is where I’m staying until Thursday when I will head to Georgia and then on to Florida on Friday.  The launch is still on for Saturday the 13th.  Unless I happen across some wifi access, this will be the only post until Thursday when I reach the the KOA campground in Georgia.

So NASA held the Flight Readiness Review today and it’s official.  Endeavour is scheduled to lift off at 7:17 a.m. on June 13 for STS-127.  I’ve got the outbound leg of my trip fully booked and I’m ready to take off on Saturday afternoon.

So after giving it some thought, I’m revising the itinerary just a bit.  I’m now going to depart on Saturday the 6th and drive to Mammoth Cave National Park.  I’ll spend that Sunday night there and then head over to Great Smoky Mountains on Monday as planned.  This just breaks up the outbound leg of the trip a little better.  As you can see in the above picture, I’ve got my trailer assembled and hooked up.  It pulls quite nicely and more than doubles the cargo capacity of the Solstice and I don’t have to remove the passenger seat.  I’m still working out some glitches with the wiring (brakes and signals work, but the running lights don’t).  Should get that squared away tomorrow.

I think I have my schedule worked out for my upcoming road trip.  I’ll be departing on Sunday, June 7, heading for the the Smoky Mountains.  I’m going to drive straight through in order to get there late Monday afternoon.  I’ll relax that night and then spend Tuesday and Wednesday touring the park.

On Thursday, the 11th, I’ll drive to Stone Mountain Georgia and camp somewhere in Southern Georgia.

On Friday I’ll push on to Kennedy Space Center.  If everything stays on track I’ll see STS-127 lift off bright and early on Saturday.

Sunday I’ll head up towards Appomattox Courthouse, probably spending the night somewhere in NC.

Monday I’ll head up to D.C. after touring Appomattox.  I’ll spend Tuesday to Thursday touring D.C.  I want to try to see all the major monuments and then a couple of days in parts of the Smithsonian.

Friday the 19th I’ll head for home, driving straight through again.  I should make it home late Saturday afternoon at which point I’ll crash…

So my road trip is coming together.  I’m going to take two full weeks off, the week before the scheduled launch and the week after.  On the way down, I’m planning to spend a couple of days at Great Smoky Mountain NP and a quick stop at Stone Mountain, GA.  After the launch it’s up to D.C. for a couple days then home.  I installed my trailer hitch on Monday – I still have to get the lights hooked up though.  I ordered a trailer today which should be here by Friday at the latest.  It’s nothing spectacular, but it beats pulling the passenger seat like I did in ’06.  I may try to get it painted to match the Solstice later this summer, but for now black will do fine.

So I’m going to give it another shot this year.  Endeavour is already on the launch pad as the emergency rescue shuttle for the Hubble Servicing Mission (STS-125).  The chance of delays should be minimized since it had to be ready to go in the event of damage to Atlantis during it’s mission.  The launch is currently scheduled for June 13.

I’m going back to Plan A, which is a road trip allowing me more flexibility in the event of delays.  I’m planning to take two or two and a half days to get to KSC.  Given enough time, I’ll try to swing through Great Smoky Mountain NP and Stone Mountain, GA.  If everything goes according to plan, after the launch I’ll head up the coast and spend a few days in D.C.  I’m thinking I’ll spend a day seeing the monuments and then a couple days at the Smithsonian before heading for home.

We’ll see how it goes…