Stratofox Events
STS-107 Photographers & Eyewitness Discussion, Feb 1, 2004

Feb 1, 2004 is the first anniversary of the STS-107 Columbia accident. The idea for this meeting came up on Stratofox's mail lists - eyewitnesses and photographers of the event from across the Western US have heard each other's names and many would like to meet each other. Most of us have only met online as we tried to help NASA and CAIB with their investigations of the accident.

Note: yes, we know Feb 1 is both Superbowl Sunday and the Vietnamese Spring Festival. But we obviously can't move the anniversary date.

Time

Sunday, Feb 1, 1-5PM

Location

CoCo's Restaurant
1753 North First St (adjacent to the Fairfield Inn/San Jose Airport)
San Jose, California
(See the driving directions and airport shuttle directions below.)
GPS:

37° 22.250' N
-121° 55.015' W

How to RSVP

[RSVP's are closed following the event]
If you're already on the list below, you don't need to RSVP. This would mean you already told one of the organizers that you're coming. Thank you!

We mainly want the RSVP's to count how we're doing for available space in the restaurant. If you can suddenly make it at the last minute, please try to contact us but feel free to drop by anyway. In the worst case, we may overflow to other sections of the restaurant. But the last-minute nature of the event looks like we won't need to worry about that unless a lot of people can suddenly make it.

Organizers

Ian Kluft, local contacts and restaurant reservations
Jay Lawson, regional contacts

Who is attending?

Bringing together eyewitnesses & photographers of STS-107 from western states is the purpose of this meeting. Some are bringing friends and those who helped them.

Members of Stratofox may be able to help travellers such as with rides from the airport. This was originally envisioned as a small gathering of Stratofox members to talk on the anniversary date. But we quickly opened up to Jay Lawson's idea to invite other eyewitnesses from around the region. Jay has handled most of those invitations.

• Ian Kluft KO6YQ, San Jose CA (eyewitness, Stratofox)
• Jay Lawson, Sparks NV (eyewitness + video EOC2-4-0026/EOC2-4-0055)
• Steve Traugott KG6HDQ, Campbell CA (friend of Ian - helped contact media, Stratofox)
• David Goodin, San Jose CA (friend of Jay - helped transfer video to DVD)
• John Sanford, Springville CA (eyewitness + video EOC2-4-0009-B)
• Don Anastasia AA6W, Los Gatos CA (eyewitness)
• Lionel Machado, Fairfield CA (eyewitness + video EOC2-4-0064)
• Justin Rocha KG6SGU, Walnut Creek CA (Stratofox)
• Ben Woodard KG6FNK, Livermore CA (Stratofox)
• Dave Masten KG6FNL, San Jose CA (Stratofox)
• Sean Lynch KG6CVV, San Jose CA (Stratofox)
• Rafeal Skodlar KC6LBJ, Milpitas CA (Stratofox)
• many more have been contacted...

From all directions, if you miss the turn for the restaurant...

• If you miss the Coco's restaurant, don't panic. You can get back by making 5 right turns around this odd-shaped block. Starting from North First Street...
• Turn right on Metro Dr.
• Turn right on Technology Dr.
• Turn right on Airport Parkway.
• Turn right on Old Bayshore Hwy.
• Turn right into the Coco's parking lot at N First St.

From San Jose Airport Terminals (via rental car)

• Exit the airport via Airport Parkway - follow the signs toward US Hwy 101.
• Airport Parkway crosses over the Guadalupe River and then under California Hwy 87.
• After Hwy 87, pass the traffic signal at Technology Drive.
• Turn right at the next traffic signal at Old Bayshore Hwy.
• The next traffic signal is at North First Street - the Coco's is on the right at the corner. If you see a sign for the Fairfield Inn/San Jose Airport, turn there - Coco's is in front of the Fairfield Inn.

From San Jose Jet Center - General Aviation terminal (via rental car)

• Exit from the Jet Center parking lot left on Aviation Blvd.
• Aviation Blvd makes a couple short turns past the Hewlett-Packard hangar and ends at Coleman Ave.
• Keep in mind that from here, you'll only be making right turns to go to the other side of the airport.
• Turn right on Coleman Ave. Stay in the right lanes.
• In 0.7 mile, take the right fork (toward US 101) as the road splits.
• The road becomes De La Cruz Blvd. Follow De La Cruz for just over a mile to US 101.
• Turn right onto US 101 southbound. Change one lane to the left to get out of the exit-only lane for Hwy 87.
• After Hwy 87, stay in the right lane. Take the next exit at Brokaw Rd.
• Continue straight through the intersection - the exit ramp becomes Old Bayshore Hwy.
• The next traffic signal is at North First Street - the Coco's is on the right at the corner. If you see a sign for the Fairfield Inn/San Jose Airport, turn there - Coco's is in front of the Fairfield Inn.

From Downtown San Jose and South San Jose via Hwy 87 northbound

• Caution: expect additional traffic in downtown San Jose all day on Feb 1, 2004 due to the Vietnamese Spring Festival & Parade.
• Note: due to Hwy 87 freeway construction completed in December, there is no longer access from Hwy 87 to Airport Parkway. Use the Skyport Drive exit, which is the new airport entrance.
• Take Hwy 87 northbound to Skyport Drive. (This has the new exit numbering marked - it's Exit 8.)
• On Skyport Drive, turn right - away from the airport
• Turn left at the first traffic signal onto Technology Drive.
• Proceed 2 blocks and turn right at Airport Parkway.
• Turn right at the next traffic signal at Old Bayshore Hwy.
• The next traffic signal is at North First Street - the Coco's is on the right at the corner. If you see a sign for the Fairfield Inn/San Jose Airport, turn there - Coco's is in front of the Fairfield Inn.

From San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Gilroy and East San Jose via US 101 northbound

• Take US 101 northbound to central San Jose.
• Exit at Brokaw Rd, just after the I-880 interchange.
• Turn left on Brokaw Rd. Get immediately in the left turn lane for North First Street.
• Turn left onto North First Street. Two notes of caution - make extra sure to observe traffic signals because light rail trains operate in the median of North First St. Also, once you're on North First, the road splits to each side of the freeway bridge pillars. (This was done to make room for the light rail tracks in the roadway median.) If possible, you'd like to be in the right lane where it splits.
• Immediately on the other side of the freeway bridge is the traffic signal at Old Bayshore Hwy. Proceed straight.
• Turn right in the first driveway after Old Bayshore Hwy into the Coco's parking lot. This is before the Chevron station.
• Don't make it a safety issue to get in the driveway - you can make right turns to go around the block if you miss it.

From San Francisco, the Peninsula and Santa Clara via US 101 southbound

• Take US 101 southbound to the Brokaw Rd exit (just after Hwy 87.)
• Continue straight through the intersection - the exit ramp becomes Old Bayshore Hwy.
• The next traffic signal is at North First Street - the Coco's is on the right at the corner. If you see a sign for the Fairfield Inn/San Jose Airport, turn there - Coco's is in front of the Fairfield Inn.

From Santa Cruz, Los Gatos and Campbell via Hwy 17 and I-880 northbound

• Hwy 17 northbound becomes I-880 northbound after the I-280 interchange.
• Just after the San Jose Airport, exit at North First Street.
• Turn left on North First St. A note of caution - make extra sure to observe traffic signals because light rail trains operate in the median of North First St. You're OK to go with a green left turn light.
• Proceed on North First St for 0.8 mile and get in the left lane.
• Make a U-turn at Old Bayshore Highway. (Watch for light rail trains again here as you cross the tracks.)
• Turn immediately right into the Coco's parking lot.
• Don't make it a safety issue to get in the driveway - you can make right turns to go around the block if you miss it.

From Milpitas, Hayward and Oakland via I-880 southbound

• Take I-880 southbound.
• Immediately after the US 101 interchange, exit at North First Street. (This has the new exit numbering marked - it's Exit 4A.)
• Turn right on North First St.
• Proceed on North First St for 0.8 mile and get in the left lane.
• Make a U-turn at Old Bayshore Highway. (Watch for light rail trains here as you cross the tracks. You're OK to go with a green left turn light.)
• Turn immediately right into the Coco's parking lot.
• Don't make it a safety issue to get in the driveway - you can make right turns to go around the block if you miss it.

From Dublin, Walnut Creek and Fairfield via I-680 southbound

• Take I-680 southbound to Fremont.
• Exit at Hwy 262 westbound (the second "Mission Blvd" exit in Fremont, which will eventually be marked Exit 12 by Caltrans to solve redundancies like this.) The signs say "To I-880".
• After 1 mile, Mission Blvd becomes an on-ramp to I-880 southbound.
• Proceed with the directions from I-880 southbound shown above.

From Davis, Sacramento and Reno via I-80 westbound

• Take I-80 westbound to Fairfield.
• Exit at I-680 southbound toward San Jose.
• Continue with the directions above for I-680 southbound.

From Stockton and the northern San Joaquin Valley via I-580 westbound

• Take I-580 westbound to Dublin.
• When you see BART tracks, trains and the Dublin/Pleasanton station in the median of the freeway, you need to be in the right lane.
• Exit to I-680 southbound toward San Jose.
• Continue with the directions above for I-680 southbound.

From Chico, Redding and the Sacramento Valley area via I-5 southbound

• Take I-5 southbound to Dunnigan.
• Exit at I-505 southbound toward San Francisco.
• I-505 ends at I-80 in Vacaville. Take I-80 westbound toward San Francisco.
• Continue with the directions above for I-80 westbound.

From Los Angeles via the 5 northbound

• Take the 5 north over the Grapevine.
• From this point, we call it I-5 now. :-)
• Continue north on I-5 to Los Banos.
• Take Hwy 152 westbound to Gilroy.
• Take US 101 northbound to San Jose.
• Continue with the directions above for US 101 northbound.

From San Jose Airport Terminals (via shuttle bus)

• From either Terminal A or C, board a Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) all-blue Airport Flyer bus. Make sure the bus headsign reads "Light Rail", not "Caltrain", to make sure it's going the right direction. The bus has luggage racks. (This bus route is free - your ride is paid by the San Jose/Silicon Valley Convention and Visitor Bureau.)
• The bus route ends on Metro Dr at the Metro/Airport light rail station.
• Walk one block back toward the freeway on North First Street (the street with the light rail.) Coco's is on the other side of the Chevron gas station.

From San Jose Jet Center - General Aviation terminal (via shuttle bus)

Before following these directions, ask the desk at the San Jose Jet Center if their courtesy shuttle is available to take you to the restaurant or to the Metro/Airport light rail station (which is one block from it.)
• Walk to the VTA Airport Flyer bus stop at Bus Shelter N in the airport long-term parking lot. You'll walk from the Jet Center right along Coleman Ave, right on Brokaw, left on Martin, right into the long-term parking lot, and left to Bus Shelter N.

  If airport security is elevated, you may be asked for the reason you're entering the lot - say you're catching the VTA Airport Flyer Bus to get to light rail, or show them these directions.

• Catch an eastbound VTA Airport Flyer bus (not some other shuttle). The bus marquee should read "Light Rail", not "Caltrain". (This bus route is free - your ride is paid by the San Jose/Silicon Valley Convention and Visitor Bureau.)
• Take the bus past the airline terminals to the Metro/Airport light rail station.
• Walk one block back toward the freeway on North First Street (the street with the light rail.) Coco's is on the other side of the Chevron gas station.