Good report!

I had an observing site that I used for many years not far north from
where you were.....Up on Copper Mountain Mesa between Twenty-nine Palms
and Joshua Tree, off the upper end of Sunfair Rd. Before that, I spent
a lot of time just immediately south of Cottonwood. I'd exit Interstate
10 at the southern entrance getting to Cottonwood, but I would head
south up the dirt trail that lead up into the hills. Just over the
ridge (about 2 miles) the dirt road drops into a broad valley that is a
pretty good site. The only visible lights would be the infrequent car
coming out of Cottonwood down to the interstate.

It was good to hear you ran into Lee and Bonnie.....Lee is my oldest
observing buddy. My 17.5 and his are nearly twins, with virtually
identical quality mirrors. We've set up the twin scopes together for
years at the Mt. Kobau get-together. We've spent many a night chasing
each other around the sky. We've looked around together so much that we
often are not aware of which scope we're using.

Wayne Howell
Photon Phlats Observatory
Port Townsend, WA