Labor Day weekend was spent at a campsite near New Mexico's Black Range with a bunch
of cavers I've known for a long time, but I didn't bring my telescope (not
enough room in the truck, and the road to the camp was rough to say
the least). The camp's in a deep valley, but that turned out not to
matter, skywise.

Friday night was early rain, then clear and crisp, but not all that
great for looking at stars. Funwas hanging around the campfire, talking to old friends, and meeting new people.

Saturday night was rain--lots of rain. We always need rain in New
Mexico, but I'd guess we got nearly an inch of rain.

Sunday and Sunday night were perfect. We went caving in Robinson's cave, got muddy, and had a great hike to and from the cave. Some of the people that were still in camp
that night had never seen the Milky Way before, and the sky was a "My God It's
Full of Stars!" kind of evening.

Oh, yes, we went caving too. My 24 year old daughter Katy has the
caving bug again after giving it up for eight years, and also
rediscovered the night sky Sunday night. She thought she was a city
girl for awhile, but has a girlfriend from high school that got her
back in the wilderness. We'll return the favor for Emily, who's very
curious about caving and isn't claustrophobic or afraid of mud.