No telescope or camera tonight, just a road trip in search of a dark sky. Sundown was at 2014 and moonrise was not until later that evening. The skies were clear so I headed about an hour and half north on some country roads from where I live in Avoyelles parish to Catahoula parish and found some of the most beautiful country close to sundown. I went in search of some property that was for sale there and all I had were the GPS coordinates. My sister went along with me for the ride and we enjoyed the country side. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We left about two hours before sundown as the trip was to take about an hour and a half. The coordinates took us to the side of the road where there were no access roads at all. SO, we drove a little further up and found a small cemetery where we parked until sundown. We waited for full darkness but the security light was really putting a damper on things, so we moved back down the road until we found a dirt road we could park on for a while. As darkness came on, more and more stars became visible working their way down from zenith to the horizon. I had found the only Bortle 2 sky that was anywhere near me. I enjoyed the view while my sister sat in the truck. Skeeters like eating her. While they annoy me, they don\u2019t really bother me that much. We didn\u2019t stay long but I knew that I would be back eventually. I believe I\u2019ll try and buy some land there so I can set up my dark sky observatory. I\u2019ll tell my wife it\u2019s a camp, that what us southern boys are supposed to do, go to our camp and hunt things. I\u2019ll just be hunting those elusive stars in the one of the darkest skies in Louisiana.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"