As pretty much all residents of Los Angeles will vouch for, it can be a bear to get across town at times. This weekend the Space Shuttle Endeavour found that out first hand.

After coming to LA on back of NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier a few weeks ago, and making a dramatic triumphant fly over the city, the Space Shuttle Endeavour has been getting prepped for it's 12 mile journey from LAX to it's new home at the California Science Center next to USC.

Along with the shuttle getting ready, so were the cites of Los Angels and Inglewood. The cities the shuttle would travel through over land. The municipalities had to remove street signs, street lights, raise power lines, cut down trees (to which twice as many will be planted afterward), level streets with dirt, install metal plates over sensitive areas of asphalt....all to make the route wide enough and rugged enough for the 112 foot wing span and 5 story hight of Endeavour. Even after arduous efforts to make a clear path for the spaceship, inevitably as Endeavour made its way along the streets more had to be done. So the journey was hindered many times as crews from the Shuttle's entourage would rush to trim trees that threatened the path ahead. Turning corners was no easy task either. Not to mention the ziz-zag moves the crawler hauling the shuttle had to do to squeeze past obstacles occasionally. All done with precision and not a single scratch on the orbiter.

So the trip ended up taking nearly 18 hours longer than planned. Many people stayed out all night on the streets, camped out waiting for the shuttle to pass by.

After reaching it's resting point at the corner of Crenshaw and MLK 6 hours behind schedule Saturday, night now added another difficulty for the crew trying to get the Endeavour home. Shadows and darkness made the trek down MLK Blvd precarious and it came to another stop. But as the sun rose and people discovered they had not missed the opportunity to see the shuttle, they came out in droves and lined the route once again, and in greater force. It was the slowest, yet most amazing parade I have ever witnessed.

Endevaour, at last, made it home under sunny skies and cheering crowds. And now she sits in her new Hanger at the California Science Center and will be open to the public to view starting on Oct 30th.