As we were discussing dates for our meet up in West Texas, Lynne happened to mention that she would be spending her birthday during the time when we were in one of the most remote parts of Texas. No pressure, there! I can pull together a party anywhere!

While we were in San Antonio, I began racking my brain to come up with a plan. I have only known Lynne for a year or two, but one thing I learned quickly, she has the best “gadgets” a girl could ever dream of having in her RV arsenal. Before I ever even met Lynne, I had already purchased half the items she recommended on her WinnieViews blog. So what to get someone who wants for nothing? Well, an Amazon gift certificate came to mind. But that’s too unimaginative. How about a Vegan cake from Whole Foods? “eeewwu! Keep thinking, Suzanne!”

They say the best gifts you can give are those you want for yourself. So what was on my own personal West Texas Wish List? Well, the McDonald Observatory, for one. HEY! That’s right! I heard there’s a party up there! I would treat us both with tickets to the “Star Party!”

I went online to see about availability, and found that they had added extra programs for Spring Break to handle the anticipated crowds. When I ordered the online tickets, there was a comments section on the form, so I just decided to ask, “Please advise if there are any special recommendations for someone celebrating a birthday.” Frank, the Senior Program Coordinator of the Observatory wrote back to say, “My recommendation is that you come at another time. We are expecting a thousand visitors the night you are planning to visit.”    Whoa.

We decided to risk the crowds. The Star Party is a gamble anyway, since it is completely dependent upon the weather. Just the night before, they had to give out rain checks. I figured the collective power of 1,000 people emitting the same desire for clear skies couldn’t hurt.

Let’s get this party started!

Lynne was still cruising the back roads checking out boondocking spots, so she drove the Winnie to the Visitors Center parking lot. As for me, I was still chained to the desk back in Balmorhea, so I had to slip out of work early and race up the mountain to meet up at the observatory in time for the Twilight Program.

First sign of the giant telescopes at McDonald Observatory.

This one hour program begins in the theatre with a software presentation that simulates hour by hour what you can expect to see in the West Texas sky on any given night. Our presenter also gave a great explanation as to why Pluto was kicked out of the solar system…not because of size, as I first thought, but because it’s orbital plane is at an angle from the remaining eight planets.

Next stop was the amphitheater, where they explained the constellations, a particularly fitting discussion for a Pisces, representing.

Pisces Represent!

We had an hour to kill between the Twilight Program and the Star Party, now that the sun was setting an hour later due to Daylight Savings Time. The temperature was dropping fast, and with the public areas overcrowded, it was good to have Lynne’s Winnie in the parking lot. Nothing like being able to “run home” and warm up with a sunset wine and cheese Happy Hour in between events!

The Observatory staff did an incredible job at crowd control. They divided the almost 1,000 visitors into small groups, ran multiple programs, and brought in extra telescopes for the event. They even had a couple of homemade telescopes made by local astronomy enthusiasts, one with an 18 inch lens that offered a spectacular view of Orion’s nebula. This is where some of the newest stars are being formed, with four “baby stars” in the center of the nebula.

Pathway to telescope field is lit with red lighting to maintain night vision.

The longest of lines were in the four circular metal domes with the telescopes pointing through holes in the roof, each focused on Jupiter and its moons. The huts were lit with red lights to keep the eye adjusted to dimly lit surroundings. Through magnification, we were able to see the reddish brown stripes around the planet Jupiter. But for me, the domes were as big of an attraction as the planet viewing, as we got to observe the domed top of the “hut” rotate to accommodate the tracking telescope.

Lynne viewing Jupiter (taken with her fancier camera than my cheapo.)

It was all in all, a great party! Hopefully after the memories have mellowed a bit, it will be the thousands of stars viewed through the variety of telescopes that we remember, rather than the one thousand of Lynne’s “closest strangers” who also attended her birthday party!

Happy Birthday, Lynne!