To see the rockets!

The Association of Experimental Rocketry of the Pacific (AeroPac) holds several high-powered rocketry launches every year from a launch site in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. As long as I've known him, Joseph has been seriously interested in space and rockets, and a couple of years ago he was introduced to Bill Earls, a high-powered rocketry expert who made the trek to Black Rock every year to set off some BIG rockets. He invited us along in 2011 and we had a great time, so we wanted to go again in 2012... even though we had a toddler and a baby. It was, predictably, an adventure. Luckily, I kept a journal, so even when my mind blocked out the terrible parts I forgot all the good stuff, I have a record of what happened. It went something like this:

Sunday

Diana "driving" the RV.

Joseph and I managed to only get 3 hours of sleep thanks to work (he was desperately working to release an iPhone app) and packing, but we still got on the road by 8:30 AM. We were riding along in a palatial 35-foot RV that Bill had rented. Absolutely the first thing I did when I stepped on this beautiful giant was BREAK IT. I tried opening the fridge and ripped off the water dispenser instead. Great start.

The drive is something like 10-15 hours, depending on who's driving, but Diana was a great traveler. 

Last year, because I was traveling with a bunch of men, no one bothered to get exact directions to the launch site, so we ended up driving around the completely flat, dusty desert in the dark for hours while a tired, hungry, 9-month-old Diana cried and then finally we just gave up and camped out for the night. This year, because I was traveling with a bunch of men, no one bothered to get exact directions again, but miraculously we managed to find the launch site while it was still light.

After dinner, Joey took Diana out to expend some energy. They took glow bracelets (yeah, I'm going to let a wayward toddler wander off for literally miles in any direction without being festooned with bright lights), which Diana LOVED. "Pretty!" "Magic!" she said. She loved them so much we decided she could take one to bed with her. While we were getting everything arranged for the night, I heard "Mommy, Diana make magic water!" Sure enough, the bracelet had snapped and sprayed all over. When we turned the lights out, Diana looked like a creature from the movie Avatar. Her hands, hair, blanket, etc. were all covered in a spray of glowing liquid. 

Monday

Diana and daddy ready to watch rocket launches!

We had one of the worst nights of sleep in recent memory. Most people slept in the RV, but we were in our own little lightweight travel trailer so we could have our own space and not disturb everyone else. Probably weirded out by the change in surroundings, Diana woke up around 1 AM and didn't fall asleep until Joseph climbed into her bunk around 3:30. By that time, it had started to get down into the 30s outside and Liam woke up a little baby popsicle. I snuggled and nursed him back to sleep. 

The desert wrecked the kids' skin. Diana was very rashy from the heat (mid-80s with a light breeze during the day) and Liam's skin was so dry his little lips cracked and his cheeks were cracked and oozing. Poor kids. Our highest priority became keeping both of them very well hydrated.

Joseph helped Bill with rocket assembly. During the day, a rocket came down not far away from us and Diana casually wandered out past the flight line to inspect it. Too cute. At night, Joseph and I talked outside under the stars and saw some shooting stars. I have never seen all the stars in the heavens more clearly than out in that desert. It's breathtaking. 

Tuesday

Diana flying her kite in the morning.

Everyone got at least seven hours of sleep! Unfortunately, the sun is incredibly bright and the glare off the flat, white playa is incredibly strong, so when I opened the door in the morning, Diana may have gotten some sun directly in her eyes. She whimpered and rubbed them for a while and appeared unable to open her eyelids fully for several minutes. From what little she could open them, I could only see the whites, like her eyes had rolled back and she couldn't fix them. She recovered after a few minutes, but seemed sensitive to light after that, so we made sure she wore her sunglasses all day every day.

Joseph helping Bill put the GPS unit in the nose cone.

Diana was an incredibly sweet and helpful girl. She appeared to have accepted her bunk in the trailer as her "safe place," which she called "Diana's little house," and that helped her calm down. Joseph and I both got to read and relax during the day and Joseph and Diana got to fly her kite a little bit when the wind picked up.

I took a spartan shower using the equivalent of probably half a gallon of water. It was awesome.

Wednesday

Happy Liam in his silly safari hat.

Because the nights were freezing and the trailer was cold, Joseph slept in the top bunk, Diana slept in the bottom bunk, and I snuggled with Liam in the convertible bed/dining area. It turns out babies are TERRIBLE bunk mates. Liam snuffled and wiggled all night long. I don't know how co-sleeping moms don't lose their minds. Thanks to juggling two active kids, not sleeping, not exercising, and being trapped in a small, messy trailer nursing all day, I was a wreck. Joseph watched the kids while I took a 20 minute bike ride out into the desert. It was exactly what I needed. It was completely and absolutely still and quiet. It's amazing and calming to be pressed upon by utter silence all around you. I could only hear myself breathe. Absolutely incredible.

Thursday

The only positive thing about Thursday may have been that Joseph's dad and two youngest brothers arrived. This was their first time out to Black Rock and his entire family has such great attitudes, it's fun to share things with them. 

Our part of the camp. Bill's RV, our trailer, Diana's bike.

Thursday was mostly notable for being one of the worst nights for sleep in my life. Earlier that evening, the water pump had stopped working, but we figured we'd just look into it in the morning. Diana woke up crying around midnight. We spent about an hour sweetly telling her to go back to sleep, giving her hugs, ordering her to be quiet and stop screaming, etc. Nothing worked. Meanwhile, Joseph was dehydrated and had a splitting headache and felt sick. Once Diana had finally gone back to sleep, a loud beeping alarm started going off. It was the propane gas detector. We couldn't smell gas, so we deliberated sleepily for a while. We were both tired and felt sick, which made us worry that there really was gas. I noticed the alarm light was blinking red and green, a code that meant it needed the battery changed. So I pulled the detector off the wall and found- batteries? No. Two wires going into the wall. How are we supposed to change the batteries IF THERE AREN'T ANY? I called Joseph down from his bunk, and by that point he was fed up with life and anything that got in the way of sleep. He became angrier at that stupid blinking machine than I've probably ever seen him. He's got a pretty even keel. He tried prying the detector apart with two butter knives and when that failed, smashing it into oblivion with a flashlight. Diana very happily watched the whole thing and thought it was great fun. Ultimately, Joseph ended up cutting one of the wires. He went straight back to bed and after I settled Diana in, I noticed the fridge had an alert light blinking. I HATE dealing with people who are already feeling grumpy, but I decided it was better to wake him than have all our food go bad halfway through our trip. When he turned on the light to investigate the fridge, it was very weak. Somehow we'd been unplugged from the RV and our batteries were dying. We turned everything off and went to bed. I couldn't sleep for worrying about everything. It got so cold in my half of the trailer that I moved myself and Liam into Diana's half bunk where I got no sleep thanks to worry, having a child on either side of me, and having my feet hang off the bed in the freezing cold. In addition, Diana didn't take her afternoon nap. Oy.

Friday

Joseph helping Bill assemble his Patriot rocket.

Some small dust storms brought lost of dust into the trailer and camp, but everyone slept pretty well. (Thank goodness!) Thanks to lots of encouragement, help, and sometimes hassling by Joseph, Matt and Thomas, Bill launched his Patriot rocket which was dedicated to his parents who had passed away earlier this year. Unfortunately, it arced shortly after takeoff, the fins and fin section blew off, and it exploded and tumbled to the ground. At least it got up! 

Diana didn't take an afternoon nap and was a handful all day, but we were both a little crazy from mostly being in the trailer. 

Joseph, Matt, and Sean carrying Patriot out to the high-powered pad.

There were high clouds in the evening, so it was hard to see if the 'chutes opened on the rockets or if they were coming in ballistic. In addition, there happened to be a handful whose chutes didn't open, but no one could tell where they were coming down. Did the threat of being pinned to the desert floor by a wayward ballistic rocket stop anyone from launching? Of course not! That made dinner exciting.

I had a shower. It rocked.

Saturday

Diana hanging out while Daddy worked on rockets.

Another truly terrible night. Shortly after Joseph and I went to bed, Diana started coughing and screaming. We let it subside, but when it started again, we found she'd thrown up most of her dinner all over her bed, PJs and blankets. Meanwhile, Liam was bellowing because it was time to eat. One screaming, still-coughing and drooling toddler, one bellowing infant, a small, dark trailer, the smell of vomit, and mom trying to clean and calm both while dad changes the bed was surely the depths of the parenting experience. After Diana calmed down, we found she was breathing very fast and with a lot of effort because her lungs were full of rattly junk. (She'd had bronchitis earlier in the year.) We didn't know if it was an allergic reaction or an illness of some kind, so we gave her a half dose of Benadryl. She seemed in good spirits, so we weren't too worried, but we knew from her bronchitis episode that she could change very quickly. She coughed some more junk up so hard that she threw up again. Her breathing was still so fast and labored that we were afraid we'd have to drive her to a hospital in Reno or Life Flight her out of the dessert. Joseph boiled some water to turn the whole trailer into a humidifier (it was 2:30 AM by then) and I took her up to the steamy top bunk to sleep with me. After some initial fussing, coughing and hard breathing, she fell asleep and by the time she woke up in the morning, she was back to normal. PRAISE GOD!

Despite getting FAA clearance to make the launch site a no-fly zone (for obvious reasons), in mid-morning shortly after a rocket launched, an F-15 flew in low overhead over the launching range, with another two circling around the playa from either side. We think they were just playing around, but it was still really cool! 

Some sporadic and some giant, towering, sun-obscuring dust storms and incredible wind blew through starting mid-morning. Good for Thomas's wind racer, bad for us since it was dust in her lungs that led to Diana's episode the previous night. The wind was probably around 20-25 mph.

Diana and Liam waiting in our trailer to see the rockets.

After a lot of work on everyone's part to get the last rocket ready, the range closed JUST after they got it out there. So frustrating!

Diana began to cry whenever she wet her diaper. I suspected the beginnings of a bladder infection. Just what we needed. We spent the rest of the day playing drinking games with her- rewarding her with mini marshmallows for drinking all the water in her cup, drinking out of a straw, drinking out of a big-girl cup, etc. to keep her hydrated, but we could only do so much.

Sunday

Diana and Uncle Abe watching rockets from the RV.

The hope was to get Bill's rocket launched first thing in the morning and head home by mid-morning. The launching range opened around 8 AM, but Bill didn't end up launching until around 10 AM. It went straight up. It was a beautiful flight. But no one could see a chute open up. His rocket was pretty enormous, so even though no one else seemed worried, I was slightly concerned about losing sight of it. A few seconds after we lost sight, there was a sound like a jet flying overhead, which was apparently a rocket segment breaking the sound barrier as it plummeted to earth after the chute failed to open properly. The men-folk managed to locate it, but the fin section had buried itself about four feet into the rock-hard playa floor. So that took a while to extract. We probably ended up leaving around noon. The long trip was a little tougher for the kids on the way back and we got home around 11 PM or midnight. We were all so exhausted, dirty and happy to be home!

Black Rock Desert playa 2012