"Ticket to Ride"

 Living on the Space Coast I have the privilege of watching rocket launches. Yesterday, April 1, was a historic launch of the return to the moon mission Artemis II. I took this picture from Jetty Park of the launch, it was a beautiful day, but let me catch up on the rest of the week first.

Over the weekend, March 28 and 29, I had plans to do things but I ended up staying at home doing chores around the house. The only pictures I took were of the bird feeder and none of those were worth sharing.

On Monday. March 30, I met up with my friend Ken at Lou's Blues for our Monday beers, and then I walked out to the beach to watch a SpaceX Starlink launch. It was scheduled for 5:15 PM. The local pelicans were flying in formation, and there were plenty of dogs running around Canova Beach...

I think this guy was making a "pack" with his two dogs, they were shaking on it...

The dogs were very willing to chase the sticks, but usually ran farther than the throw. Happy dogs!

I had 20 minutes to kill before the launch so I walked down to the Hilton. I had not been to the pool area in a long time and I checked out the poolside bar. Did not stop for a drink. I started to head back toward Lou's for the launch. This sandpiper was hiding in the Sargassum seaweed.

The launch, a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 29 mini-satellites for the Starlink grid.

The SpaceX contrail kind of blended in with the clouds...

On Tuesday, March 31, I spent the morning waiting for a phone call from State Farm. My insurance has been going up steadily for a few years ( I think since I turned 65) and I wanted to discuss options. They finally called and I feel that the agent listened to my concerns and we were to make some major changes to the coverage, I have not seen the new policy yet, she said it would be a few days.

Then April 1 arrived and I decided I wanted to see the Artemis II mission launch up close. I knew there were crowds and that traffic would be bad, but this is a historic launch I have not seen since I was in High School. I always wanted a Ticket to Ride a rocket, but I missed my opportunity. But there were four astronauts preparing for the trip of their lives. The program is named after the twin sister of Apollo.

My plan was to pack some food and drinks, charge the phone and camera batteries, bring the latest book I am reading, and head to Jetty Park. I left the house at 12:15 for a 6:24 launch. I arrived at Jetty Park around 1 PM.

Cocoa Beach area was packed with cars and people. Many from out of state (or country) and not knowing where they were going. I saw signs for parking of $30 at the pier and $50 at some Hotels along the way. I have an Annual Pass for Jetty Park, so I knew it would get me in. When I arrived at the gate, they had the sign saying that they were Sold Out of Day passes and there were no cars. It was easy getting in and there was plenty of parking. Now I had five hours to kill.

My plan was to sit out in the sun and read the book I brought. But within minutes of my setting up my chair and getting a soda, it started to rain. It basically rained hard until 3:15 PM. I sat in the car reading.

When it cleared up enough, I decided to take a walk out to the fishing pier. While out there, I started to talk to a gentleman who said he drove all the way from Cleveland Ohio, a spur of the moment decision. He had spent the night in Fort Pierce, 90 miles away, because it was the first place he could get a room. Everything was booked in Brevard County.

I started to take some wildlife photos like this cormorant trying to take off...

Apparently, I must have looked like a local because people kept asking me questions about the launch, which direction would it go, how fast it is...etc. I think because I had my hat with "Drinks Well with Others", people were more comfortable to approach me. I hope I look like a nice guy.

As I was taking the cormorant photo, an Indian family started to ask me questions. There were parents with two high school age kids, a boy and a girl. The Mom did most of the talking and she had a strong accent, but all four seemed interested in my answers. Being April 1, I may have stretched the truth a few times. That is them walking away on the right, the Mom has the white cap and black dress.

I was getting a little hungry so I decided to head back to the car around 5 PM. A guy had set up a hot dog stand with a great deal: 2 hot dogs, a water or soda, a bag of chips, all for $10. You can see he was doing well. I did stop back to talk to him after the launch and most people were gone, and he said he did great but lost the lunch crowd for the two hours of rain we had.

At the car, the couple in the next car were getting some sun. I asked them where they were from and they said they were local, living off 520. After eating, about six County Sheriff cars arrived with lights blinking, and there was one Homeland Security car (on right). They all headed to the beach but I never found out what happened.

As I was crossing the boardwalk from the beach to the pier, two of the Police officers headed down the pier. Not sure what they were looking for but they look like they had EMT gear.

Interesting thing I noticed, there were lots of white butterflies heading south. Doing a Google search, I found they are Great Southern Whites who migrate North  and South in Florida.

I did run into the couple in the car next to me walking along the Jetty.

To waste time, I started to take photos of crashing waves along the Jetty. I even filmed a fishing Bob that was stuck in the rocks.

And finally, a little later than the 6:24 schedule, the rocket lifted off. I only took a few still shots and decided to video the launch. I need to do some manipulating to get it for use in the BLOG, I will share them in another post.

Although it is hard to see, just like the shuttle, the Space Launch System has a main rocket, two solid rocket boosters, and an astronaut capsule called Orion. The two dots on the left are the solids falling off and the dot on the right in the astronauts atop the main engine.

There was a great crowd watching and cheering the launch...

From my car, I noticed the large contrail was doing interesting things due to upper level wind patterns.

Hey, I started with pelicans in formation, well here are six flying into the sunset.

Since there were so many cars, I decided to stay at Jetty Park for the rising of the full "Pink" moon out of the Atlantic. Is it ironic that a full moon rose just an hour after a launch that is heading to the moon?

I continued talking to people including a local couple who had stayed to take photos of the moon too.

There was a father and son, who was 13, who have flew from Texas just for the launch. The dad wanted a picture of his son with the full moon, and I decided to get a shot of him too.

It is noticeable to me that I did not share the names of all the people I talked to during the event. The reason is simple, I am not very good at remembering names so I do not ask any more. I am more comfortable asking Where are you from?

The pier and beach were cleared of people, but I was to find out that the roads were still backed up.

It took me 40 minutes to get from the parking spot to the front gate, probably a mile. I decided to look at Traffic on Google Maps and it showed 528 and A1A as a big red blob of standstill. Even trying to go out through back streets, it took another 30 minutes to get to Minuteman Causeway. From there it opened up and I got home in a reasonable 30 minutes. But I got to see the launch live!!

Waking up on April 2, my goal was to share some of my recent pictures, but my phone reminded me there was another launch.  At 7:55 AM, a SpaceX Starlink launched. I took this photo from my driveway. Three launches in four days. I want a Ticket to Ride!

About Title

"Ticket to Ride" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. Issued as a single in April 1965, it became the Beatles' seventh consecutive number 1 hit in the United Kingdom and their third consecutive number 1 hit (and eighth in total) in the United States, and similarly topped national charts in Canada, Australia and Ireland. The song was included on their 1965 album Help!. Recorded at EMI Studios in London in February that year, the track marked a progression in the Beatles' work through the incorporation of drone and harder-sounding instrumentation relative to their previous releases. Among music critics, Ian MacDonald describes the song as "psychologically deeper than anything the Beatles had recorded before" and "extraordinary for its time".

In March 1965, the Beatles and their manager, Brian Epstein, selected "Ticket to Ride" and "Yes It Is" to be the A- and B-sides, respectively, of the group's first single release of the year. The record was issued by EMI's Parlophone label on 9 April 1965 in the United Kingdom, and by Capitol Records on 19 April in the United States.