Bill and Walter taking a break after getting their tents set up. Walter had an ingenious extension to the back of his pickup. Lots of shade and room for cooking food. Walter sold the rig to Chris last year.

Parked next to Walter was a nice older lady from Reno. When she pulled in and started setting up her site she heard some peeping from the back of her RV. Turns out she had a nest of baby birds up near her A/C unit. No one had the right tools to get in there so Mr. Albaugh brought out his tool truck and got the little birdies out safely. He's the one in the cowboy hat.

John's shade cave under construction.

When the boys are working it's just better to sit back and supervise. The shade cave is about the most popular spot around during the heat of the day. Just perfect to hang around with the boys.

This is the first year that Jeff and Lynne came to GSSP. Lynne designed a nice shade system for their tent. She won a beautiful pair of binoculars at the raffle. Not bad for their first time out :) Little did Jeff know that he'd soon be roped into serving as my replacement as president. He's been doing a fantastic job.

Carl, Bill, Fred and Chris. That's my tent on the right.

The shade cave was only up for a few minutes before it became relaxation central. Bill, Chris, John and Carl.

Carl brought a little entertainment. He had a small amp with headphones so he didn't tick off the other folks or set the dogs and cats to howling :)

The finished shade cave. Those tarps will really whip around in the afternoon winds.

Bill just arrived - setting up next door to me. The gate opens at 12:00 noon so it's already starting to get pretty warm. I like to set up next door to Walter. His truck makes great shade in the morning right after sunrise. With him next door the sun stays off my tent for an extra hour or so. When the sun hits the tent it turns right into a nice little orange oven pretty quick.

John with his 8" Dob as the sun sinks slowly into the west. At that time of year Venus is usually right above the horizon for a while after the sun sets. You can get some really good views. Jeff and Lynne's house back to the right.

Bill took a day to remove and repair the secondary mirror in his scope. He was having trouble getting it to collimate (aligning both mirrors for sharp focus) properly.

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Most of the time we astronomers have our heads in the sky, but sometimes we just have our heads up our........telescopes :)

Another of our members, Miguel. He has a beautiful 10" Meade SCT. Bill is still working on his secondary.

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