1998 Dakota Astronomical Society Star Party


Sunday, August 23, 1998:

Well, I've survived yet another Dakota Astronomical Society star party. My vacation this last week was going a bit slowly at first (staying at the lake cabin with no one else around, getting reading done and relaxing). Sounds nice, until about the third day of it, when I was so bored I was about to go bonkers. There were no boats in the water for me to use, I have no trailer hitch on my Ford Taurus SHO so I couldn't launch one, the motorcycle I used to keep out there died, so I gave it away, my moped is still in storage, I didn't even have a bike. So, I headed back to Grand Forks to get ready to head out to the badlands for the good ol' DAS star party.
In the past 36 hours, I've driven 850 miles, hiked a couple more trails, played one of the closest games of chess in my life (it ended in a draw, with me having a king and a knight, and my opponent having a king), doing the first astronomy with my telescope in over two years, and yes, just a bit of rock climbing (althought I left that part to Dean and Milly this year).
Dean and Milly were going to the Sarles, ND star party this year, but at the last moment the event host cancelled, saying the weather was going to be rotten. So, D&M decided to head to west with me for the DAS fest. Dean took his folks van, which he and Milly packed with an amazing amount of gear (to give them credit, they had packed everything for the multi-day Sarles trip, and didn't feel like repacking everything for an overnighter). I drove out in my SHO, and Milly and I brought our ham radios to keep in contact during the trip. The drive out was uneventfull, with a few rain sprinkles making life interesting. When we got to the park, the weather was nice, if a bit humid. This time there were very few misquitos to harass us as we set up our camp. By the time everything was set up, Dean and I each had a dome tent, and Milly had a dome, a puptent, a waterproof tarp over both, a lounge chair, a 10 foot radio antenna mast (complete with guy ropes and grounding system), radio gear, and an industrial extention cord run to the bathroom for power. Milly does not travel 'light'.
At the observing site, we competed with hornets to get to the food, while preperations were being made for the nights observing. This year, I decided not to set up my 'scope until the event actually started. This turned out to be a good thing when it began raining halfway through the talks. Big thunderstorms built to the north and south (does any of this sound familiar? :), and as usual, chased us down the hill to the campground. Hey, tradition is tradition. Also as usual, the storms left and by 1:00 am, the sky was crystal clear. We hauled 'scopes out to the parking lot near the campground and held our own mini-starparty for about two hours, until some more clouds came and spoiled it.
During the night, coyotes howled their eerie songs again, and an owl near the campground made sleep less than easy to attain. No buffalo came visiting, however. In fact, I saw not one single buffalo the entire trip! No deer, no varmits, just one solitary chipmunk was the only wildlife I encountered this time. I was quite happy about this.
The next day, after a small bit of hiking at a scenic overlook, Dean, Milly, and I decided to cook up what food had been brought for lunch before heading back to Grand Forks. Dean whipped out his trusty table-top propane grill (mine, alas, succomed to flood waters), and after a few abortive attempts, got it lit. The cooking started off slow, and we mostly munched potato chips and flailed wildly at the hornets that decided to come and share our meal with us. It was discovered that the pests were after the soda-pop we had, so two cans were put out as sacrificial offerings to the beasties. This worked for a while, until Milly decided to take the cans (via a pair of tongs, looking for all the world like someone moving nuclear reactor rods) to the recycling bin. The hornets didn't want to be that far from the action, and came back to where we were and basically got in our faces the rest of the time. The burgers cooked well, but the brautwurst were so fatty that after being punctured to cook better, they resulted in the largest grease fire I've ever seen in a propane grill. This excitement ended without incident, however, and we were soon on our way home.
The most memorable part of the trip home for me was the gas station near Minot. While I was in the bathroom taking a leak, I heard whoever was in the toilet stall flushing the stool nearly continuously. 'Kids', I thought. It turned out later that it was Milly in the stall. The bathroom was equipped with those infrared sensors that flush after you step away (or stand up), but the one on the toilet was set too sensitivly, so that with every little movement Milly made, the 'loo flushed forcfully and gave his backside a spray. This happened 6 - 8 times, and let me tell you, Milly had some choice things to say about the inclusion of modern technology in certain devices. Hearing this made me laugh so hard my brain hurt (it's better now, thanks). Sorry, Milly, but it was pretty funny.
To sum up, it was a nearly perfect weekend. Good weather for travel, good weather to set up camp, lots of good food, fun and games, good observing, and no errant wildlife making life miserable (well, the hornets, but they didn't actually sting anyone). All in all, one of the better times I've had camping and doing the star party thing. Now back to real life and work (sigh).