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McDonald Observatory 2026 Field Trip: Day 1

 Greetings from West Texas. I'm with most of the astronomy class on our annual (because we did it once already last year) field trip to the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis.

It's quite a drive. And the observatory is still another 45 minutes.

Summary so far:

  • We've got 2 vans this year (just one last year). Mr. Flores was nice enough to let me have the better one. He says he's used to the older one.
  • Despite leaving 15 minutes later than planned, an unscheduled stop at Starbucks (Mr. Flores needs his caffeine), snack stop, and lunch stop, we still got to the hotel around when I thought we would: 3:30.
  • Getting in that early allowed time to climb Hancock Hill which overlooks Alpine.

The famous desk

Just living my best life.

  • As you can see, there were clouds. It's supposed to be overcast on Day 2, so I was worried that we wouldn't see any stars this trip.
  • However, when we went to the Marfa Lights viewing area, the clouds opened up just enough to get a glimpse at what it should look like. Very impressive. (I didn't see any mysterious lights, though).
  • Dinner was a bit of a mess. Alpine is one of those towns where a lot of places aren't open at night. Our first choice was closed. Then, some of us tried Pizza Hut. There was one employee taking orders and making food. He went to the back when we came in and didn't reappear. We think he slipped out the back. Luckily, there was a Little Caesars.
Telescopes and more trails planned for Day 2. Fingers crossed for no rain!

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