Launch Day

I love Saturdays at High Rocks!  We do not typically do any trips, so it is nice to see all of the campers back in camp.  Further, some of the activity areas plan fun events or alternatives to the daily grind during the week.  Today, the big news was in Rocketry!

Launch Day was a huge success and a lot of fun.  After working all week on their rockets, the boys finally had an opportunity to launch.  There are some big decisions on launch day and a number of possibilities. It is up to the boys if they want to launch their rocket or not.  If they choose to launch, we let them know that a few things can happen. First, your rocket may not launch at all. Second, your rocket might launch AND you may never see it again.  Third, it does launch, and you see it start coming down, but it has rested permanently in a tree.  Finally, all goes well, but your rocket breaks up on re-entry (crashes to the ground).  All of these are great life lessons.  Success has many different faces.  I believe everyone that decided to launch had success at launch.  We lost a few. A few broke up on re-entry, and some landed in the trees.  Nonetheless, everyone enjoyed their time building and learning about the physics around rockets.  Our lead, Zach Pruett, is a science professor and really enjoys showing the boys different ways the physical world affects the rocket during launch.

Hiking enjoyed some car camping days.  Picture a drive-in campground and you probably have the idea.  Lawn games, music, a hillbilly hot tub (pick-up filled with water), and smores around the fire. It was just nice to be around each other.  Again, these last few days have almost felt “normal” as the boys enjoy the activities they have chosen, in a place that supports them.  We are all looking forward to a little sleep-in time tomorrow, and a quiet morning until the afternoon where we turn it up a bit.

I look forward to telling you all about it.

All the best,

Don

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