Roaming with Chris and Tracy

Chris and I spent the weekend in Cedar Rapids, IA. This is the second year we have gone up for the Fairfax, IA model rocket club’s fall launch. Since there are no local model rocket clubs, Chris launches with the Fairfax group and with a club from Macomb, IL so he does not have to launch on his own. Launching models rockets on his own would not be a bad thing, but we do not have the large wide open piece of ground that would be needed.

We spent Friday night in Cedar Rapids because the launch was supposed to be Saturday starting at 9 am, but the wind was blowing so much it was postponed to Sunday morning. Good thing we had made plans to spend Saturday night in Cedar Rapids also. This schedule change worked out great because the wind speed was very low on Sunday.

With the launch postponed we had all day Saturday to explore the area and visit some of our favorite places. Since it was chilly and windy in the morning, we started the day with a drive around the outskirts of town and saw some beautiful countryside. The fall colors were absolutely stunning. After driving around for a while we decided it was warm enough to go to our favorite area of Cedar Rapids, Czech Village and New Bohemia. They are neighboring areas separated by a river and referred to together as The District. They are both beautiful old neighborhoods that are thriving with retail businesses, bars, and restaurants. There are many different types of stores including antique stores, which we both enjoy. Although this trip neither one of us found any treasures to bring home.

We also enjoy the NewBo City Market very much. It is a large building with spaces for many small businesses to have a “store front” location. There are some really good places to eat there, our favorites being the Caribbean Kitchen for the Jamaican Beef Patties and Roaster Coffee for tea! Chris likes the Chai Frappe and I like the London Fog. This time we also indulged with a Dutch Letter from the Amana Colonies Bakery.

After spending a few hours enjoying The District, we found a few thrift stores to check out. Neither one of us had any major finds just a few small things. I did get a small hand carved nativity that is signed and dated to add to my collection. We finished up the day with supper at Sugarfire BBQ and a little shopping. Then we headed back to the hotel to rest up for Sunday.

We woke up to a very chilly Sunday morning, but it was sunny and clam. After we got the car packed up, we headed back to Czech Village and Czech Town Station for breakfast. It did not disappoint! This was the first time we had tried this res威而鋼
taurant, but we will go back. After fueling up for the day, it had warmed up a bit and we headed to the Fairfax launch site.

It was a perfect day for flying model rockets, sunny and not too cold and the wind was very calm. I think all the rocketeers got to launch everything they wanted. As usual some recovered unharmed but other came back with some damage. All in all I think everyone had an enjoyable day. I know Chris did and I had a good time photographing it all.

While we were at NewBo City Market on Saturday, I was talking to one of the vendors selling home décor, including framed photos. She had a photo of a lovely old bridge and I asked if it was local and still standing; it was and still being used! She gave us the name of the bridge and general directions for finding it, and that is what we did after the rocket launch ended. And, as we were enjoying brisket at Sugarfire on Saturday evening, Chris saw a Facebook post our friend Joe had tagged him in about a rescued bridge that had been moved to a nature center in Cedar Rapids, so we went on a short hike Sunday afternoon and visited this bridge also. For those of you who don’t know, Chris loves the old iron bridges and photographing them. He really enjoys it when he finds a design he has never seen before, and these two bridges were the same design and one he have never seen before. He thinks they are probably the oldest bridges he has photographed as they were both over 140 years old. The bridges were fabulous and Chris was thrilled with getting to see them.

We had a fantastic weekend with memories made, good food consumed, last year’s acquaintances a little closer to being friends and new acquaintances made. We want to thank the Fairfax Society of Rocketry for making these two Missourians feel so welcome and wanted at their events. Here’s to the spring launch!