Bound for Key Largo

6 AM comes rather early when everyone has been working late to get the station ready for its 3-week adventure. Gail Hebert, my NASA counterpart, ad I decided that we could play "connect-the-dots" with the bruises we had acquired over the past several weeks on our legs.

So there we were, packed and ready for our drive: Gail and I, Dick (a NASA retiree), Mike and Russ, both Dynamac wildlife biologists. It was amazing, the amount of stress and excitement in the air at the same time. We pulled away at 8AM sharp with "clump" (the Station's anchor") and support barge in tow. Dennis and Joe would follow shortly with the Station.

The drive was uneventful except for the continuous rain that made the job for Mike and Russ just that much harder, since they were doing the towing.

By the time we reached Key Largo, the rain was coming down horizontally. we unpacked and waited for the time to go meet the rest of our team, including the Station.

We headed off for John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park where the Station would arrive to be floated off the trailer; and there they were, right as expected at 5PM. The drive had done nothing to dull the bright yellow of her hull.

After what seemed like a too perfect deployment, Dennis, Joe and Russ rode the Station back to the MRDF. What a sight they made! The three of them perched up there like the Three Musketeers, boat hooks in hand.

Now it was time for a semi-celebration - we had made it! We headed for a little Mexican place around the corner to reflect on the journey to this point; we still had a long way to go.