Since I've discovered that I can print a book out at the end of every year to publish our blogs, I'll be putting more effort into it than I have recently. So, to catch up -
On July 10th we were able to go the Lick Observatory on the top of Mt. Hamilton. It took about 1 1/2 hours to drive over the hill, down in a valley and up to the top of the next hill.
We never knew it was two hills, because we can see the beautiful white domes from the Blossom Valley!
It was quite a feet getting the tickets, though they weren't very expensive. We had to send an email to get entered into a lottery to even be able to purchase the tickets. Once we received notice that we'd been selected, we had to wait for the date and lickety-split purchase the tickets right at noon when they opened the sales online. After all that, I was really glad we did it! I've loved watching stars my whole life.
I remember the last time Haley's Comet passed us by, Dad got us up in the middle of the night to see it. He scoped it out before he came and got us, so waking us up would be worth it. I will never forget how cool it looked, standing on our back patio just looking at it through the binoculars. The tail behind it was mesmerizing.
He also used to lay out with us in the grass under Grandpa Ivo and Grandma Neola's orange trees to look at stars - you could see so many out in Kirkwood because of the few lights. Every now and then, a dog would come sniffing in your ear, border collie named Boots I think, at that time.
Back to our trip: We got to hear all about James Lick and how he built the Observatory, and many other structures (like the Arboretum in San Francisco) to show up his fiance's father when they were forbidden to marry. He was a gifted piano maker and you can see it in the beautiful woodwork throughout the place.
The telescopes were quite a site! We loved seeing the young astronomer use his body weight to swing the big one down into position, using the floor that lowered and raised. We're sitting on the 2nd floor balcony with this puny railing, then the floor starts moving towards us! Hello, neighbors from below, now looking you in the eye. Talk about vertigo!
The kids got a little tired towards the end and found this cool little old fashioned lounge in the women's restroom. (Yes, Natalee brought "rainbow b".) They rested just enough to be able to make it through to the newer, smaller telescope viewing. The kids were so good and patient!
Since I've discovered that I can print a book out at the end of every year to publish our blogs, I'll be putting more effort into it than I have recently. So, to catch up -
On July 10th we were able to go the Lick Observatory on the top of Mt. Hamilton. It took about 1 1/2 hours to drive over the hill, down in a valley and up to the top of the next hill.
We never knew it was two hills, because we can see the beautiful white domes from the Blossom Valley!
It was quite a feet getting the tickets, though they weren't very expensive. We had to send an email to get entered into a lottery to even be able to purchase the tickets. Once we received notice that we'd been selected, we had to wait for the date and lickety-split purchase the tickets right at noon when they opened the sales online. After all that, I was really glad we did it! I've loved watching stars my whole life.
I remember the last time Haley's Comet passed us by, Dad got us up in the middle of the night to see it. He scoped it out before he came and got us, so waking us up would be worth it. I will never forget how cool it looked, standing on our back patio just looking at it through the binoculars. The tail behind it was mesmerizing.
He also used to lay out with us in the grass under Grandpa Ivo and Grandma Neola's orange trees to look at stars - you could see so many out in Kirkwood because of the few lights. Every now and then, a dog would come sniffing in your ear, border collie named Boots I think, at that time.
Back to our trip: We got to hear all about James Lick and how he built the Observatory, and many other structures (like the Arboretum in San Francisco) to show up his fiance's father when they were forbidden to marry. He was a gifted piano maker and you can see it in the beautiful woodwork throughout the place.
The telescopes were quite a site! We loved seeing the young astronomer use his body weight to swing the big one down into position, using the floor that lowered and raised. We're sitting on the 2nd floor balcony with this puny railing, then the floor starts moving towards us! Hello, neighbors from below, now looking you in the eye. Talk about vertigo!
The kids got a little tired towards the end and found this cool little old fashioned lounge in the women's restroom. (Yes, Natalee brought "rainbow b".) They rested just enough to be able to make it through to the newer, smaller telescope viewing. The kids were so good and patient!
1 comment:
Sounds like so much fun! I didn't know that you had to enter a lottery to get those tickets! Wow!
And Boots was a Border Collie. I remember the exact same experience with her coming up sniffing on you as we slept outside on the grass.
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