anywhere in the us

the mountains in colorado. the views there are amazing. we were in
steamboat springs on vacation in june and the entire milky way was
visible with the naked eye. we went to fish creek falls, which is a
trail-head about five miles away from the town and like i said the
views are amazing. i didn't have any instruments avaible but my eyes
and my glasses. we saw 6 satalites in a time span of 15 minutes. we
are moving there in december and im expecting to be amazed when i get
my scope out there.

On 16 Nov 2004 13:06:19 -0800, (Austin P) wrote:

the mountains in colorado. the views there are amazing. we were in
steamboat springs on vacation in june and the entire milky way was
visible with the naked eye. we went to fish creek falls, which is a
trail-head about five miles away from the town and like i said the
views are amazing. i didn't have any instruments avaible but my eyes
and my glasses. we saw 6 satalites in a time span of 15 minutes. we
are moving there in december and im expecting to be amazed when i get
my scope out there.

That's where I live. I picked it for dark skies (some of the darkest in the
world) and good quality of living- low humidity, highest temperatures rarely
over 75F, and that for only a few weeks of the year, and where I live, east of
the Continental Divide, very little snow or rain, and at least 300 nights a year
for viewing. No snakes, no biting insects, no pests at all (except for an annual
moth invasion lasting a few weeks).

The downside? The skies are pretty unsteady, so this isn't the place to come for
planetary viewing!

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

Chris L Peterson wrote:
On 16 Nov 2004 13:06:19 -0800, (Austin P) wrote:


the mountains in colorado. the views there are amazing. we were in
steamboat springs on vacation in june and the entire milky way was
visible with the naked eye. we went to fish creek falls, which is a
trail-head about five miles away from the town and like i said the
views are amazing. i didn't have any instruments avaible but my eyes
and my glasses. we saw 6 satalites in a time span of 15 minutes. we
are moving there in december and im expecting to be amazed when i get
my scope out there.


That's where I live. I picked it for dark skies (some of the darkest in the
world) and good quality of living- low humidity, highest temperatures rarely
over 75F, and that for only a few weeks of the year, and where I live, east of
the Continental Divide, very little snow or rain, and at least 300 nights a year
for viewing. No snakes, no biting insects, no pests at all (except for an annual
moth invasion lasting a few weeks).

Well all except the rattlers, the West Nile carrying mosquitoes, the
black widows, the hanta virus infected mice, the crazy deer...
Wouldn't live anywhere else!

The downside? The skies are pretty unsteady, so this isn't the place to come for
planetary viewing!

Not too bad the last couple nights.

Shawn

Chris L Peterson wrote:

No snakes, no biting insects, no pests at all

Colorado has plenty of pests. See [ http://www.cobar.org/ ].

On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 15:12:47 -0700, Shawn
wrote:

No snakes, no biting insects, no pests at all (except for an annual
moth invasion lasting a few weeks).

Well all except the rattlers, the West Nile carrying mosquitoes, the
black widows, the hanta virus infected mice, the crazy deer...
Wouldn't live anywhere else!

Yeah, but you live down in the lowlands, don't you? What- 5 or 6 thousand feet?
Too much oxygen down there, anyway g. And Austin did say "the mountains of
Colorado".

Seriously, you get up above 8000 feet, and stay on the dry side of the divide,
and there isn't much. No rattlers, almost no mosquitoes (I saw three this
summer, the most ever), no black widows. We did have a case of hantavirus up
here a few years ago, but that's pretty easy to avoid. Haven't run into any
crazy deer yet, but you never know...

National Geographic did an article on natural disasters a few years ago. From
the map, this looked to be about the safest place you could live. No floods,
tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, hail. The only thing listed was a bad ice
storm about once per century (ten years up here and I've never even seen a minor
ice storm, however). They didn't list fires, but those can be pretty scary. I
wouldn't build in the trees!

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

Nothing but insane people, conspiracies, total chaos, 100 deer psi,
constant sirens, unending recession, highest rents lowest wages in the
State .... just for starters. We love it here (when we arent in jail or being
stalked and rumored about and talking to each other!) It's ___________.
What can I say.
Mark



Shawn wrote:

Chris L Peterson wrote:
On 16 Nov 2004 13:06:19 -0800, (Austin P) wrote:


the mountains in colorado. the views there are amazing. we were in
steamboat springs on vacation in june and the entire milky way was
visible with the naked eye. we went to fish creek falls, which is a
trail-head about five miles away from the town and like i said the
views are amazing. i didn't have any instruments avaible but my eyes
and my glasses. we saw 6 satalites in a time span of 15 minutes. we
are moving there in december and im expecting to be amazed when i get
my scope out there.


That's where I live. I picked it for dark skies (some of the darkest in the
world) and good quality of living- low humidity, highest temperatures rarely
over 75F, and that for only a few weeks of the year, and where I live, east of
the Continental Divide, very little snow or rain, and at least 300 nights a year
for viewing. No snakes, no biting insects, no pests at all (except for an annual
moth invasion lasting a few weeks).

Well all except the rattlers, the West Nile carrying mosquitoes, the
black widows, the hanta virus infected mice, the crazy deer...
Wouldn't live anywhere else!

The downside? The skies are pretty unsteady, so this isn't the place to come for
planetary viewing!

Not too bad the last couple nights.

Shawn

Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 15:12:47 -0700, Shawn
wrote:


No snakes, no biting insects, no pests at all (except for an annual
moth invasion lasting a few weeks).

Well all except the rattlers, the West Nile carrying mosquitoes, the
black widows, the hanta virus infected mice, the crazy deer...
Wouldn't live anywhere else!


Yeah, but you live down in the lowlands, don't you? What- 5 or 6 thousand feet?
Too much oxygen down there, anyway g. And Austin did say "the mountains of
Colorado".

Salida, at 7200 feet +- Just east of the Sawatch range, west of the
Mosquitoes, and at the north end of the Sangres. We are on the "Eastern
Slope" though. The continental divide is at Monarch Pass, about 20
miles west of here.

Seriously, you get up above 8000 feet, and stay on the dry side of the divide,
and there isn't much. No rattlers, almost no mosquitoes (I saw three this
summer, the most ever), no black widows. We did have a case of hantavirus up
here a few years ago, but that's pretty easy to avoid. Haven't run into any
crazy deer yet, but you never know...

All those critters live here. Guess we're just lucky.

Shawn

Shawn wrote:

Chris L Peterson wrote:

On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 15:12:47 -0700, Shawn

wrote:


No snakes, no biting insects, no pests at all (except for an annual
moth invasion lasting a few weeks).


Well all except the rattlers, the West Nile carrying mosquitoes, the
black widows, the hanta virus infected mice, the crazy deer...
Wouldn't live anywhere else!



Yeah, but you live down in the lowlands, don't you? What- 5 or 6
thousand feet?
Too much oxygen down there, anyway g. And Austin did say "the
mountains of
Colorado".


Salida, at 7200 feet +- Just east of the Sawatch range, west of the
Mosquitoes, and at the north end of the Sangres. We are on the "Eastern
Slope" though. The continental divide is at Monarch Pass, about 20
miles west of here.


Seriously, you get up above 8000 feet, and stay on the dry side of the
divide,
and there isn't much. No rattlers, almost no mosquitoes (I saw three this
summer, the most ever), no black widows. We did have a case of
hantavirus up
here a few years ago, but that's pretty easy to avoid. Haven't run
into any
crazy deer yet, but you never know...

All those critters live here. Guess we're just lucky.

Shawn

You dogs. I grew up in Littleton and I miss Colorado more than I can
say. Been dreaming a lot of nights lately about skiing. And of all the
places in the world I moved to...gulp...Texas.

Chris

starburst wrote:
Shawn wrote:

Chris L Peterson wrote:

snip

Seriously, you get up above 8000 feet, and stay on the dry side of
the divide,
and there isn't much. No rattlers, almost no mosquitoes (I saw three
this
summer, the most ever), no black widows. We did have a case of
hantavirus up
here a few years ago, but that's pretty easy to avoid. Haven't run
into any
crazy deer yet, but you never know...

All those critters live here. Guess we're just lucky.

Shawn


You dogs. I grew up in Littleton and I miss Colorado more than I can
say. Been dreaming a lot of nights lately about skiing. And of all the
places in the world I moved to...gulp...Texas.

My brother in law lives in Littleton. There's not much night sky to
miss there. Texas has some big dark skies and straight roads to get there.
I lived in Texas for a year though. I worked in a Park Cities bike shop
in Dallas, where all these rich housewives would say "Oh you're from
Colorado? We have a condo in Vail". Great, thanks for sharing. I
won't do that again.

Shawn