Partaking in History

Last Friday, September 21st, 2012, The Endeavor space shuttle made it’s last flight atop of a 747 down to Los Angeles in order to be stored in a museum for the rest of time. 

I didn’t hear of this adventure until Thursday night when my dad suggested we attempt to take BART into the city in order to see it on his day off. It sounded like a lot of work and I really didn’t know what he was talking about so I suggested we just go on a hike instead. Then my mom weighed in and was utterly shocked that we wouldn’t get in on that opportunity. Then I did some interneting and realized just how big of a deal it really was. 

Friday morning I woke up earlier than anticipated to see my dad scoping out The Endeavor’s flight path for the day. Rather than navigating the streets of SF early in the morning and warding off other hopeful viewers, he proposed we hike to the nearby hills overlooking our valley on one side and the bay on the other side. Being able to time this out correctly and at an optimal viewing location was a long shot, but we went for it anyway. 

Dad, Delilah, and I drove to the parking lot of Las Trampas and vigorously started the hike. I’d never done this hike and my dad was only fairly certain it would be a successful place to view The Endeavor. Also, we started this hike at 9:25am and The Endeavor was to take off from Sacramento at 9:30am. It would take less than 20 minutes to fly that distance and it would certainly take more than 20 minutes to hike from the Las Trampas parking lot to the top of the hill. As we climbed upward, a motorcyclist rode down the paved path and warned up of the closed road ahead. Sure enough, the path ended 20 yards ahead where EBMud workers were constructing road improvements. As we contemplated turning back, my sister Nicki texted us from Sacramento with a picture of The Endeavor riding atop the 747 with the capitol building in the background. This was just the extra motivation we needed to find an alternate route to the top. 

We hiked onward, looking up at every common commercial plane that flew overhead uneventfully. Finally we reached the top of the ridge, but not the spot intended to be our final location. For no apparent reason, we hovered there looking around. I directed my gaze toward Mt. Diablo, wondering out loud if perhaps we should’ve driven to the top of that mountain for a better view instead. And then, just as my doubt of location was verbalized, a small, bulky dot appeared in the distance with an even smaller dot next to it. I turned to my dad and questioned, “Is that it?!” with hopeful enthusiasm. And sure enough, as the dots approached, their blur took form and The Endeavor was revealed. It was unlike anything I’ve ever even dreamed of seeing. A 747 flying low is impressive on its own, but then to be mounted by an actual space shuttle is incredible. The small dot next to it was another plane in place for either/both protection and documentation. As the duo flew overhead, we had a perfect view of them with the iconic Mt. Diablo in the background. It seemed as if the pairing flew directly above us at one point. We stared in awe as it passed over our ridge and drifted down into the bay lands beyond us. It felt like we were part of something great when it was happening. After the sighting, we were on a historical high and, as it turns out, so was everyone else on the ridge that day. We came across several other hikers who had also seen The Endeavor, all of whom matched our enthusiasm for the siting. Later that day we watched the news recap of the event and saw the extreme measures others went through to view the same thing we did. And after all that, I truly think we had the best experience possible for us & The Endeavor. History, man.