Preparations – well, that was a problem. I was down the weekend before we left, fighting a high-quality head cold which began to show itself the previous Wednesday. By Monday I was no better and stayed home from work, rinsing my sinuses and doing my best to pack and plan for a trip that sounded less and less like fun; still, I knew that a week should be enough time for the cold to run down. Lórien had stayed healthy and kept the optimism level high enough for both of us. On Monday, her dad dropped in for the night, so we dined and finished our preparation.
Tuesday – still feeling lousy, but time’s up! We stopped for snacks and cold medicine, filled up our tanks and headed out.. as usual, a bit later than we had hoped. The 200-mile drive was done by about 6, leaving less than two hours to set up camp, dine, set up telescopes and dress for dark. In the end we skimped on dinner and spent some time under excellent dark skies. The medicine could only do so much, so the first night ended around midnight for me; the others stayed up past 2AM before turning in. Our propane heater turned on late in the night, so the tent-trailer was comfortable.
Wednesday – a good night’s rest helped me to feel better, though not quite fully healthy just yet. The thin air at the OSP site heats up fast, and we could hardly justify hot drinks – so we chose not to eat hot breakfasts on the entire trip (too bad, we had several great meals in boxes and the cooler!). One of the fun events at OSPs is the observing challenges, where you observe a short-list of objects and receive a certificate (and a pin, for a few dollars more); I prepared myself to attack the mid-level list. We perused the vendor area, where one has a bargain on large eyepiece cases; after an hour or two of contemplation we agree it's worth buying. Lórien found a one-day-only jewelry sale, and we are almost broke when we return to the trailer! Later on, Lórien and I helped with the early-arrival registrations, where people who had pre-paid could pick up their information packets; since most of the attendees arrive early (the event is officially Thu-Sun), this two-hour window is a busy time!
After dinner the sun set swiftly – well, it is nearly autumn! – and we dressed in our warm outfits for another fine night. I nearly went without cold medication this day, but began stuffing up late so took what would be my final dose at dusk. We had a fine evening of observing, and this time I managed to stay up until 2AM. The one important item that I failed to bring was a small stepladder, so objects more than 70 degrees up were unavailable. Sadly, that left several objects on my list out of reach since I waited too long – better planning will catch them tomorrow. The food and espresso vendors are all set up, so a late mocha was greatly appreciated!
Thursday – now the party truly begins.. not that much really changes. We do another stint in the registration tent, but crowds are smaller since most people have already checked in. I scrounge up a couple of downed limbs that give me another 4 inches of height and several more degrees of observable sky up high.. shaky, but effective! The fine day winds down to another fine night, but now my wife is feeling less healthy, so she turns in early. Her dad has a major cough, so suddenly I’m the healthy one!? Now aware of what needs viewing, I head into Cassiopeia and Cepheus early and catch a few rising fuzzy spots; Cygnus is straight up, so nothing to be done there. A sketch of Jupiter is needed for the award, and the moons are doing fun things: the red spot is facing us, and Io is just popping behind the planet. After mocha-break #1 I knock down a few more items and take a few sky images. The other required sketch is of the Hyades, which rise after 1AM; another sketch and a mocha, and Cygnus has now descended to where the Veil and Cocoon nebulae are within reach. This time the mocha fails to keep me going, so by 2:30 I’m back in the warm sleeping bag.
Friday – for the first time at star parties, I’m actually sleeping in and getting close to eight hours of sleep! We awoke around 10AM, and Lórien felt better with a long night’s rest. I now had at least 20 objects for the ‘Caldwells All Over’ certificate – but first things first, and that’s the swap meet! I had plenty to sell and little cash in my pocket, so had high hopes. I even added an eyepiece I use regularly since I had two of them and someone might want them for a bino-viewer. To my surprise, Everything sold, including the eyepiece pair – suddenly I was wealthy, and had a hole in the 12-16mm eyepiece range, and someone else was selling a Pentax XW14. Thankfully he allowed me to keep some of my cash for meals and mochas, so I walked away wealthier and with a fine eyepiece! I then turned in my list and picked up my award, and since I now had the money I have a nice new OSP Observer pin as well. We picked up some food at the chuckwagon and returned to camp for more quiet time before another quiet stint in the reg-tent. The weather had been excellent all week, with a few daytime clouds and minimal interference at night. Thursday had been fairly calm and quite warm, and we were hoping for a fourth fine night. As the sun went down the last few clouds melted away, and we were off again into the night. I had figured to work on the 2007 mid-level observing list, since last year’s telescope failure made that list unavailable; I did capture a few objects but wasn’t deeply committed to it. After a few hours and a mocha, the conditions took a surprising turn – dewfall in the high desert! Jim W needed to use his dew-zapper on his C11, a sound I had not heard at this site before. Our pages began to stick together, and the observers-chair seat was downright wet! We adjusted our routine for a while, but by 2AM decided we had worked hard enough for the night.
Saturday – Another long night of sleep ended in late morning. The registration tent was now closed, so we had the day to ourselves.. sort of. The dewy night had become a fine day, with a few more clouds and a bit cooler as well. I attended the rover races, and my humble craft was a winner in the second round; that felt good. I wandered around some more before heading ‘home’ to arrange my gear differently in the new eyepiece case. After five great nights, it was getting hard to concentrate on any projects, and while the clouds were more persistent today the forecast was for cooler but still good viewing conditions. The chill was definitely in place by sunset, and most of the clothes were put on well in advance. This was my night for operations, which is the closest thing to a police force we can have; my duties were to suggest controls on lights or settle disagreements on camping or smoking sites. Since everyone was already in place and people were staying indoors, very little was needed; I patrolled the main area and requested a few white lights turned off. It was hard to do since so few people were out attempting to observe; it seemed that most attendees had worn themselves out on warmer nights and were willing to wait out the chill before coming outside. The 9PM “what’s up” talk informed me of an Iridium flare at 9:55, so after listening for a while I returned to camp and set up the camera to capture the flare. It was on schedule but less bright than I had hoped, but in theory I captured it. The chill was not relenting at all, and in fact our t-trailer heater had already kicked in twice; Lórien was staying warm inside, and all our scopes were still under wraps. At last we decided to turn in early and try again Sunday night.
Sunday – well, plans are nice but they are just plans, and of course subject to change. The cold night drained our trailer of its propane supply, and the food and mocha supplies would depart around noon. Suddenly we had to confront a cold night without help, and food without heat! I was in charge of the litter patrol and wandered about in my usual overnight gear at 10AM, seeking litter and coordinating the volunteers that were willing to come outside. When I returned to camp at 11:30 the decision had been made: let’s go home! We took our time packing, had a final warm drink before the shack closed, and by 2PM were on the road. The clouds were pretty persistent during our Sunday, but it could have cleared after we left; for those who remained, we certainly hope so!