Catching Up

The last group of Astronomers visiting the Painted Pony Resort have pulled out and all their equipment has been loaded on the truck and shipped back to Canada.  The truck picking up the equipment had a problem finding the estate at night, primarily because of the lack of lighting and he missed the turn off Highway 80.  Dark skies make the location attractive for astronomy but not for location finding at night.  But a trip out to the highway to meet the tractor trailer tuck solved the problem.  The 2 - 800 lb crates were loaded and the driver was off.  Fortunately, the estate has a loop road which means the big trucks do not have to turn around when delivering or picking up making their jobs easier (and mine).  The big lessons learned, 800 lbs is the maximum the tractor can lift onto a tractor trailer tuck and old 1 1/2" ratchet straps are useless.  But new 2" ratchet straps, chains, and a come along certainly help.

Here is a link to one of the visiting Canadian astronomers astronomy page where images taken at the Painted Pony Resort will appear.

800 lb crate of astronomy equipment ready for loading