In 1984, the Columbia was flown into Edwards AFB and then transferred by trailer through Lancaster to the Lockheed plant in Palmdale to update the avionics. I followed on a road parallel to shoot these photos.
Before that I went to Edwards with a young friend to see the first landing of the shuttle at Edwards.
But by far one of the most sci-fi experiences I was when I lived in the small community of Ojai CA. I happened to be outside after the sun came up and heard the two loud sonic booms of the shuttle as it passed overhead on its way to Edwards. The house shook, the chickens went crazy and the horses started galloping around snorting and stomping. Straight out of Robert Heinlein story.
In 1983 I did a huge figure 8 Vision Quest journey around the country and one destination was to see a Shuttle launch in Florida. Something that I always wanted to do from when I was a small kid was to see a rocket launch. I met some people and went in with them in their motor home. I watched the launch from 7 miles away- as close as we could get. Both of these experiences were beautiful.
From there I went up to PA to spend some time with my Dad. I ended up scrubbing up and did surgery with him. Then back to California.
