Look who welcomed Amanda back to California yesterday!
Our daughter Amanda graduated from Army Basic Training in South Carolina and flew to Los Angeles to then catch a plane to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey where she will be learning Arabic. When she landed in Los Angeles, the space shuttle Endeavor was her runway partner. She shot this photo out the window of the plane.
Wasn’t it nice of NASA to welcome her home?
The space shuttle flew over my husband’s office in Sacramento on its farewell journey. Sacramento area residents packed rooftops, overpasses, and the Capitol Mall to witness the event. Hundreds of thousands turned out for the open-air retirement party.
I’m sorry I didn’t get to see it in person. Spontaneous tears took me by surprise when I watched the Sacramento flyover on the news. I suppose my tears stemmed from a mixture of pride, gratitude to the brave astronauts and their families, and awe of the American engineering ingenuity.
Did the Endeavor fly over your town? Did you see it? Did you watch it on the news? I’m curious . . . how did it make you feel?
P. S. Amanda finished Basic Training, but I have one more of her letters home I will share with you soon.
A very belated congratulations to your whole family. This is a big moment. While a way to celebrate it too, with a fly over. Now how do I arrange that?
What an awesome welcome home!
I was so sad to see the shuttles retired. We should be building more, bigger, better, not mothballing them.
When I say ‘we’, I mean you Americans, of course. If it was up to us Brits, we’d have a mini with two Airfix wings attached.
Didn’t get to see it. Didn’t see it on the news either! Thanks for sharing the picture. It is awesome, isn’t it? Good luck to Amanda! I bet she’s glad to be back in her home state!
She is thrilled to be back in California, only 4 hours from home, and in one of the prettiest places in California. I can’t wait to visit her.
Too bad you missed the shuttle’s retirement tour. It was a sight.
If we had known it was going to welcome Amanda home, we wouldn’t have been so annoyed! So glad she catch the view. (although I didn’t include pictures, one of the commenters linked to theirs – you can see from Shoreares/linda’s how low it flew in our neighborhood (around the corner from Gabby and Commander’s home in NASA,TX)
An amazing sight. (and thanks for memory foam mattresses and velcro as well as TANG among all the serious medical and scientific results…all for pennies a day from taxpayers)
Maybe this flight will spark the curiosity in some younger – maybe they will grow the next set of wings.
Tang! I forgot about Tang. Do they still make it? I used to eat it with a spoon when my mom wasn’t looking.
The space program has been a part of our lives. So much so, we started to take space shuttle launches for granted. How nice the retirement party brought us out in droves and united us as a nation. Especially nice since we are do divided right now. Enough of that, this isn’t a political blog.
Nice Picture… So… Arabic huh… send my Salam and Hob (Peace and love) for her.
Now I know how to sign off emails and phone calls to her! Salam and Hob.
Congrats to Amanda! What a thrilling journey she has ahead of her. It’s so nice to read about it, Robin and your love for her really shines through. Look forward to reading more about Amanda.
How nice of you to say! And, now nice of NASA to welcome her home.
That WAS nice.
.
Must have been a strange feeling. She’s a credit to you.
Thank you. We mostly got out of Amanda’s way.
Well done to Amanda! She really deserved that fly past
You must be so relieved she’s closer to home 
We are glad she is back in California and that she will be in the classroom for two years, and not in harm’s way.
That’s wonderful
Aww, lovely. You must be so pleased to have your girl back closer to you. It must be a time of mixed emotions and viewing this will have contributed to that as well.
We are delighted she is out of Basic and back in California. Monterey is a 4 hour or so drive from us, but is a LOVELY place to visit. We will be able to see her in a month and a half.
Very cool. Most of us will never get a chance to see anything like it, so glad Amanda took a photo
NASA was thoughtful to welcome her back in such a grand manner. It is a great photo! Most everyone else just saw it in the air.
How cool to see that out of the window!
I like the way you just casually mention that she’s off to learn Arabic, that’s a major “endeavour” in itself! (Sorry, couldn’t resist!).
Ha ha. Very funny. I love a good pun. I’ll be doing a full post on the Language Institute when I have more information. Yes! Arabic! How hard does that sound? She is excited about it and Arabic was her first choice (they weren’t given a say so about what language they would be assigned). After the Language Institute she will go to cryptology school in Arizona. Two years of school total . . .
Congratulations to Amanda ~ she deserves a fly past
I think so too!
There’s one part of my brain that doesn’t quite approve of spending billions and trillions of dollars exploring space when that money could fix most of the problems we have here on earth; then another that is in total awe of the vision that drove it; and another that is in awe of how they actually managed it, with the tools to hand, especially in the early days – but more than anything else, I’m aware of the advances in technology and science that have come to us as a result of a program that probably defined the epitome of American culture for the second half of the twentieth century, just as the age of exploration probably defined Great Britain a century ago.
Amanda’s photo says it all – inelegant, but ingenious and determined.
I’ll admit that for one brief moment when I heard about the retirement tour I thought, “Who is paying for that?” The thought soon vanished because with all our country’s woes, it was nice to see the swell of American pride, patriotism, and the country so excited.
Well put . . . the shuttle is ingenious and determined.
Yes, the ‘farewell tour’ seems to have elicited a surprising amount of esprit de corps – isn’t it fantastic that a stubby little glider can have such an effect on so many people!
Indeed! The emotion it sparked in me, as I said in my post, was surprising and lovely.
Super Cool! And yes, I only saw it on the news, however once I made the trip to Cape Canaveral to see a launch. What is it about nostalgia that can pull on our emotions? Best! ~kl
I bet the launch was super cool. I am a nostalgic and sentimental fool.
Didn’t get to see Endeavor, but in December 2006 my husband and I were driving home one night in Maryland. And there was a brilliant light arcing up into the sky. It was a nighttime shuttle launch that was visible along the East Coast. That was an amazing site.
Arabic and cryptology. Wow. The career possibilities are amazing, even after retiring from an army career….!
*SIGHT* (The archaeologist in me is always mixing up these two words!)
Your fingers had a moment of muscle-memory when you typed “site.” I bet seeing the launch, even long-distance what a thrill.
You are right . . . the Arabic and cryptology will open doors for her after her stint in the Army. We spoke to a gentleman who did both and he said the possibilities are endless. I’m hoping she gets attached to a lovely embassy in Austria. Do they need Arabic translators in Austria? Hope so!
Europe has a huge immigrant population from Arabic-speaking countries. I’m sure Austria does, too. And sadly, those embassies may need extra security with the current climate….
Good point. I think Paris in particular has a large Arabic community. I remember reading about the Parisians being upset about it. Weren’t there riots? Or maybe that was London.
What a great way to be welcomed home! I love seeing those shuttles taking piggy-back rides. It’s sad that we won’t see that again. End of an era.
The piggy-back retirement tour had a child-like glee. I’m sad to see the end of the era, but anxiously await the start of a new one . . . if there is one.
I never saw the Endeavor fly, but I worked in project management administration for one little tiny communications piece on there. Forever a source of pride in my life.
Oh gosh, as it should be. Even if it was a tiny piece of the communication system, it was an important one!
I’m so glad Amanda got to see her!
Congrats to Amanda and this gave me goosebumps too. Do you get to see her? Arabic.. wow
Perhaps my daughter will be working on the next big space program!
We can’t see her until she has finished the first two phases (35 days). After that, her freedoms open up. She is so excited she got Arabic. It was her first choice. It must be a difficult language to learn, but I think her career opportunities with it will be vast.
I sure hope your daughter works on the next space program! That would be cool.
Your daughter sounds crackerjack smart…
And a bulldog when she sets her mind to something.
How cool was this! A definite well-deserved treat so many of us could only wish for. Will she have some freedom in Monterey?
She has her phone but can use it only in her room. For the first 35 days they are pretty restricted and can’t have visitors. After that, it is more like college. In fact, she is in something like a dorm room.
Almost as impressive as the Shuttle is an aircraft that they can just bolt it on… and the thing still flies.
Onward and upward for Amanda. More training. Then some more training. And then some more.
Yes . . . between the language school for 62 weeks and then cryptology school in Arizona, she has two more years of training. I’m happy because it keeps her out of harm’s way for two years.
Good point about the plane. I wonder who said, “Here’s an idea . . . let’s go piggyback.”
Just flashed on Bill Murray. “Army training, Sir!”
With the grueling weeks your daughter has had, she deserved a special sight like that. How cool that she got to see it.
I bet it gave her goose bumps. It did me.
WOW. Somehow this sounds appropriate–like a salute to her complete basic training. You must be a proud mom.
Yup . . . I’m a proud mom. Nice of NASA to welcome her home.
appropriate that Amanda was welcomed that way (lol)
I am pretty sure they did not fly over Ontario so I have to just watch it on tv like you did
NASA is so thoughtful that way.
The TV coverage has been great . . .
My Hubby works at Edwards AFB so he was able to see it land there and then take off for it’s flight to Sacramento and then to LA.
How cool is that!
I watched it on television lift off from Cape Canaveral. I wanted to drive to the other side of the state to watch in person, but my car had other plans and said kerplooey. I was sad to see it go. The end of an era. We had come so far in the space field and it is upsetting to see it end. Now we’re back to capsules splashing down in the ocean. It’s nice to see, however, that these magnificent space travelers will be on display for all to see, and not dismantled. I would have had tingles in my belly if I’d seen your daughter’s view out of my plane window. Can’t get a better welcome home present than that. Thanks for sharing.
I guess my tears were, in part, sadness too. The end of an era we grew up with. I also reflected on the Challenger tragedy and the loss of its 7 crew members.
Good luck with your car issues!