My fellow Los Angeles correspondent Virginia Hein sketched Endeavor in its permanent home at California Science Center. (Thanks, Virginia!)
Before it got there, the shuttle was flown on top of a modified Boeing 747, with two escort jets by its side. This was as close as I got to see the shuttle on its last flight between going to work and running errands, unfortunately. The shuttle and its carrier looked like a large gray bird flying in the haze.
I then found that the shuttle was parked in Inglewood late at night before its long journey to the Science Center began. I inched my way to the front of the crowd to get a closer to Endeavor this time – it was awe-inspiring to see two Southern Californian icons – Randy’s Donuts and the space shuttle – side by side. A plane heading to LAX passed by from time to time, the smell of donuts
filled the air, and helicopters with cameras buzzed overhead. Someone
shouted, “Once in a lifetime, y’all!”, and he was right.
Hope I get to visit and sketch it in more detail soon!