The Wright Rocket Site

BALLS 15 - 2006 - Black Rock Desert, Nevada

This year was our second trip to BALLS and we were much better prepared this time!  We made the drive from Seattle down to Gerlach, NV in exactly 12hrs broken into two segments of 6hrs with some sleep time at a motel in Bend, OR.  Last year we discovered exactly how much can you cram in an Expedition with five people in it.  This year we had the DADDY B - a Dodge 1500 4x4 MegaCab - and oh the room! Especially since it was just Red and I in the cab on the way down. 

For those who don't want to read the commentary and look at trip photos but just want to see rockets click here for the projects pages.

The drive to and from is of course still a lovely trip, even when you are searching for cell phone coverage at 6000' or passing the "happy California cows" - ask the Blonde One about those.

The playa as usual is just such a special place! 

Our camp became more organized this year with out marker pirate flags, resident pirate and Red making sure everything ran smoothly - couldn't have done the trip without her!

The  mornings and nights were cold so we warmed by the fire and then by the FIRE!  Daytime between flights was a great time to hang out with friends near and far or just to catch a quick nap.

This year we had a lot of press out for the event, some even from large news outlets such as these folks.

The New York Times photographer Jim, working and hanging out:

Pat Gordzelic and Jim Wilkerson working the press with Patti, NYT reporter:

This ended up in a very favorable article for rocketry in general.  I'm not sure how but it also ended up with my Tomahawk in some of the paper photos on Oct 14th!

Each day was an adventure and the sunset's never disappointed this year either.

Great days on the playa, especially after the porta-potties finally arrived Friday morning! For the good sized collection of us there on Thursday this was a welcome site!