# 36 Rocket Man

 Rocket Man

The group had an area set up for registration.

We were in the Christiansburg, VA area last weekend visiting family.  We were invited by our brother-in-law Carlos, to view the monthly Medium Rocket Launch that's organized by the New River Valley Rocketry Group. They are affiliated with the Rocket Club of Virginia Tech.  We had a great time.  Carlos has all kinds of rockets, some so big that you have to go to a special launch pad that has FAA waivers.  Today's launch doesn't have any that large.  These are called "medium" rockets.  His rockets launched during this event include: Red Max, Chloe's Pink Bubble Gum (with HD camera) and the Chartreuse Green Machine.  There were people of all ages launching rockets today. I suspect one day some of the kids participating may be our next rocket scientists.






This was the first group of rockets to be launched.






I had to be quick with the shutter to get these photos.  The rockets went up fast!

Carlos had a couple of "chuffs".

These are misfires
that can be caused
by mis-communications and other technical difficulties. 
Red Max finally went up in the air in a huge puff of smoke.
                                                                                   

And what goes up, must come down...




and then you have to go retrieve your rocket...

.











It was so much fun especially watching the little ones enjoy seeing their rockets launched.














Next rocket to be launched was Chloe's Bubble Gum Rocket.  Carlos had mounted an HD video camera on the side.  Due to the uneven weight, the rocket went up a little "squiggly".  The resulting video image was squiggly too.


                                                      

Last was the Chartreuse Green Machine.  It was a successful launch too. 

 We really enjoyed ourselves. Thanks Carlos for the invitation. I heard many technical terms associated with the rocket and engine types, igniters and classification levels.  I asked lots of questions but after a while I knew I wouldn't get all the terms and quotes as accurate as I would like.  Hopefully the group will understand and view this post as an event we enjoyed and will forgive any technical information I might have left out.

# 35 NC State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, NC

We decided to Eas-On Down The Road for about 3 hours, all the way to Raleigh.....

We arrived at the NC State Fairgrounds Campground a few days before the Labor Day weekend.  We had received an invitation from Rick and Gail, of the Gypsy Turtles blog, to join them for a pot luck dinner that she was planning. We decided to come on earlier since we had lots of reasons to get out on the road...a visit with them, a visit with our family, local errands we needed to run in the area, the motor home needed to be exercised and I've been wanting to meet Howard and Linda Payne of  RV-Dreams.  We read they were to be guest presenters for the  RVing seminars at the Raleigh RV and Camping Show.  When Ron and I started our research on full-time RVing, we soon discovered the website, RV-Dreams.  We found it informative and very helpful as we prepared for our transition to this lifestyle.  Their inspirational site offers a forum, the blog of their travels and many other excellent features, that can answer questions one might have if interested in full-timing.  It's also great for other general RV info as well.  I've been following their blog for 3 years now and after meeting them can say they are as friendly and genuine in person as they seem in their blog. 

We had a great time visiting with Rick and Gail throughout the week.  We also got to enjoy few Happy Hours....  What a blast! We got to met Peggy and Gary of mooreRVfun when they stopped by for a visit too.

Gail did an awesome job organizing a Happy Hour/Pot Luck for Saturday.  For us, it was a special opportunity to be a part of a gathering of friends that have become acquainted through the RV-Dreams Rallies.  It was an evening of laughs, catching up and listening to fond memories. Howard and Linda of RV-Dreams were the initiators of many of these friendships, bringing together people through their popular rallies, with the same RVing dream in common.

We also enjoyed visiting with Gin and Syl of Wandering Sylville.  We met Laura & Bruce, Hank & Selene and John & Terri.  All of these couples met through the RV-Dreams Rallies.  It was a lot of fun getting to know these people.




 

The funny stories about RVing kept us entertained for a while.  We all laughed and laughed about our hilarious experiences and uh-oh moments.  What a great group!









I had to "pinch myself" to realize that all of this was happening in my "front yard".  It took 3 years of planning and work to achieve our full-timing goal. 





                                                      
We all enjoyed the delicious food and  I think everyone there had a great time.  No doubt, RVers are a special community of people.  It will be a weekend Ron and I will always remember.     

Ron says:  Retirement is great!