Robotic Championships and R2 Central's Bday Party

I've been pretty busy lately, so this post is about two weeks overdue. It was an honor to attend the VEX Robotics Championships of the Americas in Omaha with the R2 Central group. Lots of kids asking lots of questions about building an R2, and lots of parents asking how much! LOL After driving the RV for the first time myself in a 12-hour blizzard that pretty much was ontop of me the whole time, I finally arrived at Moose and Jen's place. The campground was flooded (I thought it was a lake), so I had to park the beast in front of their house and slept on their couch with their two wonderful dogs who kept me warm every night. I just want to thank them for their kind hospitality.

Since the event was held in the evening, Moose and I did some caster work on AL during the day. Moose was so excited that his new garage workshop was being broken in by AL, he jumped at the opportunity to work on him.

During the event we all took turns manning the table, while others drove their droids amongst the crowd. Hopefully, AL will be rolling soon (got all the parts, just don't know how to put it all together yet, but studying!).

AL stood at the table looking pretty. Alot of people took a peak inside to check out the frame. I do want to adjust the radar eye a bit before Starfest, kinda looks a bit crooked.

Dawmer's droid with the Nebraska Cornhusker's tatoo on the dome (can't see it in this pic), and Brad's R2D2. These two droids pretty much hung out together, creating mayhem everywhere they went! (at least alot of smiles!)

The R2 Central gang: me and AL, Brad and Artoo, Jason and his frame (this will be a red with white Cornhusker droid), Dawmer and the white with red Cornhusker droid, and Moose with his T3. Poor Patches, he had a couple broken legs and was in bedrest under doctor's orders.

The next day we had a really nice birthday party for the R2 Central. I can't believe it's been two years! Jason made this wonderful cake, his first attempt. And it was GOOD!

The lady builder's of the R2 Central: Jen, Syrena, and myself.

And the rest of the gang (I'm in the green t-shirt).

I really enjoyed this event and might plan to go again next year. Next is Starfest in two weeks, then back to Omaha for Osfest in late July, then the all-important, all-money consuming CV! AL's getting a lot of traveling done this year.

Until next time,

Jawa Jaka

pics by Moose and Jason, since I left my camera in the RV!