<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div>Hello everyone,<br><br>Believe it or not, we are going to fly rockets at the ranch this<br>weekend. The weather report says we are going to get some rain on<br>Thursday which should reduce the fire danger almost to zero. We will<br>still need to be a little careful, but the risk will be very low.<br><br>This is going to be a two day event with High and low-power flying on<br>Saturday and low/mid power only on Sunday. There will not be any camping<br>on the ranch, but there is a campground at Woodward reservoir over by<br>Oakdale, which is only 15 minutes away. Motels are available at Oakdale,<br>Escalon, Copperopolis, Stockton, and Modesto so take your pick.<br><br>Be sure to check the hotline in case we have to cancel at the last<br>minute.<br><br>The stuff that follows is for newcomers to Snow Ranch. Of course,
it<br>wouldn't hurt for the old hands to skim over it to make sure they have<br>not forgotten anything.<br><br>We will be flying on a working cattle ranch in a field that hasn't<br>changed much in the last 10,000 years. There are no paved roads,<br>sidewalks, mowed lawns, or anything else you are used to having at the<br>launches in Livermore.<br><br>You will find rocks, squirrel holes, sticks, cow bones, and other<br>assorted items that can twist or break ankles or legs if you are not<br>paying attention. You will also see wildlife. In addition to the bulls<br>and cows, there are squirrels, snakes, coyotes, mountain lions, golden<br>eagles, bald eagles, buzzards, and other critters. Again, if you pay<br>attention, none of these critters will bother you. If you have kids,<br>keep an eye on them, don't let them wander far without an adult.<br><br>This is rattle snake country the same as the hills around Livermore. As<br>long as you pay attention to where
you are walking and where you put<br>your hands and feet, you won't have a problem. Stay away from the rock<br>fences, the blackberry bushes, and the brushy rock formations. Those are<br>all snake places. If your rocket lands in one of those places, come get<br>me or one of the club officers to help you get it out. Now, I am not<br>trying to scare anyone, I just want to make sure you are paying<br>attention. My brothers, sister, cousins, and I played all over those<br>hills as children and never got bit and I want to make sure no one else<br>does.<br><br>When you get to the launch area, follow the marked road to the field.<br>Even though it looks like there is a shorter way, don't do it. There is<br>a reason I mark the road where I do. There is a road down the center of<br>the field where we launch. You can park on either side of that road. On<br>the east side you can go as far as the creek but on the west side, do<br>not go more than one car
length from the road. Most of the ground is sod<br>over mud. If you break through the sod, your car will drop to its axles<br>in the mud. Four wheel drive will not save you. The ground under the sod<br>is almost liquid. Some of you will remember when I pulled a lost rocket<br>out of the ground. The rocket had punched a hole through the sod. I was<br>able to stick my arm down into the ground all the way to my elbow<br>without any problem, slide my fingers under the rocket, and pull it out.<br>If I can stick my arm up to the elbow in the ground, imagine what<br>something with the weight of a car will do. The places we will mark out<br>have gravel under them and are solid. A few feet farther up the hill are<br>not.<br><br>As I mentioned, this is a working ranch and there are a few ranch rules.<br><br> - Leave the cows and bulls alone. There are a lot of newborn calves in<br>the field, many born in the last week. If you see one, don't go too<br>close
and do not get between the calves and the cows, especially small<br>children.<br> - If you see a calf that appears to be in trouble, that is, it has<br>fallen in a hole or in the creek and does not seem to be able to get<br>out, come and get me and I will rescue it.<br> - Leave the wild critters alone. It is OK to look, but don't try to<br>pick them up. The rattle snakes you find out there are real, not toys,<br>and they bite.<br> - If there are bee hives on the hill above where we launch, stay away<br>from them. They are self protecting so you have been warned.<br> - Close any gates that you open.<br> - Don't do anything to mess up the land. A rancher is just about the<br>greenest person you will ever meet when it comes to his land. In this<br>case, our family has been caring for this land for over 130 years. The<br>worst thing you can do is to create ruts which cause erosion which is<br>another reason to stay on the
roads.<br><br>There is a lot of history in this area. Indians used to camp just south<br>of where we launch and there are Indian grinding holes in many of the rocks.<br>The movies "Little House on the Prairie" and "The Big Country" were<br>filmed around where we will be flying. The remains of the "Little House<br>on the Prairie" set are just to the south-east of where we launch. The<br>stage road from Stockton to the gold mines in Angels Camp went right<br>through this area, and up the road a ways Black Bart used to rob them.<br>The History Channel filmed part of a program on Werner VonBraun near the<br>ranch house.<br><br>We will rent a porta potty for the day but there is no water, food or<br>anything else in the area so bring whatever you will need.<br><br>We have a barbecue grill I will fire up in the morning. I expect it to<br>be really popular just for keeping warm. Bring your own dogs or burgers<br>and have a warm lunch.<br><br>If anyone does get
hurt, the closest hospital is in Oakdale, about a 15<br>minute drive from the Ranch (after you get back to the highway). There<br>is a map to the hospital in the LUNAR document box if you should need it.<br><br>There are maps to the ranch and driving instructions on the LUNAR website.<br><br>If anyone has any questions, I will be happy to answer them.<br><br>Bill<br><br>-- <br>----------------------------------------<br>William Orvis<br>226 Joyce St.<br>Livermore, CA 94550<br>orvis@compuserve.com<br>----------------------------------------<br></div></div></body></html>