Has it already been 4 years?

On February 1st, 2007 it will have been 4 years since Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated above the skies of Texas. I had the honor of being on one of the search teams for the debris. It was one of the most exhilarating and sobering experiences of my life.

Although I never met any of the astronauts, I feel like they were my friends. Here is a tribute to them:

Guess what I saw!

I was just about to leave for work this morning when I looked towards the Rocky Mountains. There was (what I thought) was a meteor breaking up and creating a dazzling light show. I found out later it was an old Russian rocket coming back to earth.

Here are the videos:

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/video/10669653/index.html

http://www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=1961501&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1

Click on the thumbnail at the right of the second page to watch the second video.

Even though it was beyond cool, it did make me a little sad because it reminded me of when the space shuttle Columbia broke up on reentry.

Well, I made it (finally)

I am in the state of Colorado. If you have seen the movie "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" then you might begin to understand what I went through.

Here's a synopsis of my trip:

Day 1

• I tried leaving the house at 7:00 PM Thursday night, but was delayed until 7:20 PM because of torrential downpours.
• I got on the road at 7:20 PM and headed north. I caught up with the torrential downpours. The rain finally let up somewhere west of Woodville.
• I got to I-35 and headed towards Dallas. I thought everything was OK because it wasn't raining, but I found out that there were tornadoes all around me. I guess that is why it was so windy.
• I drove all night and got to Amarillo at 7:00 AM. The first bridge I went over in Amarillo was icy and I fish-tailed ever so slightly. All the trees were beautiful because they were covered in ice. I-40 from Amarillo all the way to Alburqurque, NM was closed because of ice and snow. I had a feeling I was going to be stuck here awhile.
• I pulled into the mall in Amarillo and parked next to all of the semi trucks which were parked there. I grabbed my pillow and fell asleep.
• I woke up and tried to start my truck. No dice. Then it hit me -- the Toyota Tundra has this "feature" that I had forgotten about. It has daytime running lights and they stay on all of the time. When you shut the truck off, the lights remain on until you open the door to get out. I never opened the door because I fell asleep.
• Someone was nice enough to jump start me and I headed over to AutoZone to get the battery tested. Yup, you guessed it -- bad battery. So I spent the next 1/2 hour in the freezing cold trying to get the old battery out and the new battery in.
• I waited. A lot.
• Finally, at about 6:00 PM they opened I-40, so I headed west.

Day 2

• You would think that if TXDOT opened a major highway it would be safe to travel. It wasn't. It took me 3 hours to go 60 miles. Blowing snow? Check. Icy roads? Check. Drivers who should not be on the road even under perfect driving conditions? Check. It was a nightmare and I was scared to death. The worst part about it was there was no place to pull over because of the amount of snow. If I knew the person who made the decision to re-open the road, I would kick his butt all the way from Amarillo to Houston.
• I made it to New Mexico. Magically, the roads improved dramatically. It really makes me wonder about the brain power at TXDOT. I pulled over to the first rest area in NM and evaluated the situation. It was snowing lightly, but the roads were in excellent condition. I decided to press on.
• I drove on I-40 until I got to Highway 84. The reason I wanted to take this road was because it cut out a huge chuck of travel by not going all the way to Alburqurque. I knew I-25 North to Colorado was closed from Las Vegas, NM to the border of Colorado. So I headed up highway 84. It was a little icy, but not bad. The problems was FOG!
• I got to where highway 84 intersects I-25. All I can say was that this place looked like a war zone. There were piles of snow bigger than anything I have seen in my like. There were 18-wheelers stuck. There was nothing there except a gas station. I pulled in there and spent the night in my truck. I was well-prepared, but it got so cold that it woke me up twice.

Day 3

• I woke up just before the sun came up none the worse for the wear. When the sun finally came up, it was worse than I thought. I expected to see a little more than this single gas station, but there was nothing. I stopped some people looking for gas and they informed me that I wasn't in Las Vegas, but two exits south. I-25 was opened to Las Vegas as it wasn't the night before.
• I got some gas for the truck and some breakfast for myself and just waited it out. It was a beautiful, sunny day, but I learned we were not going anywhere. There is a place called Raton Pass in NM. There were 10 to 18 foot snow drifts across the highway. Even the big snow plows could not get through.
• I got in line at the entrance to the freeway at 8:00 AM. At first we were told they were open I-25 at noon. Then 2:00 PM. Then they said they weren't going to open it. I had enough. Someone told me that I-25 South was open to Santa Fe and that I could take highway 285 North to Colorado and then cut over to I-25. I was tired, sore, hungry and I had to pee so I decided to go that way.
• 285 wasn't bad at all. It was a very scenic drive. It was so scenic that I wasn't paying attention and got a ticket going down a hill. Oh well.
• I went up over the mountains in Colorado and it was a little icy coming down. Not bad, but at this point my nerves were shot.
• I got to I-25 and headed to Colorado Springs. I pulled in the driveway at 8:30 PM and started unloading the truck and trailer. I finished unloading about 11:00 PM.
• I went to return the trailer and the place they recommended wasn't even there! I'm telling you it was nothing but farmland. So, I had to drive all the way to downtown Colorado Springs to return the trailer.
• As I was driving back at midnight, I saw a bunch of fireworks. I couldn't figure out what they were for. Then it hit me -- It's New Year's Eve! Yup, Happy Freaking New Year. I went home and went to bed.

Besides all of that, I love it up here and am enjoying my new job.