Labor Day Weekend, Part 2

 Well, the sleeping bag liner was worth it. Slept warm and awoke to another great sunrise.

This campsite was more a patch of grass than a pile of dirt.

Back on the road to Los Alamos, snagged a campsite at Bandelier, and headed off to Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. After mass, met with the Pastor, Fr. John, and he said I could show Little Pinocchio in the parish hall after 9 am Mass. So a third open house!


This is a nice place at the Church to say a rosary:

Took a trip up to Camp May by the Pajarito Mountain Ski Slope. 
Los Alamos, from half way up the mountain

Back at the Juniper Campground, I asked the Camp host if I could have a Star Party. She let me use an unoccupied campsite, and broadcast the event on her evening journey around the campground. I did a little walking around and advertising as well. 20+ people showed up for a nice clear night of stars. We viewed Jupiter, Saturn, the Andromeda Galaxy, a nebula, and some clusters, as well as 10+ constellations and, of course, Polaris. Some of the kids enjoyed coming by before dark to peer into the telescope and see the internal workings. Used my Celestron 6" Schmidt-Cassegrain with Vixen tripod and and also my Astrotech 3" refractor on a camera tripod, which didn't work quite so well, even though I had fixed the focus. Probably I just need more experience working it with the camera tripod. 
Overall a huge success!

Monday I needed a boring Admin day. So I took it. Another night at the Juniper Campground, but too cloudy for star viewing. Also, trying to figure out a good place to work. I think the Library will be my best bet.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stories from Mom

Image
Made my way down to Albuquerque Wednesday this week. Worked remotely on cybersecurity through the days, at the Library in Los Alamos, in my guest room in Albuquerque. With Pinocchio Grande safe at the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, it was time to change focus to family business. Started by recording some videos of Mom and her memories, both of her youth, and the time she spent in Santa Monica.  I tried the green screen last week, with the idea that I could put the image of mom over historical photos, but decided to just go with her wall as a natural background, and I think it turned out well. Mom had interesting things to tell about Great Grandfather Darmody, and also of the four years our family spent in California, which I remember, but just barely. Recording video is harder than it appears, and requires a lot of trial and error, but the results were a solid 40 minutes of good stories.  It was hard to leave on Friday. I stayed with a Friend I met in the Marine Corps
Read more

Austin to College Station

 Left Austin on Saturday, 27 August, a day later than expected, with a truck full of camping gear, a noisy but quite capable compressor, purchased used from Home Depot, and a carefully wrapped Science Exhibit, the result of 12+ years of on-and-off effort. First stop was College station to see Luke. We had a nice chat, admired his newly repaired computer, discussed the future, and finally visited that Gas Station Tex-Mex restaurant he had recommended. It was all he promised, and the chicken enchiladas with green sauce were delicious.  I gave him my usual departure blessing, and he pointed out that he should be blessing me, as I was the one going on a journey, and in the mannerof Aaron, he did so. Camped outside of Waco. Arrived after dark. Nice place. 
Read more

Arriving in Albuquerque

Image
 Nice drive to Albuquerque. The area west of Lawton is underrated for scenery.  Crossed back into the Texas panhandle. This is Memphis Texas: Here is the courthouse Here is a street view with an interesting saying on the building and a nice neon sign Santa Rosa is a great stop for several reasons, including a great segment of Route 66 and the Blue Hole. I couldn't resist a quick dip in the Blue Hole: https://photos.app.goo.gl/3gbCHeNiT1m1pUaH7 Arrived Albuquerque that evening. Staying in Guestroom at Mom's residence for the next few days.
Read more