Rockets and LRVs

On Sunday, Joey and I went to Michael's after church to buy a rocket. We wanted to shoot it off at stuff and then go chase it. We picked out the cheapest one ($5.47) and grabbed the biggest engines this particular model could handle. We figured a C6-7 would get the job done.

The guys duct-taped the rocket together and dubbed it "The Flying Duck". It looked pretty motley, but we figured that since the rocket was so small and the engines were so huge we'd only get one launch out of it anyway.

We assembled the crew and Dad and Andrew ran down into the lower pasture to chase the rocket. I got to be the one to push the button, since the rocket was my idea in the first place. I enjoyed this. I counted down, pushed the button and off shot the rocket.

In the entirely wrong direction.

Poor Dad and Andrew had to go running up through the pastures to the road, where the rocket landed and was retrieved. Dad doesn't like doing more running-type work than absolutely necessary, so as the rocket was being loaded back on to the launch pad (and I was retreiving some boots so I could be a chaser too) Pops went and got the Launch Recovery Vehicle (LRV), also known as Dad's work truck.

The truck really smells and is seriously dusty inside. It also has an empty Harry and David box sitting on the dashboard.

Joey wants me to insert here that I look "really cute wearing tall farm boots, running through the field and dodging cow pies". I need to insert that I really wasn't dodging cow pies, I ran right through them. It was the holes in the field I was dodging. Dad and Andrew brought the LRV up to the upper pasture to pick me up and we drove back to the lower pasture.

(I could probably have run down there just as fast, but I think Dad wanted to drive the LRV real fast through the pasture some more.)

Joey shot the rocket off and Pops, Andrew and I were off. Andrew singlehandedly scared the entire herd of cows in the pasture as he ran toward them. It was pretty amazing--they started charging in the opposite direction.

Dad was in the LRV hollering to Andrew and I where to go, and we ran happily through the soggy field, looking intently for the rocket. Dad could see that we were never going to find it (it had gone super, super far away), so he fired up the LRV again and drove off to try to guide us.

Good thing he did, too, because he found the rocket in no time at all. Andrew and I were in the wrong spot.

We had fun shooting the rocket, but we lost it on the third shot. It was too dark; hopefully we can spy it in the morning hanging from a tree or something.

That's all. I'm tired of blogging now.