It's a good thing we're going into space, because it's crowded here.

And nothing demonstrates how crowded it is better than the fact that I spent an hour in a traffic jam in the middle of the Mojave desert. It's the DESERT. It should be the middle of NOWHERE and be EMPTY (the problem, of course, is that it's smack between LA and Vegas, and a lot of people make it a weekend trip).

But I made it to Barstow yesterday, and Mojave this morning, with time to spare, even if the spare time came out of my sleep. My somewhat arbitrary estimate is that there were 5000-10000 people present, based on my parking pass number, the size of the RV lot, and other fudge factors. Unexpectedly, I ran into thomb's group (having spotted his Dogwood Moon shirt), and stuck with them for the duration.

Spaceplane launches aren't terribly photogenic, but that wasn't going to stop me, or any of the other gazillion people with cameras:
( Ascent of SpaceShipOne carried by White Knight and chased by Starship )

( Lousy picture of SpaceShipOne's rocket trail )

( SpaceShipOne glides back down )

( Chase planes perform flyover after SpaceShipOne lands )

( SpaceShipOne and the pilot on the ground )

( SpaceShipOne, Government Zero )

( Well, yes, this is what private funding means )