I'm trying to imagine where you fly in DC. (?) Even a decent sized park is surrounded by high-density housing, making retrieval difficult or impossible. We tried a few in our yard but lost them to the tall trees.

We ended up going to Goddard where recovery is guaranteed. The first time is a little intimidating because sometimes you only get one shot at the launch pad, so you have to be sure your igniter is solidly attached. But then you get to see your majestic creation soar skyward in front of hundreds of people. They also have an 'expert' do a flight worthiness check on every rocket. You are definitely ready for NASA launch and the kids will love it.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma