Day 58-Rockets at WSMR Setup Day

SystemsGo had a productive first day today in spite of a long night on the road getting in around 0200 and a short night of sleep. They were at the range bright and early Sunday morning to set up for the launches and finish and evaluate rockets.

The SystemsGo team split into groups.  Captain Garrett and Steve Burow headed up the group at the pad setting up the launch rail. Robert Dever and Randy Kuhlmann set up the Fill and Fire system and proceeded with on-site testing. Brett Williams and Chelsea Burow rolled out all the cabling and connected the electrical systems and after which they helped Andrew Matthes who was overseeing the student groups with final checks and problem solving on rockets.

The first four schools for this Goddard level program were there with their rockets ready for leak and readiness tests. These tests are standard operating procedure used to create safeguards and ensure a successful launch as long as there are no internal parameters that cause the rocket to fail. No rocket will launch without passing these tests. An initial fail does not mean that the rocket is scratched for launch, only that the school has a short window of time in which to correct the issue so that it may be retested, pass and proceed to launch. Time constraints do not allow for continuous testing so the vehicle must pass quickly or be pulled from the launch sequence.

Marble Falls first test showed a minor problem, they were able to fix the issue and passed their second test. They are ready to launch and are scheduled as the first school for tomorrow morning at 0830.

Anahuac is scheduled to launch second tomorrow, but they are currently still working to resolve an issue shown in their test.

Union Grove is scheduled as first launch on Tuesday morning. They passed all their leak and readiness tests and are on standby for launch from 1200 to 1600 Monday in the event that Anahuac is not ready, or extra time allows.

Booker T Washington passed their leak test. They are scheduled as the second launch on Tuesday and are currently still finishing some last minute adjustments.

Set up and systems tests also went well. The new Fill and Fire system tested at 100% minus the Comm Readout Displays because a thunderstorm and lightning in the area prevented them from setting up that part of the system. This display allows mission control and the pad to communicate by sight through a constantly evolving digital readout in order to better coordinate launch sequences without the delay of radio communications, allowing for more safety and efficiency during the Fill and Fire, and count down stages. This last component will be set up early Monday morning and will complete its readiness check before the first launch, putting the full system at 100%.

A few members of the SystemsGo team got drenched in the fast approaching storm while they were down at the pad trying to put Marble Falls’ rocket on the rail so that it would be ready for launch Monday morning. Instead it was covered and left to be raised on the rail early Monday morning.

The Army has allotted an eight-hour window for testing tomorrow. The day begins at 0400 at the range for the SystemsGo team to accomplish these last necessities left from set up today. Then at 0600 the survey team shows up provide angel and azimuth settings for the launches to ensure they perform in a set area of the range for safety and recovery. Then if everything is in perfect order, Marble Falls will test their rocket launching at 0830. Anahuac or Union Grove will follow as quickly in succession as readiness allows.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited. SystemsGo is a Texas based STEM curriculum program.

Tune in again tomorrow for an update from Monday and a schedule of Tuesday’s launches at White Sands Missile Range this week.

 

Day 57-Rockets on the Road to WSMR

The SystemsGo team had a rough start to their day. They were scheduled to leave Fredericksburg at 10:00 this morning, but due to the final touches and tests on the new Fill and Fire system taking much longer than originally thought, the team didn’t leave until 4:20 this afternoon.  This system has been ready for some time, but engineers are always thinking of ways to further improve their product to ensure that it is always better than first envisioned. That coupled with all the new safeguards and the new Comm Readout Display on a brand new system meant that final touches recently decided upon caused thoroughness and perfection to be a bit time extensive, but most definitely worth the time and delay. It should prove to be an awesome system.

It is going to be a really long night tonight as well as a long day setting up out at the range tomorrow. This group will be running on very little sleep before they have to hit the road to the range in the morning. Hopefully set up will go really well tomorrow so they can call it an early evening and catch up on the sleep they are losing tonight.

By the time they finally got on the road, the two engineers, Robert and Randy that were working on the Fill and Fire had already spent about 32 hours straight working. Add that to the rest of the group driving all night and it just might be an exhausted and definitely all business and no nonsense group to deal with for more reasons than just to get the job done. I really feel for the group and wish them safe travels and a productive trip and day tomorrow.

They were leaving Fort Stockton shortly before 9:00 pm after a short break for food. They seem to be making good time for three pick-up trucks pulling a box trailer of equipment, a trailer with the large wire wheels and three rockets, and another trailer with the launch rail, and launch equipment.

Tomorrow’s schedule is mostly setup and prep for the first launches to begin on Monday. Five schools are scheduled to launch at White Sands this week. They include, Marble Falls High School, Anahuac High School, Union Grove High School, Booker T Washington High School, and Alamo Heights High School.

I will post updates to things in WSMR as they are available this week, hopefully daily.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Tune again tomorrow for a schedule of Monday’s launches at White Sands Missile Range this week.

12:51: The group just left El Paso after another short stop. They are still making good time.
2:00 AM The group arrived safely in Alamogordo and is catching what sleep they can before an early morning start.

Day 56 – Rockets at White Sands Missile Range

While the more public focus of SystemsGo Rockets 2015, the launches of the Tsiolkovsky (1 pound/1 mile), and Oberth (Transonic) rockets may have come to a close for this year, the program has not finished for the year. The SystemsGo Rocket program now transitions to Goddard level rockets. These rockets and their subsequent launches at WSMR (White Sands Missile Range) are the culmination of all the skills the students have learned  throughout their years in the STEM program. This is their final senior project for those schools that participate in this level of the SystemsGo program.

By now these students have spent a minimum of 2 years, some three, and as the program expands with new STEM requirements in education, as many as four years will have been spent following and learning in this system of education. They have spent countless hours both in and out of class.

The year is divided by semester into two project bases. The first semester deals with early design phases including payload, performance, and vehicle configuration. Once the payload and an initial vehicle design concept have been developed the student project team begins developing a flight profile. This is used to predict what will happen during testing, including vehicle stresses and flight dynamics. By semester’s end, a test vehicle configuration should be fairly realized.

Semester two is the culmination of everything the students have learned in the first semester, and the continuation of using life and work skills to manufacture their test vehicle, perform a test and analyze their test vehicle findings. Success for this project is determined by two things.

1. Was the rocket finished by the scheduled date and delivered to the pad for testing?

2. How was the rocket’s flight performance in relation to its design parameters?

This translates to the students manufacturing a rocket from scratch; usually weighing in at between 250 to 450 lbs; to reach high altitudes and Mach 3 to Mach 4 velocities. This project is what all the previous years’ effort have been building up.

At this point, in order to achieve their goal, one large working team, divides into several smaller teams with designated goals for each part of design and development for the vehicles’ creation, propulsion, and testing. These component teams include:

Nose cone

Avionics/payload

Oxidizer tank

Injection

Fuel Grain

Nozzle

Engine case/forward skirt/fins

Each team first creates a workable timeline and then begins researching all necessities and questions concerning their team’s component. Questions they encounter may include function, simplicity, mass, etc. Students present their findings in the form of mathematical calculations for their design and these are reviewed and critiqued by aerospace professionals. Students must find their own solutions to any problems presented to them by these professionals.  Once a mathematical argument and a design drawing have been created, the team starts another research phase into the materials to build their component. In this phase students must be able to show critical thinking skills while studying different materials and their costs, safety, ease with which to work and whether they can be ordered in within time constraints. After the design is developed and reviewed and the correct materials determined, a Critical Design Review (CDR) is presented to the other teams for acceptance. If approved the team then begins development of the component, acquiring materials and enlisting any help they may need from local industry. If it is declined then the team redesigns it until the component is accepted by the entire group. If the original time line is kept each team’s component will be finished by the deadline. To ensure this each team must undergo a Flight Readiness Review (FRR) showing that their project is 100% ready. Once all components have demonstrated a 100% readiness, then the complete vehicle can be constructed  into a full standing rocket. SystemsGo calls this their “‘all-up’ configuration.” At this point, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) must be developed and adhered to in order to test their rocket. To do this, students must be in communication with the launch facility, create support teams, and prepare necessary paperwork. Final preparations for the launch also include students working together to make sure the components are all prepped and ready, or working in mission control, meteorology, safety and other areas needed at the launch.

Next the rocket is tested and hopefully undergoes a successful launch. After this a Post Mission Analysis is done to evaluate the complete performance of the vehicle. This marks the end of the of the  program.

The knowledge base the students acquire through this program include: as quoted from the SystemsGo website: design and development, critical thinking, fabrication/machining, problem solving, teamwork, communication, analysis/application, documentation,  presentation, research, time/project management, budgets/purchasing, public relations, and computer skills in RockSim, Excel, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.

These rockets which usually stand between 20 to 25 feet and range from 8 to 10 inches in diameter are an amazing sight to behold if for no other reason than that they are built by high school students, not professional aerospace engineers. They are built by the future of these industries. Many of these students go on to become engineers, machinists, scientists, physicists, mathematicians, and countless other business professionals. This STEM based program teaches them skills they can apply to life and use to continue into their future learning and job markets.  If you have a student in the STEM program at your school who is excited about what they are doing, take interest, get involved and don’t miss the chance to see what they is happening first hand whenever possible. You are watching the future in something we can all be proud. These students are doing truly amazing things.

This article was intended to be a synopsis of the program in hopes that others may take interest and pay attention to what these students are achieving, so that more schools might implement the program for their students. It is well worth the time an effort involved. What better way to learn than to have the students apply what they are learning first hand and achieve a workable goal. The teacher is the instructor, guide, mentor, and timeline manager, but  the  project’s success or failure is in the students’ hands. They are the project managers that do all that is needed to see that this vehicle makes it to the pad and then into the sky. If your student makes it to this level, don’t miss out, you want to see this monster fly. It is a proud moment you won’t forget, and even more importantly, neither will your student. Their future begins here, don’t miss out on the chance to support their dreams.

I hope I have done the program justice, as I tried to describe it in a way that might be understood by all and draw some interest. My husband Steve, said I should just say, “Kids make really bad a$$ rockets and launch them at White Sands Missile Range.”

Well he has a point and that is the just of it, but it is really a whole lot more than that!

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Tune again tomorrow for a schedule of the upcoming launches at White Sands Missile Range this week, and hopefully some daily high lights from the group.

Day 49-Summer Farm Fun Like it Used to Be!

My week was fun and nostalgic for me.

My son has been spending his summer cutting, raking and baling hay. He has wanted to learn this for a long time and just so happened that his girlfriend’s dad needed some help this summer. God bless that rain.

Of course on the down side of this is the place they have been at this week, has rattle snakes, and he has killed two, three foot ones himself, and seen several others. The rattles are currently decorating my kitchen table. There was a small piece of snake on one that he cut off and tried to give to our cats to eat, but they were not having any of that. Seems even in small chunks they know what that is and to stay away from it.

We have made hay at our place this year for the first year in a few as well. My dad baled 109 total and is hoping for another cutting. The first 50 made it to the barn right after they were cut a couple of weeks ago because they were on the barn side of the property, but the other 59 only made it to the edge of the field before it rained again. These were the fields on the other side of the property. We are now in the process of moving them in.

What is fun about all this you may ask? Well, I am glad you did, and if you didn’t, it doesn’t matter because I am going to tell you anyway.

As a girl growing up out here, we raised turkeys (about 100,000 a year), cattle (40 head), and hay (sometimes 1,000 square per cutting, two cuttings a year when things were good). Because of this we were always hauling something, usually turkeys, feed, poop, or hay throughout the months from February to October. Back then I drove tractors and trucks and drug trailers and grain auger trailers for various activities around the farm.

Since the turkey plant burned in 1999, they have become a complete thing of the past. In case you haven’t noticed, I am not lamenting that very much, at least not for me, but my kids could have used a healthy dose of it some of those summers they complained of having nothing to do.  They could have enjoyed dust so thick you can’t see,  poop slung in your mouth, eyes, hair, face, other places by a flopping turkey, staying up all night loading out birds during a thunderstorm, getting up at 3:00 am to unload baby  birds; albeit, they were at least cute at that stage (the turkeys, not the kids, kids are not cute when they are woke up at 3:00 in the morning, trust me I remember, I was one of them).

The whole ranch smelled like crap all the time because dad used turkey poop for fertilizer on his hay fields. He used to say that nasty smell smelled like money. I told him he needed to wash his wallet more often, in bleach or some sort of industrial cleaner. He probably should have burned the wallet and got a new one each year.

Because of all this, tractors, truck and trailers were part of my daily routine. In fact I think it was a requirement of being in my dad’s family. Mom always said that dad should have married a man and had three boys, but instead he married her and had one boy and two girls which were quickly converted to a country wife and two tomboys. If there was a boy or man around that could do something out there, then we three ladies, and I use that term loosely, had better be able to do it too, or better. What about my brother? Well, he was/is a guy so that was just a given.

My dad taught all of us to drive tractors to haul feed to the pens, pick-up trucks to haul turkeys, feed, hay, fence posts, and whatever else needed hauling around the farm, and to pull trailers to haul hay out of the fields, as well as grain trailers to feed turkeys in the range  pens. We drove manual and automatic transmission vehicles. It was farm life, and just part of what we did. Trust me, there are many stories that can go along with these activities as well, but they are for another time.

Anyway, as I seem to have taken the long way around to the story of my week, the point is, I used to drive tractors for my dad and help with hay as a youth, but there really hasn’t been much call for me to do so in quite some time. The turkeys went away, and hay bales went from square to round. So the only real call to drive a tractor is when hay is being moved or cows are being fed.  Due to this, I haven’t driven the tractor in probably 27 years give or take.  Usually my dad, my husband or my son does whatever things need to be done that requires a tractor. Of course, I plan to change that because with my son working and not always around, and my dad getting up there in years, he’s 85, and my husband being on call for his job, it may mean that occasionally I will be the only one around to do what needs to be done.

It would seem I have gotten side “tractored” again, pardon the pun, but I couldn’t help myself. Of course that in a way is exactly what I did. In preparation to move the bales to the barn, we walked over to the field where the tractor had been left after moving the bales off to the side, so that the field could be fertilized. From there, Steve drove and I rode standing up on the side all the way back across the pasture and over to the barn. It was a blast. I haven’t done that in so long I can’t even remember the last time. I don’t know what it is, but there is something so mentally relaxing about just riding along on a tractor.  I have to laugh at myself too, because the song, “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy,” kept running through my head.

That was just such an enjoyable, relaxing evening. I am ready to do it again.

Last night, Steve borrowed Bryan Moellering’s larger tractor to load the bales onto Steve’s goose neck trailer, and then my dad used his tractor to load them into the barn after we brought them over and literally push rolled them off the trailer. That is a task that sounds easier than it is. Thank goodness Steve parked the trailer on a downhill slope to let gravity help. Even with that it took some doing. It’s kind of funny, because you think big round object, it should roll. Fifteen hundred pounds doesn’t roll easy, round or not. Once it hits the ground, there is no budging it, especially if it is a little dip. Nope, it is just not happening. Thank goodness for the tractor.

My phone camera does not do selfie’s because the camera is on the wrong side, so I could not get a picture of Steve and I riding on the tractor across the pasture Wednesday evening. Therefore, I took a picture of White Lightning loaded down with eight bales of hay as we moved them last evening. I wish I could have also captured the eight deer that were further down the field past the hay bales grazing, totally uncaring about us and all the noise we were making. Anyway, Lightning gets the prize, he gets to be my story cover photo, and he worked hard and has more to do, so he deserves it.

The fun begins again this evening as Steve gets off work, and then I will catch up to him when I get off. I am just a bail guide in the field when he is loading them on the trailer, and a pusher when we are unloading, but it’s fun. It reminds me of the old days of summer from my youth. Kids miss out on so much not having 100’s of square bales to haul each summer. We would haul the hay, and then go jump in the creek afterwards. Now that was a summer day!

Day 45-Monday Again

It’s Monday again, and the day after Father’s Day.

We spent ours with the family at my parents’ house. My parents had their kids there and two grand kids, but other than my sister, the rest of us didn’t have any of our kids around. That made the group smaller and a bit quieter, but we still had fun and had a lot of laughs.

We made home-made ice cream, one peach and one vanilla batch. That was the high light of the day and was it good! We all probably enjoyed a little too much of it. Kim brought eating entertainment with color changing spoons she found. They change color when exposed to cold and heat. Obviously we were easily entertained, but it led to its own jokes and silliness.

It rained a couple of times during the day, and so we ended the day with a double rainbow to watch fill the sky right before we all headed home for the day. It was a nice day.

This week doesn’t look to eventful at the moment. Steve goes off call today, so he will probably catch up on sleep. Brett loves his job working hay fields. He can’t wait to go to work each day. Literally, I jest not, he starts fussing when it doesn’t come soon enough in the day for him. I am glad he enjoys it. I just hope he stays safe. He already killed a rattle snake, and the rattle is still lying on my kitchen table.

It’s definitely a Monday though, I keep doing goofy things. The best one so far, I tried to use my car fob to open my cash drawer at work. It was a conscious mind, subconscious mind thing, because as I’m doing this and my conscious mind is thinking why isn’t it responding? I can literally hear my sub conscious mind practically yelling in my head, “What are you doing?”

Then I just had to laugh and shake my head.

 

Day 41-June 19-21, Fredericksburg Area Festival and Event Update

To start, the house has really been quiet since both the girls are back at their places again. We had a wonderful visit and I already can’t wait to see them both again. Of course that will be about 6 months for Kasey, possibly Christmas time.

Chelsea will be in and out some during the summer months. She will actually be in for the Goddard rocket shoot at WSMR in July. Of course she won’t be here much. Hopefully I will get to go along this year, but I am still not sure at this point. The Goddard level rockets are the “big dogs” of this program, hence why they have to haul them to a missile range in New Mexico to test them.

I will probably be doing an informational piece on them closer to the actual date, but if you just can’t wait, as always the address is: www.systemsgo.org

Looking ahead a bit to the rest of the week, there are a whole lot of things going on in Fredericksburg, Stonewall and our great area this week and weekend. The Chamber Calendar is full. Here is a calendar copy and recap.

6/18/2015 Summer Farmers Market “Get Fresh, Buy Local”
6/19/2015 Annual Stonewall Peach JAMboree and Rodeo
6/19/2015 Fredericksburg Trade Days
6/19/2015 Fredericksburg Theater Company presents “Evita”
6/20/2015 Father’s Day Food and Wine Pairing at Rancho Ponte Vineyard
6/20/2015 Thomas Michael Riley Music Festival in Luckenbach
6/20/2015 Cooking Class at Urban Herbal
6/21/2015 Fredericksburg’s Weinstrasse Father’s Day Event

This calendar can be found here: http://www.fredericksburg-texas.com/events/

The next four days really have a little something for almost everyone. Thursday, the Farmer’s Market has lots of fresh items from vegetables, fruits, cheeses, canned good, Gulf Shrimp, pizzas, live music and a relaxed atmosphere to enjoy while you shop. For more information on this weekly summer event here is the address: http://www.fbgfarmersmarket.com/

Friday evening, The Fredericksburg Theater Company begins their summer production of “Evita”, a musical production by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice. This story portrays a rag to riches story of an Argentina First Lady. Show dates are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 2:00 pm, and July 4th at 3:00 pm. The theater is located at 1668 S HWY 87. Tickets are $29/Adults and $12/children. For more information call 830-997-3588 or go online at http://www.fredericksburgtheater.org/

For Friday through Sunday, the direction for fun, food, entertainment, festivals, wine and shopping is definitely east. East US Highway 290 houses the locations for most of the places to be and see for the weekend. The Stonewall Peach Jamboree, The Thomas Michael Riley Music Festival, and the Fredericksburg Trade Days begin Friday.

The Fredericksburg Trade Days runs Friday and Saturday, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and Sunday from 9:00 to 4:00 pm. Parking is $5 and good for the whole weekend. The venue is located 7 miles East on US Highway 290 across from the Wildseed Farms.  There are over 350 vendors of all kind.  Food, music and refreshments for adults and children are available.  For more information: http://www.fbgtradedays.com/

Luckenbach, Texas hosts the Thomas Michael Riley Music Festival starting Friday at 5:00 pm to 11:45 pm, Saturday from 1:00 pm to 11:45 pm, and continuing on Sunday from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Tickets are $20 for Friday or Saturday night, Sunday afternoon is free.  Twelve different performers, including Larry Joe Taylor, The Wolf Sisters, Jamie Richards, and Cooder Graw will take the stage on hourly intervals ending Friday and Sunday evenings with Thomas Michael Riley. A complete schedule is available at http://www.luckenbachtexas.com/ or http://www.thomasmichaelriley.com/8thannualmusicfestival.html

Stonewall hosts its 54th Annual Peach Jamboree Friday and Saturday. This is a family fun event with nightly CPRA Ram Rodeo and dance featuring Jody Nix on Friday and John Conlee on Saturday. Tickets are $15 Friday, $20 Saturday or a weekend pass for $30. Children ages 3-12 are $5. Entrance to the grounds on Saturday during the day is free. There is a parade, mutton bustin’, Peach Queen Contest, baking preserves, and salsa contest, 42 tournament, washer pitching, Kids patch, BBQ, peach eating and numerous other activities for your daytime entertainment. Rodoes begin at 6:00 pm both nights followed by the dance.  For more information call 830-644-2735 or http://www.stonewalltexas.com/

Saturday from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm there is a Father’s Day Food and Wine Paring at Rancho Ponte Vineyard at 315 Ranch Road 1376. Cost is $90 and includes demonstration and three food and wine parings with Chef Rachel Ponte. For more information http://www.ranchoponte.com/

Also on Saturday, located at 407 Whitney Street, Urban Herbal presents a cooking class on “Farm Fresh class of Salad, Quiche and Tart”. Reserve your seat in advance. Class starts at 11:00 am at a cost of $75. This recipe session will also include a wine paring for your new do it yourself easy menu. For more information call 830-456-9667 or online at http://www.urbanherbal.com/

If you are at a loss as to what to get Dad for Father’s Day, and he is a wine lover, then, Inwood Estates, Mendelbaum Cellars, and 4.0 Cellars have an event that’s “just for Dad.” They are hosting a mini wine tour event, called Fredericksburg Weinstrasse Father’s Day Event, with wine tastings, food paring and live music. Tickets are $35 and include all three wineries. Visit between noon and 4:00 pm and receive a 19 oz. crystal Bordeaux glass. For more information call 830-997-2304 or visit http://www.fredericksburgweinstrasse.com/

There is an event and entertainment for all ages in Gillespie County and the Fredericksburg, Stonewall area this weekend. Hope to see you at one or perhaps all of them. Have a great weekend.

 

 

Day 35-A Great Week until the end anyway.

We had a wonderful time with Miss Kasey this past week. She visited with several people and kept us well entertained. We had company Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings, friends showed up for dinner and visiting. Some even stayed the night one evening. It has been a while since we have had a house full of goofy girls staying over.

Thursday evening Cynthia Guevara and Michael Montoya joined us for supper, and then Steve received an unknown caller asking if we were there and if Kasey was there that they would like to come out and see her. He had no idea whom he was talking to, and invited them out anyway. Then he hung up the phone and recited a number asking if we had any idea whose is was. Luckily the number was in my phone and we discovered it was Quinten Moellering and his friend Gary Hannehmann, who are both friends with the girls. That was a good thing since he had just told someone whom he didn’t know to come out to our house at 10:00 at night.

That turned out to be a really crazy and fun night. All of them started a pillow fight and then used the palate mattresses as shields. There were pillows, blankets, and stuffed fish flying all over my living room. We laughed so hard at all of them. It was truly one of the funniest scenes I had seen in a long time. If only I would have had a video of it.

Friday night, Chelsea came in and we all met at Jalisco’s for supper, and then Kasey, Brett and Cynthia went out to Luckenbach with Michaela and Miranda Alkire and Sean, Miranda’s fiancee’. Later after graduation, Justin Nebgen met them there as well. The rest of us finished getting stuff ready to go to the coast the next day.

The five of us spent Saturday through Monday at Port Aransas. We stayed at the Mermaid Condo at Sunrise Villas where we had stayed 2 years earlier, the last time Kasey had been able to vacation with us. We ate at Moby Dick’s, The Beach Lodge, and the Island Cafe, and spent a little time shopping. Mostly though, we played on the beach and in the pool and Chelsea and Brett even did some night fishing.

The weather was super wonderful. I front had just been through chasing all the rain and humidity away, so temps were in the 80’s and not humid. The sand was packed from the recent rains, so there was no blowing sand in the breeze. The water was warm and clear as glass even when it was chest deep. It was definitely beautiful.

It was so wonderful just being the five of us again. On Monday morning, Kasey and I got up early and walked the beach taking pictures as the sun rose. It was so nice and peaceful.

We left for home just after lunch and then swung through San Antonio to pick up Aaron Chadwick’s Tahoe and bring it along home with us. We tried to go have supper with Grandma Bobbye Burow in Comfort but couldn’t get through on the phones. When we got to Los Jarros we discovered that all phone service was down in the Comfort area.

Tuesday, Chelsea had lunch with us at Porky’s and then headed back to Lubbock. Steve, Kasey and I went out to the park for a while after going to AT&T and getting Kasey a new blue phone identical to her old red phone. She needed a new phone, but still refused to get a smart phone. Later we had dinner with her and Donovan Hawkins and then they went to visit his mom and watch a movie.

Wednesday, we picked up Cynthia and had an early lunch and then headed to Austin to take Kasey to the airport. We left with plenty of time but a wreck on 71 right outside the airport made us miss her flight, then her second flight got grounded twice and she had to stay the night in Austin with her cousins who took her back to the airport at 4:00 in the morning so she could catch a 6:05 flight. She finally made it back to Norfolk at 2:00 this afternoon their time. Thank heavens she finally made it safely, a but the airlines tore her luggage for the second trip in a row and she now has to get another bag after just buying a new one here because they ripped the one coming here as well. I told her she should report it to the airlines, but she didn’t figure it was worth it.

If that wasn’t enough for one day for her, now her truck won’t start. Her dad believes it’s the battery, so she just has to find someone to jump it for her. Let’s pray that is all it is.

I am sorry if this wasn’t the most interesting or educationally informative blog tonight, but I just had to catch it all up for myself this time.

On another note, the Goddard level rocket program at White Sands is coming up in July. More details to come in the future.

Stonewall Peach Jamboree and Father’s Day is coming up next weekend. The Antique Tractor show is this weekend at the fairgrounds. More details to come on these and other things of interest as well as whatever strikes my fancy to write about.

Day 26-Yes, I know, I Missed a Few-“For A Little While”

Well, I was a little busy late last week and managed to miss a few days. Plus at first it seemed really hard to follow that last post about the boys. It was and still is such a tragedy for so many reasons. God rest their souls, and God bless their families.

On the lighter and better side of things, I am super happy right now, because I have a very special young lady from the US Navy home right now. My middle daughter, Miss Kasey Burow, is home for a visit. She came in Sunday evening. We had a nice fajita lunch in Austin at my sisters so that her girls could visit with Kasey. We played some games and had a nice time before heading back home for the evening.

We celebrated a late birthday with Kasey when we got home. She finally got to open the rest of her gifts that we didn’t mail to her since she was coming home. She said we should keep them for her visit. Then she and I played a few rounds of Hell, our favorite card game. It was a nice day.

Monday I spent the day with her as well. We got her truck registered here in Texas instead of Virginia, and then went to Kerrville for lunch and shopping. We even caught a movie while we were there, and then came back to town to Dairy Queen for a shared dinner and ice cream with a friend.
Back at home, we played dominoes with her dad for a while. It was another great day.

Today I had to work, but I did have lunch with her and some of her girlfriends. Later her and Cynthia came to the house, I made supper and then we all watched a movie before the girls ran off to town again. It was really nice.

Kasey will be with us until the 10th. Chelsea comes in this weekend and we will all 5 be together doing family things for once. That will be great. It has been a while since the 5 of us have been together on a non-holiday to just spend time without the hustle and bustle of Holiday schedules. Don’t get me wrong I love having them all here for the holidays too, but they are just so planned and scheduled. This time will just be us doing what we want to do. I can’t wait.

For A Little While

My heart beats with joy,
There is no greater day,
For today my baby is home,
No longer so far away.

I see her smile,
I hear her laugh,
And know she is home again,
For at least a little while.

She makes us proud;
Every day she serves with honor,
This country we love so dear;
Showing strength, proud and clear.

For that we thank her;
For being who she is,
A Navy Airman,
And my beloved daughter.

She is part of the 1 percent,
That live in service for us all,
Living and working so far from home;

Answering the call.

But today she is home,
Making me smile
Sharing her heart with us all
For a little while.

By Ginger Burow
6/2/2015

Ok, I know it wasn’t much, but that’s it for tonight.

Day 21- A Memorial to Young Lives Lost Too Soon

I hadn’t planned to write today, I had just planned to take a break for a day. Unfortunately a tragedy occurred that I feel warrants a few words.
Today, as many of you here in Fredericksburg already know, two young men lost their lives in a traffic accident. Two twenty year olds, Brandon Strackbein, and Hayden Pfiester, with their whole life ahead of them, left this world early this morning, in an instant.

There are no words for this really, only shock and despair. I know that when we finally heard the names, my heart dropped into my stomach and my soul just literally ached for them and their parents and families. No parent deserves to live through such a tragedy.

My heart and prayers go out to both boys’ families. I can’t even begin to know what they are feeling, I only know that I wish I could give some sense of peace and understanding which I know is hard right now.

As a community, I know there are literally hundreds of us that are here, crying with them, and lending them whatever support we can that they may need.

Their children’s friends, and their parents loved and miss the boys, and we are all here as a community to surround these families and help. Lean on all of us. Lean on your family, your friends, your boys’ friends, and your community.

As hard as it is right now, because I know understanding at a time like this is near zero, lean on your faith and your Lord. He is here, and He is holding you up in His arms giving you strength, peace, comfort, love, and even joy at knowing His promises are real. Lean on Him, and lean on Him hard, as you gather together and lean on each other.

Friends and community, put aside what you may know or think you know about things and just be there to support and help these families. They are all good, hard-working, families that need every ounce of whatever good you can show them right now. Just be there for them, however you can.

To the Strackbeins, and Pfiesters, and their extended families, may God bless and keep you, may He give you His strength, may He bathe you in peace, and the joy that comes from knowing that your boys are with Him now. Even though, they are physically gone from your sight, they are forever in your hearts and memories, and in the hearts and memories of everyone that knew them.

Share those memories with each other and keep the good things alive through these memories. Share your love for them and one another with their families. Nothing else matters now except supporting these families and each other through these next few weeks.

God bless them and all who knew and loved them.

Day 20-Rocket Recovery Teams

What would a rocket launch be without a bunch of crazy, fun-loving, competitive people willing to trompe through water, mud, trees, tall grass, and thick underbrush in order to see who can recover the most rockets and bring them back to smiling students? And let’s not forget encounter, pigs, snakes, ants, wasps, bees, chiggers, mosquitos, cows, cup eating donkeys, and any manor of small animals that run out from under foot unexpectedly.

This crews hardest job, is not locating and recovering the rockets, but instead getting the compass to give an accurate azimuth, (sometimes they stick), and inputting the coordinates in the Garman in time to beat the other team to the location.

Finding the rockets depends a lot on good coordinates, a good sense of direction, good eye balling of where you saw it go down, and a whole lot of pure luck.

A perfect launch and recovery deployment can put the vehicle almost back in easy distance and sight to find. On the other hand a high altitude deployment can carry the rocket for a long time, making what  looks like right over there, end up to be a few pastures over, which entails a whole lot of walking and searching. And of course a ballistic landing means searching and digging.

No matter the circumstances, each rocket is a valuable learning tool for each class, and the ultimate goal of these teams is to recover all of it they can, and return it to those students.

Quite honestly, the recovery teams, probably have the most fun, and least stressful job of the group. Most of them are repeat crew members from year to year and wouldn’t miss it given the chance.

They all work closely with the Rocket Cops Crew, who also lend their ears, eyes, and communications to the teams on the ground. Officer Braxton Roemer coordinates the recovery teams.

This years’ teams included: Team 1, Jeff and Tina Landis; Team 2, Jerry and Judith Luckenbach; Team 3, Barry and Ann Bradley; Team 4, Steve and Ginger Burow; Team 5, Todd and Troy Kneese; Team 6, Guy Chadwick, Brett Burow, and Brittany Beisert ; Team 7, Freddie Kruse. There was also a 3 person team from Alpha Search and Recovery out of Houston that was here to observe, and helped in place of Team 7 on Sunday.

This group works and plays hard the whole weekend. They love to have fun while out there searching and recovering rockets. They are each here because they want to help SystemsGo and the students be successful and they all take that very seriously.

Thank you recovery teams for being a vital and important part of the project. This year this group had 97% recovery rate for all the rockets launched. Congratulations and thank you all for all your hard work.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.