OK, so maybe it's pretty fair

Updating yesterday's mild ranting, the outlook has changed.

Casey says I should go for it. My heart says I should go for it. My younger, eager-to-travel self says I should go for it.

I think I'm going for it.

If I leave the Braves game in Orlando by 4 p.m. -- and I'd probably leave earlier than that -- I can be checked into my hotel in Fort Pierce by 6 p.m. I can have dinner and crawl into bed by 7 to try to get some sleep -- shouldn't be a problem, since I think my flight out of Newark leaves at 8 a.m. or so. Four hours should do it, then I can be on the road to Cocoa Beach or some other free, slightly-south-of-Kennedy viewpoint.

If liftoff occurs before 2:30, as it should -- rocket scientists are pretty on-time and accurate when it comes to numbers -- I can be back in my hotel bed by 5 a.m. Sleep until 10, make it to Dodgertown by 11. And since I'm staying in the same hotel that night, there's no need to rush out after the game, so I can take in the atmosphere afterwards, too. (New bonus wrinkle: Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda will be managing that day.)

The only major issue would be if the launch is scrubbed -- and scrubbed late. Like, within the final three hours, when I'll already be on my way. If it's going to be an overcast night or if rain is forecast, I'd like that to be known by the time I get to Fort Pierce, so I can just stay there.

OK -- hang on. New plan just came to me. Why the heck would I drive from Orlando to Fort Pierce, only to head back up 95 to Kennedy? Orlando to the Space Center is an hour. I think I'm better off looking for a hotel in that area for the first night, then checking into my Fort Pierce hotel after the Dodgers game. I can get more sleep before the launch -- and much more after it -- and can cut down on the night driving. Then I can get up earlier to drive down to Vero Beach for the game.

NOW I'm getting back into the traveling groove. Instead of two nights in Fort Pierce, roughly equidistant from the Dodgers' and Mets' camps (two nights in one place for simplicity's sake, and to avoid having to bring everything with me in the car to the games each day), I can deal with the hassle of moving each night in order to cut down on the driving. So, then, this: Braves game to hotel near Kennedy for launch. Down to Dodgertown for game, then to new St. Lucie hotel for the night. Mets game, then to Orlando to Donna's. Much simpler.

See how easy that became just by talking it out?