Milkywaygazers,

Oh my gosh, definitely the best viewing I've ever experienced times four!! Five days and four glorious nights of perfect skies. It can't get any better than this. Thank you Bear for getting me addicted to this fantastic place. Thanks Dean for the ride, tent, and stove. Thank you both especially for being such great AstroBuddies! "Sharing the joy of astronomy ..."

Dean and I had originally planned on heading up to Cherry Springs State Park, PA a week ago Tuesday, but the weather from the hurricane was still saturating the region. Thanks to the Clear Sky Clock and several other internet weather reports, we were able to time our departure for Friday: a day after they had had five inches of rain.

I jammed a ton of my astronomy gear into my Subaru and zipped on over to Dean's where we proceeded to get all of it into his Jeep; Magic Viewing Carpet and all. With Dean at the wheel, and a AAA bag of maps, I programmed my Garmin Legend for the journey to the great clear north. It took us nine and a half hours to get from here to there. Time flew by quickly, though, with the great company, clear roads, and the choice of a route that bypassed Washington and Baltimore. The vistas up in the mountains along the way were breathtaking. (Make sure that if you visit BFSP in the future, drive up during the day to see the vistas.) We pulled into Cherry Springs State Park around five-thirty in the afternoon. It took us about half an hour to find Bear and our new home for the next five days amongst the several hundred fellow stargazers. The Central Pennsylvania Observers (CPO) expected 450 participants. The field was filled with cars, tents, and telescopes. We were located on the Southern corner. Then the Sun set.

Words can't describe the experience sufficiently well, but I'll try anyway. Even with blue skies, the bright stars started popping out. The weather was perfect; the viewing was sensational. I was overwhelmed by the total wide views of low magnitude fuzzies and stars. I couldn't believe how many Messiers that I could pick out naked eye. The Milky Way not only was very well defined, but there were dark regions that I assume was dark matter blocking the light of it's eclipsed neighbors. Bear and Dean stayed busy picking out gems from the bowl of clear night sky. My observing preference was sitting in my beach chair and using my naked eye or 7 x 50 monocular. It was awe inspiring to see such a wide beautiful sky. It was really fun hearing neighbors talking about how clear the seeing was. Several talked about how the skies were the best that they had ever seen on the East Coast. Better than the Winter Star Party, and any other that they'd been to. This was on the first night. The following three nights were even better.

Do you want to talk about equipment? There were several venders with eyepieces, telescopes, observation tents, and tons of other astronomy things that none of us can live without. Saturday morning was spent viewing their toys. I was amazed at how many big, I mean huge, truss tube dobsonian scopes that filled the observing field. Our neighbors had a thirty-two inch with a special mirror that was made from tubes of Pyrex that were blown together to form a honeycomb shaped blank that he then ground himself. It was very cool to walk around and check out all of the handiwork and talk with all of our fellow astronomy friends.

Saturday, Bear suggested that we take a walking trek out to the country store about a mile or so from the campsite. It was a super walk. It was relaxing, sitting on the front porch eating our ice cream and sipping our drinks. Yummy. Good buddies and good times. During the star party, we ate well: steaks, pasta, soup, chicken and dumplings, cookies, and lots of other goodies. The days were lazy, relaxing, preparing for the night. Several naps were taken.

For those of you that have heard of my snoring prowess, I've written a new chapter. Dean and I shared his tent Friday night. He spent the following nights sleeping in the back of his Jeep. Sorry about that Dean. I'll find my tent poles for next year. There was talk of jamming marshmallows into my nostrils while I slept so that my snoring (and breathing) would stop. I thoroughly enjoyed sleeping on my new Simmons BeautyRest Express Bed. Wow, I don't know if I can ever go back to backpacking pads. Sheets and a pillow -- talk about roughing it.

The official star party was Friday at noon through Sunday at noon. There were several great speakers and door prizes. I hope to incorporate some of their ideas and actions for dark sky parks here on the Peninsula. They have a great Astronomy Park. We can't change the sky glow, but we can make Grundland Astronomy Park the best urban viewing site possible. Thank you CPO.

Bear headed out Monday around lunchtime. We fortunately were able to stay an additional night. Dean and I left Tuesday at twelve-thirty. The drive home was beautiful, but the last three hours or so were in the dark. Traffic wasn't an issue going up or back. Thanks Dean for the company and for driving. It took us nine and a half hours to hit Yorktown.

I am still in an astronomical bliss. Five days and four perfect viewing nights. I can't stop smiling. When I close my eyes, I can see the definition of the Milky Way. I can't express too strongly how much of a pleasure this past week was. You should all try and make it in 2005. I will.

Clear Skies,

Lawrence Taylor

Virginia Peninsula Astronomy / Stargazers http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpas