Wednesday, August 23, 2017

into the mountains (Gilpin)

"There's high ground, just beyond that thing."

Essentially, the astronomical portion of our road trip was over. The next couple of days would be spent in Colorado to enjoy the mountains, camping, hiking, etc. Ian and I would move further from home but it would get the others closer to the Denver airport. I shant dwell on the details.

8:16 AM MDT. I woke. It was time to break camp and pack up.

Helped Ian with the big 'scope packing. Helped with the trailer hook-up.

After lunch, we said goodbye to our amazing guest.

1:31 PM. It was very quiet in Glendo. Back to normal. Visited the Trading Post for a few things. The store owner said the town had received 220 000 to 230 000 people! A quarter million... (I heard somewhere else that there were 30 000 cars.)

We lunched by the road. I enjoyed my big burrito called "The Bomb."

A proposal was put forth to stay in the Glendo area for another day-night. The weather was looking good. And we could do some more dark sky observing. We cast a vote. The majority wanted to move to Colorado.

2:05. I returned to post office, now manned, in hopes of buying some USPS "eclipse" stamps. Not surprisingly, they were sold out.

3:02. We traveled the I-25.

4:24. I asked the customer service person at Albertson's if they had the special commemorative stamps. Nope.

6:22. Leaving Denver. The mountains were beautiful in the clouds and crepuscular rays. I tried to shoot photos with the DSLR but was confused by its operation. (I had forgotten to turn off the mirror lock function.)

7:48. We reached Reverend's Ridge and set up the trailer. We helped each other put up tents quickly in the rain.

9:26. I cooked my dinner and wound down.

It stopped raining.

11:10. Dan said he saw stars. I spotted Lyra straight up. Noted Cassiopeia on the way to the bathroom; spotted Cygnus and the Milky Way before entering the tent.

Put my toothpaste in truck. Didn't want any visitors with talons.

Found my black coat in one of my luggage. "That's my jacket!"

Zipped up my three-season sleeping bag and covered myself with two more blankets. I hoped it would keep me warm.

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