Where's your Happy Place (s)?

[tfish]

In another thread, I got off track and made the comment about my Happy Places. I figured it would be a better thread then...what's your favorite ice cream!

Mine are all outdoors. I'm not sure why a "rocketry Place" is not one of them. When I'm at one of my Happy Places, I'm fishing. But it's weird, when I'm fishing, I'm always thinking about Rockets.. When I'm flying rockets, I'm thinking about fishing. Maybe, one of you are a Psychiatrist and can tell me...you're normal or I should go see one.

Anyway..in no particular order. I'm happy at any one of them. One is easy to get to and cheap. one costs a bunch and takes a lot of time and planning. One is very physical to get to..

Halibut fishing in Tomales bay. 25 miles from my house. halibut season is April to end of Sept. Cuts into my rocket flying. Even catching the live bait is fun. I've fished here for 30 years. I eat a lot of Halibut tacos.

Backpacking in Northern Ca. 365 miles away, I've been going for 35 years. My kids were able to go once they turned five.(my kids are 39-30 now) {I'm not old} It's about a 5 mile hike. The last mile is a tad tough..now days. I have a bunch of gear hid where I go. This makes taking real food much easier. When this kids were little my pack was almost 80 pounds. I go the same time every year. It's interesting to see what 'stage' the lake is in every year. Wild dumb fish. My ashes will be buried where this photo was taken.

Alaska. I'm fortunate enough to have a very kind wife to do all of these things. She is more then welcome to come with me..but seems to always decline. 2065 miles away. Unguided raft trips out in the middle of no where. Floats from 50 to 90 miles long. Takes money, a lot of planning. once there I'm good! Mostly peaceful. (I made a portable electric fence to go around camp) On one trip I fell asleep listening to Bears fishing next to camp. Fishing is easy. To easy. It puts me 'off' fishing here.

Sorry for the long drawn out post,,

Tony

 

[ksaves2]

Sounds nice but no pics. Kurt

 

[tfish]

Sounds nice but no pics. Kurt

really? I'm seeing them. I made them public in Flicker...?..are you seeing any Gibberish?
Maybe I'm only seeing them in my mind!

Tony

 

[ChrisAttebery]

I see them and I'm jealous.


Sent from my iPhone using Rocketry Forum

 

[RainierWolfcastle]

I see them and I'm jealous.

Me too!


In summer it's beach and snorkelling, bodyboarding if I'm really lucky.




In winter it's rockets. It's a day out talking with like minded people and occasionally launching small objects high enough to lose them followed by long relaxing walks to find them.




Either way we are often lucky here to have some of the best weather for anything you choose to do outdoors.

 

[georgegassaway]

Hmm. My happiest place for years was traveling from Alabama to Phoenix Arizona to visit Ed LaCroix,often for a week or more (Did that at least once a year, sometimes twice a year like Fall and Spring). We'd fly R/C (I taught him how to on one of my first trips), fly rockets, and do other stuff. Have not been able to do one of those trips for a long time.

But in any case, I realize the most frequent happy place is when I'm flying models, when the wind is not too strong. And even more so with R/C models, whether rocket gliders or electric planes or multicopters. I can literally go outside of the house and fly those any time the weather is nice, and land them right back in the yard. Flying with others at club launches is fun too, but that's not nearly as often, and the weather is not necessarily so good.

A non-rocketry thing I do that is sort of a happy place is bike riding. Although I do it more for exercise than any other reason. Yet I've liked doing that than just plain walking for exercise, bored walking for 30 minutes yet can ride hours on the bike. Partly clearing my head, but also partly thinking about details of certain model projects. And often have ridden with bike groups along trails and such, so it's a social thing (though like a scheduled club launch the weather can affect the fun factor - wind, cold, or chances of rain suck. ). Thing is though that I haven't ridden since early October due to a seasonal job I got where I walk an average of 7 miles a day, equal to about 21 miles of bike riding (and often I've felt like I rode over 20 miles). Also if I fell while riding and got injured, that would make it hard to impossible to do the job so I've just not risked it The work is not exactly my "happy place", but it is my "damned glad to have it" place. Heck, some days my happy place is the bed for a 1-2 hour nap after getting home from work.

 

[dr wogz]

One of my happy places is in my car.

sad? Well the car isn't in a parking lot, or stuck in Tuesday morning traffic...

No, the car is whizzing down Rt100 thru VT to Rutland.. Rounding the bend in the White mountains (rt112), and Rt1 (1A) form Boston to Bath.. The Coquahalla on a sunny Sunday, down 5-mile hill into Hope.. the Blue Ridge parkway (the whole length), the 231 from Fayetteville to Scottsville / Bowling green.. the 90 west just after Chicago (welcome to the mid-west!)..

I love driving trips, I love exploring. n We (the wife & I) love driving trips. I love love little country back roads.. Tennessee & Kentucky have got to be some of the prettiest drives I've done..

After that is in a boat, in a lake, in western Quebec / northeast Ontario (Mattawa / Algonquin park) with a friend on not so sunny days pulling brookies out with home made flies..

 

[mpitfield]

Anything to do with water, whether I am beside, on, in, or under. I spent 10 years boating on Georgian Bay from my my mid 20s to mid 30s, then I met my wife who wasn't interested in driving 2 hours up North every weekend so I sold the boat, but miss the Bay very much. It is also referred to as 30,000 Islands, that's right 30,000 of them.

Below are some pics I just found from a photographer Mike Grandmaison who has done a good job in capturing the uniqueness and rugged beauty. One thing I miss is the unforgiving nature of the place, it is not a place for novice boaters, there are shoals lurking everywhere just waiting to rip the bottom of your boat off or open.

 

[RocketFeller]

One of my happiest places is in the woods looking for mushrooms wit my son. We only get a o root for a month or two each year, but it always feels good to be back in the forest.





Happy place number two is Pacific City, Oregon. We take care of a friend's beach cabin regularly enough that it feels like home.







Going out in the boat makes me happy.









Anywhere that rockets are flying is happy, but Brothers is extra-happy.

 

[Cl(VII)]

Like most of you, outside. Preferably hiking and/or camping with the family. My favorite places tend to be those with no cell phone reception.

Big Bend National Park


Ozarks National Forest


Dinosaur Valley State Park (TX)

 

[ecarson]

One of many "happy places", but also what I consider a "holy place" for myself. This is a screen grab from a HD camcorder taken at Popo Agie Falls, about a 3 mile hike from the trail head in Sinks Canyon Park near Lander, Wyoming. Not being acclimated to the altitude there really took the stuffing out of me, as I was in my late 50's when I first made it there. Some day if I get into a bit better shape, I'd like to try going a bit further into the wilderness from there.

A fellow by the name of Eliot Garvin ventured out there much further than I made it, while in his mid-60's. He posted a few photos on Google Earth, one with an entourage of four pack llamas. A bit of inspiration for me.

 

[GrouchoDuke]

Too many to list, but...Yosemite. This was one of my night time shots from my last trip.

 

[OverTheTop]

It has been said that "A canter is a cure for all evils." Anywhere on horseback is great for me. Bush, rainforest, beach, mountains, doesn't matter what weather. I have done a lot of it over the years and should do it more often. As a reasonably good rider I always get give the slightly cranky horses and it is a pleasure to work with them and end up with a well-mannered friend by the end of the trek.



Same goes for downhill skiing, with the recent Winter Olympics reminding me of what I have missed for about a decade. I used to do freestyle (aerials, half-pipe and some slopestyle) but just for fun, as well as being a qualified instructor. Sometimes family takes priority in life.

 

[LW Bercini]

Compared to the rest of you Crocodile Dundees, my happy place will sound dull. My happy place is lounging on my bed with my 2 dogs, each vying for which one can closest to me, while I listen to my fav tunes. It is a loving, peaceful "family" time. That is, until we all 3 doze off.

 

[WFWalby]

I'm with Tony, all my Happy Places are outdoors! Riding any of my bicycles (road, gravel, mountain, city) it's all good; watching the sunrise over Blackrock before launching starts, hiking ANYWHERE, mountains, deserts, cities etc. Used to love to fish but haven't done much for many years. Being in motion outside is my version of "church".

William

 

[DavidMcCann]

Outside is a good happy place. Water even better.

I love walking up on a rocket. Seeing it the first time after a flight is a great feeling. And you get to stop walking and just chill in the silence for a bit. It's my favorite part of flying.

Hiking is a good time, I love the Alleghany woods, and Letchworth state park. NYS doesn't have many perks. The state park system is one of them. Luckily the kids are getting old enough to tag along so I might be able to do more of it again.

Disney is just automatically a happy place. As long as you don't look at the credit balance.

Motorcycles. 'nuff said

Recently, being winter and having many tiny minions, outdoor actives are difficult... I've found a happy place cooking (to a mildly obsessive level)

And finally water.... All my life, any water has been a magnet. I don't have as many photos as I should, But I love being out on lake Erie. Swimming, Sailing, boating, fishing, skiing... doesn't matter. Just love being out there.

 

[crossfire]

Hmm. My happiest place for years was traveling from Alabama to Phoenix Arizona to visit Ed LaCroix,often for a week or more (Did that at least once a year, sometimes twice a year like Fall and Spring). We'd fly R/C (I taught him how to on one of my first trips), fly rockets, and do other stuff. Have not been able to do one of those trips for a long time.

But in any case, I realize the most frequent happy place is when I'm flying models, when the wind is not too strong. And even more so with R/C models, whether rocket gliders or electric planes or multicopters. I can literally go outside of the house and fly those any time the weather is nice, and land them right back in the yard. Flying with others at club launches is fun too, but that's not nearly as often, and the weather is not necessarily so good.

A non-rocketry thing I do that is sort of a happy place is bike riding. Although I do it more for exercise than any other reason. Yet I've liked doing that than just plain walking for exercise, bored walking for 30 minutes yet can ride hours on the bike. Partly clearing my head, but also partly thinking about details of certain model projects. And often have ridden with bike groups along trails and such, so it's a social thing (though like a scheduled club launch the weather can affect the fun factor - wind, cold, or chances of rain suck. ). Thing is though that I haven't ridden since early October due to a seasonal job I got where I walk an average of 7 miles a day, equal to about 21 miles of bike riding (and often I've felt like I rode over 20 miles). Also if I fell while riding and got injured, that would make it hard to impossible to do the job so I've just not risked it The work is not exactly my "happy place", but it is my "damned glad to have it" place. Heck, some days my happy place is the bed for a 1-2 hour nap after getting home from work.

George
I remember the name Ed LaCorix did he have some kind of rocketry business at one time?

Gary
Founder of TFRLLC

 

[The_Lone_Beagle]

Compared to the rest of you Crocodile Dundees, my happy place will sound dull. My happy place is lounging on my bed with my 2 dogs, each vying for which one can closest to me, while I listen to my fav tunes. It is a loving, peaceful "family" time. That is, until we all 3 doze off.

You beat me to it! Just lounging around, with a good book in my hand and my dog (currently only one). Usually doze off after about an hour...ahhh, happy place!

 

[Len B]

Outdoors for sure. RV camping preferably near water. Being near water, mountains or both. Getting outside is the best. I'm hoping to get out kayaking tomorrow. It will be my first time in my own kayak. I've enjoyed rowing my Fishcat pontoon boat but I got a little tired of my wife running circles around me in her kayak. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

 

[cherokeej]

Most of my happy places are no longer accessible to me. Trout fishing at Cherry Lake, Lake Eleanor, and Kibbe Lake, and salmon fishing on the Monterey Bay.

One happy place I can be any time I like... Anywhere I can be with my little grandson.

But of course, this thing won't let me upload the pix.

 

[OverTheTop]

Compared to the rest of you Crocodile Dundees, my happy place will sound dull.

Whatever works for each of us is good. If everyone were the same it would be a boring world. Humans are a variable bunch. I guess that's why the OP posted the thread

 

[ColumbiaNX01]

I can be happy really anywhere. But my really happy place for me is sitting in church on Sunday morning with my wife and child worshiping. No better feeling.

 

[r66astro]

Sleeping on the beach, Ft Myers Beach Florida 1972

 

[tfish]

Whatever works for each of us is good. If everyone were the same it would be a boring world. Humans are a variable bunch. I guess that's why the OP posted the thread

Pretty much. it's interesting to see what everyone has to say. Laying in bed with my dog "Rocket" nudging me to get up, is a pretty good place to be in life too!

Tony

 

[Cl(VII)]

Whatever works for each of us is good. If everyone were the same it would be a boring world. Humans are a variable bunch. I guess that's why the OP posted the thread

Besides, if everyone's happy place was the same as mine, then there would be lots of people and cell service there. Those would make it, not my happy place.

 

[Onebadhawk]

Wow,,
Some super gorgeous pics for sure..
I've always loved quiet and solitude..
I sure did love the sea,, had a few boats,, loved fishin,, would drool to go Halibut fishin,,
I used to be big into Tuna fishing,, that was my big game..
Now it's more RV and beautiful places with the wife..
We went to Buttermilk dry rock formation state park last year,, that was gorgeous..
So was Letchworth..

Tony,, yours take the cake for me man,,
I'm jealous,, lol..

Teddy

 

[T-Rex]

Working on the road, 7 12's, for weeks/months at a time, the closest I get to a happy place is generally getting back to the hotel, laying on the bed with the AC cranking thinking about "one day"...

 

[viciouspeanut]

Anywhere west of this damn city. I hate the hustle and bustle, constant traffic, all the modern bullcrap that has become life.

I long for when I can be in the desert, mountains anywhere that doesn't have 7 million people. Big Bend Nat'l Park is a favorite for sure.

Can't wait for the day I get an old Land Cruiser, and can just go and support our little trip and go wherever we want and see whatever we want. No one around - just us.

 

[boatgeek]

OK, I'll bite. Washington is full of beautiful places, so much that places that would be the centerpiece of a flagship state park elsewhere are just little 10-car parking lots off the state highway. I like the Cascades, but I love the Olympic Peninsula.

Lake Crescent is a particular favorite, 5 miles long, a mile wide, and 600 feet deep of the clearest water you'll ever see. You can still see the bottom 100' down.



That last one is us pulling up to our campsite on the end of the lake.

Then you get out to the coast proper, where there's a little sand, but mostly pebble or rock beaches. It's wild--you get 30' waves every month or two through teh winter. It's pretty humbling to look at a 6' diameter log that's sitting 10-15' above high tide level on a breakwater.



I don't have a good picture handy, but you can go a little further around and get to the old rain forest. The rock stars (live fast, die young) are the 400-year-old spruces, and the red cedars and Douglas firs can live over 1000 years.

One last picture so the Cascades don't get jealous. This is Narada Falls on the way up to Paradise on Mt. Rainier.



All of these places are within an easy day's drive of my house. About 20 minutes walk from home is a bluff park overlooking Puget Sound, a nice place for sunsets.

 

[cobra1336]

Driving my 1965 ac Shelby cobra to the golf course and spending the day chasing that little white ball.