The Coolest Things I've Done (1 of 3)

Over the years I've gone on a variety of adventures and many of them had some great memories, some not great experiences, and some unique moments. The great memories are treasured and often revisited with a touch of nostalgia. The not great experiences left me with some wonderful and funny stories to share.  In all of the great places I've visited and activities I participated in, there are three specific experiences that will always stand out for me.

I hope you'll indulge me over the next couple weeks as I do something a little different. Rather than load up a single blog with three amazing experiences I want to to focus on I thought I might do a three part blog.

Sunset on the observation deck

For my first amazing experience I want to take you back to an evening back in 1992. I was in junior high, my brother was in high school. At that time he was enrolled in the high school Jr. Naval ROTC program. During the summer break my family and I were spending a week in Flagstaff and my brother and I had both been angling to visit the Lowell Observatory. Mom or dad had seen that near Lowell there was another observatory, a Naval Observatory. My dad encouraged my brother to contact the observatory (which didn't take too much convincing). So they looked up the phone number and explained that he was in the Junior ROTC program at his high school and wondered if he could see their observatory. Before we knew it, we had an official invite to visit the Naval Observatory, not just my brother and a parent but me, my parents, my brother, Brad, and his good friend, Scott, who was spending the week with us.

Me "helping" put in settings

Early in the evening we all piled into the car and headed out to the observatory. Before long we were headed off onto a quiet secluded road and it felt like we were miles from the city. Dad drove the car along a meandering road and after a little while the building came into view. In my young mind I still expected to see the crowds of people that I was familiar with on previous visits to Lowell Observatory, but there wasn't anyone there. A couple cars in the lot and near the base of the building that housed the telescope.

Control panel

We approached the building and immediately we were greeted by a man who was on duty that night and would be our host for the evening. He started with a brief tour of the building sticking mainly to the space that held the telescope. Then we headed out onto the observation deck to watch the sunset and wait until the sky was dark enough to be able to see the night sky. It was quiet and peaceful but I was eager to see the telescope and look through it. When the sun was down the temperature dropped quickly so we moved inside. The man who hosted us, Harry, guided us along the platform and showed us parts of the telescope and explained how it worked. We eventually went down to the floor where the computers were setup and where we would be able to look into the lens to see the moon.

Looking at the moon at one zoom level, no filter needed.

Brad, Scott, and I were called forward and Harry explained to us how he could control the computers to tell them how to move the telescope to point at specific parts of the night sky. In this case he was going to point toward the moon and also at one of the planets ( I can't remember if it was Mars, Venus, or Jupiter though). He pointed at one of the screens and told Brad to tap the screen. When he did the telescope started to move. It was a touch screen computer!! Back then I never even knew that type of technology existed. We had barely even gotten a basic computer back then. Let alone anything high tech like that. If you'd told me back then of how we would, one day, basically walk around with touchscreen computers stuff into the back pocket of our pants I would have called you crazy. This right there, the high tech was amazing. Each of us in turn, Scott, Brad and I were able to put in settings that Harry told us to do to control the telescope and the dome. Mom and dad hovered closed with the camera and shot pictures of our experience.

Brad looking at the moon through the yellow filtered lens.

We stood back and waited as Harry then took control and consulted a manual then started inputting information for specific settings on the telescope and the dome ceiling opened. Beyond the telescope we could see the moon as that was our first focus of the evening. After Harry got the telescope focused he looked through the first lens which we would all look through to see the moon to start. It was so neat. I'd seen something similar at Lowell Observatory but it was wonderful being able to take my turn with only four other people instead of a long line of others waiting for their turn. The moon, as always, was a beautiful sight.

The moon, so closely zoomed it needed a yellow filter to dim.

Then Harry turned his attention to another section of the telescope. This part had a larger viewing window to look at the moon. One he confirmed the settings were correct he stopped us from looking until he could put a yellow filter over the lens. He explained that the glare of the moon would be too bright for any of us to look at it since the zoom was so close. After he finished the set up and added the filter he then allowed each of us to take our turn at the lens. Brad was first to go on this round. We each took our turn at the lens, us three kids each returned to look more than once. It was a view that I will never forget. Seeing the moon this way, I could understand how scientists of NASA would know more accurately what the moon might look like and how they would have been able to gage where to send their astronauts when on a trek to the moon.

I think back now to that experience from back in 1992 and I have to wonder, now in today's world, post 9/11 would we have ever been able to experience the same type of night. It was a once in a lifetime event for me and one I'll never be able to repeat, one I will forever be grateful to have had. We were lucky, and I know my brother and I will both cherish that experience as one of the coolest things we have ever done.