After three weeks I finally made it out for a sunrise on Weds. Lots of people out looking for shells, walking with and without dogs, jogging, and of course, fishing. A lot of birds too, probably looking for breakfast. At 7 a.m. it was close to 70°. The sun was out all day and intense, making it quite toasty in the afternoon.
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| Early morning view of SpaceX. |
Time to get rid of the six 2-1/2 gallon baggies full of shells I'd collected since we arrived. Pat suggested a Christmas tree. Four hours of work produced a decorated tree, presents, and "Merry Christmas." With the sun shining brightly pictures didn't turn out so well, but more importantly I had fun and a lot of people stopped by to chat. Met one interesting young woman and her two-year-old son, Apollo. In our half hour conversation I learned that her husband works for SpaceX. Why is her son named Apollo? He was named for her Dad who worked on the Nasa Apollo mission.
Heads up from our son Josh that SpaceX might do a static fire test on Starship (on the right) Weds. I got dressed for the occasion with a shirt from back in the earlier days of SpaceX. We followed Nasa Space Flight (an independent group that keeps us up-to-date on SpaceX activities) today and made it across the street to watch the test across the bay. Along with smoke there was a very loud boom. It appeared successful with all six engines firing and no damage to the rocket or surrounding area. Nothing like a launch, but it means progress is being made towards the next launch in the first quarter of next year. Super Heavy (the first-stage booster on the left, that is intended to be reusable) was moved to the launch pad this week and a static test on it will be upcoming, maybe as early as next week. It has 33 Raptor engines. The Starship along with Super Heavy will weigh 4,400 tons at launch!
Pat spent the entire day smoking a pork roast. Final task was to wrap it in foil and a towel and let it set for up to 5 hours It was delicious. Thanks to our middle son Eric for his expertise! We did watch "A Christmas Story" after dinner and I did stay awake! No, I had not seen it before. I don't enjoy sitting watching a movie, at home or in the theater, so I guess I compensate by getting my zzz's. Even though we had color TV and even cable earlier than many when I was little, we didn't watch it much. My Mom had her favorite "who-done-its" as she called them, Mannix and Rockford Files, and she always watched Lawrence Welk. I had a few favorites I watched. I loved "Here Comes the Brides" with Bobby Sherman. My Dad didn't find it an appropriate show for me to watch, but oh, those Friday nights I spent at Jan's house! 😉 I wasn't much on cartoons and I still don't care for animated shows. Pretty boring, I know.
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| The mosquitos are back. ☹️ |
Where are the Piepers now? South Padre Island, TX
And I thought it was just me that falls asleep in movies. I remember one of the Star Wars movies I was out during the credits and Michael had to wake me up so someone could get to a seat. Hope you enjoy watching the big rocket launch in Jan/Feb.
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