We headed back to the park today to shoot the new rockers. It was an extremely windy day, probably not the best day for rockets. It was certainly a great day for kites. Unfortunately, we brought rockets and not kites. We decided to shoot Hayes' rocket first. The little rockets are so small, they have no parachute. They simply tumble back to the ground. After firing it, we followed the smoke into the air and saw a large puff of gray smoke at the climax of the climb. We could not see the little, blue rocket. Go figure. We stood around bewildered for a second. We thought that Hayes' rocket might have blown to bits.
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| The blue rocket is 4.5 inches. The yellow rocket is 6 inches. |
Adam thought it would be a good idea to shoot Houston's rocket, watch where it lands, and then look for Hayes' in about the same place, assuming it did survive. Houston's rocket is just slightly larger but it is yellow. Should be easier to spot against the blue sky, right?! We launched it. Same thing. It was nowhere to be seen.
We began a search party. Adam took the boys to the other side of a large ravine, where he thought they landed. I stayed close to the launch sight with Holt in his stroller and a very tempermental Hawkins. Not expecting to find anything, I began walking around. Sure enough, there was Houston's rocket! I was ecstatic! I yelled over to Adam that I had found it. I kept looking around for Hayes'. Not two minutes later, I located his rocket as well. It was truly an exciting experience.
Feeling victorious, we decided to launch the Metalizer (one that we had launched previously). Fail. It only launched about fifteen feet in the air, turned horizontal and shot straight for a soccer field full of kids. We thought it was going to take someone's head off. Fortunately, it landed short of the soccer field and all the kids lived to see another day.
Finally, it was time to shoot the Mongoose. It went so high into the air. It was amazing. Then the high winds kicked up. Adam took off running, trying to stay under it. I quickly realized that we were going to need our car to retrieve it as I watched the parachute drift farther and farther. I yelled at him to return so we could pack up and locate it. I had a general idea of where it might have landed so Adam and Houston went on a walk to try and find it while I drove around looking in other locations. I searched the Malco parking lot, Easy Way, Exxon, and everything else on that block. After searching for over 20 minutes, Houston, still with Adam and seperate of the car and the rest of us, began to panic. "What if we never find Mom? How will we eat? How are we going to get home?"
We all rendezvous-ed back together with nothing. We could not find the rocket. With that large of a search area, it began to feel hopeless, especially since it was quickly becoming dark. If only we had the forethought to put on the rocket, "If found, please call ______" In one last attempt, I described again what I saw when I lost sight of the rocket. Adam pulled into the library parking lot. Sure enough, there was the rocket! I spotted it lying on the asphalt.
The Mongoose had drifted 0.6 miles away from the launch sight and we retrieved it without a GPS locator. It still amazes me when I think about it. Of all the rooftops, treetops, and streets that it could have landed on or in, it landed right where we could find it.
However victorious we felt that day, we will save the windy days for kites.
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