Day 4507

It's good to be back on Mount Locke. It was a long, tiring drive out to the observatory, but there wasn't much road construction and I didn't encounter any accidents. I've made this trip so often that I'm starting to remember lots of little things along the way. I-20 isn't exactly a scenic drive, but there are lots of wind turbines, a huge oil refinery, and mile long freight trains that run parallel to the freeway. Once you get out of Dallas/Fort Worth, the traffic is mostly large trucks. I don't know which is worse: big city congestion or 500 miles of non-stop eighteen wheelers.

This wasn't the best rental car I've had. The seats weren't very comfortable and there was no GPS. The car did have Apple CarPlay though, so I was able to use the GPS on my phone. Apple Maps actually does a good job of tracking and route planning. I'm not sure that this is good for your phone though. My phone felt hot after being on all day. I think it's going to be harder and harder to find cars with in-dash GPS in the future. Your phone basically provides everything you need.

I always forget things when I travel. It doesn't matter how carefully I pack. Something important always gets left behind. I took two cameras and the Polaris star tracker with me, but I forgot to take my tripod. Jeez. How could I forget this? A tripod is pretty essential. You definitely can't do astrophotography without one. I feel stupid to forget something this important, but that's what happens when you start to rush things so you can leave on time. Hopefully I can borrow a tripod from one of my friends out here.

It's a good thing that I did leave early because when I arrived at the Astronomer's Lodge I discovered that they had put me in the cottage instead of the lodge itself. Some of you might actually like the cottage, but getting there involves a lengthy climb up some very steep steps. The manager had already left for the day when I arrived, but the cook was still there and she was able to transfer my reservation to an available room in the lodge. I'm glad that everything worked out because I wasn't looking forward to hauling my heavy suitcase up those steep steps.

I walked for a couple of miles on the mountain after dinner this evening. It's amazingly quiet up here. There are no traffic noises, no airplanes flying overhead, and very few people. Some of the resident astronomers live on the mountain, but you rarely see them. Other than talking to the cook about my reservation, I haven't spoken to anyone. There is one other car parked outside, so at least one other person is staying in the lodge. One of the nice things about staying here is that meals are included. I'm pretty sure they had to include meals to get anyone to stay here. There aren't any restaurants for miles and miles.

I'm going to be very busy with volunteer work on Friday and Saturday, but tomorrow is kind of a free day. I'll try to catch up on my sleep and then go do some personal photography. There's lots of wildlife up here and the scenery is spectacular. If I can find a tripod to borrow, I'm finally going to try out the star tracker. After all the time I've spent monkeying around with it, I really hope it works.

It's been a long day and it's about time to get some sleep. Before I go to bed I'm going to go outside and check out the sky. I'm not expecting much since it was cloudy while I was eating dinner. Things change quickly on the mountain though. Who knows what I might see.

Bowser is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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