Wow, the sky is clear up here!

We made it to the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station without incident. (Well, the Jeep apparently tried to overheat a bit on our way up the access road, but since I didn't notice until after we'd stopped, I'm not counting that!)

On our way up, the sun was starting to set. Talk about beautiful (and a bit blinding, since the air was so clear). Of course, I was driving and there really weren't any pullouts, so you're going to have to take my word for it. (Or come here yourself to see it, which I highly recommend!)

The staff at the center was certainly ready for us (and all the other folks who came up tonight): they had 3 very large telescopes ready to show us the celestial sights--Venus, Saturn (complete with rings - wow!) and Jupiter with several moons. The best part was that we basically had the place to ourselves for at least 20 minutes, so the staff and volunteers were very willing to explain lots of stuff to the boys, who ate up all the attention. (One guy asked me if I homeschooled, when I was asking M what he knew about Venus and he was rattling off about 20 facts. I had to explain that, no, he just liked space.) They also had smaller telescopes that you could aim yourself.

Last night was an almost full moon, which apparently cut down on the number of stars we could see. So, we only saw about 20 constellations during the laser-pointer enhanced star tour.

I had worried a bit about how we might handle the 9,200-foot altitude after being in Hawaii for a couple of weeks (high point previously on the trip--about 2,500 feet), but everyone did great. And the crisp 59-degree weather was a nice break from 85 and humid. (Not that I am complaining, as I hear it's topping 100 regularly in Colorado right now. I just enjoy not sweating sometimes.)

David loved the idea that we were above an entire layer of clouds as we watched the moonrise. He thought it was ocean he was seeing from the patio area:

Another high point (and another thing I couldn't get on film, despite trying several times) was the moonbow we saw on our way down. It seemed to only have about 3 different shades of light, but it was very cool. There also was a corona around the nearly full moon, which I am learning (from my Google search for a similar moonbow picture to show you) may be called a moondog. Again, my camera hardly does it justice, but here it is: