I wouldn't call the skies beautiful. However, the clouds were high enough they didn't interfere with flying. I wasn't able to follow the rockets past burnout due to no contrast between the smoke trail and clouds.
NAR only needs 1 L2 or L3 NAR member or 2 NAR members, one of which is already L1.
Tripoli only a Prefect or TAP member can certify under Tripoli rules. I am a TAP and L3 in both organizations. Chuck Haislip attends all launches and he is a Prefect.