WSSP 2010

Josh is an amateur astronomer, and so every year we attend the annual White Sands Star Party (WSSP).  It's the only time of the year people are allowed to camp overnight in the White Sands National Monument.  This year was Alex's first time attending, and it was also conveniently scheduled over Aurora's Fall Break October 7-10, so we decided to leave a few days early and take the kids to Roswell and Carlsbad Caverns!  We have been visiting Carlsbad Caverns every couple of years since we met in high school and it is one of our favorite places to go.

We headed out on Wednesday and had a smooth drive to Roswell.  Along the way we stopped in Capitan, NM in the Lincoln National Forest.  It is the home of the original Smokey Bear, who was found in the Lincoln National Forest as a badly burnt orphaned cub.  It is also his current resting place.  The kids enjoyed seeing the exhibits, learning his story, and doing the activities.  We also liked looking at the plants and wildlife in the garden where he is buried.

Eventually we arrived in Roswell and, after dropping stuff off at the hotel, we headed out for food and to walk to main strip to check out the alien stuff!  Alex thought it was SO cool but Aurora was sure to keep telling him that it wasn't real.  We had fun browsing the shops and people watching.

Thursday we headed down to Carlsbad!  We had a beautiful drive up and then headed down to the natural entrance to hike to the bottom of the caverns.  We got all the way to the entrance and then Alex said he had to go potty again so we had to walk all the way back to the bathrooms and then back down!  But we got to see and touch two cool lizards on the way so it was worth it!

I wasn't sure if Alex would be able to make it all the way through the caverns but he did great!  He balked a little at the entrance because it was so dark but once we got in and his eyes adjusted, he loved it!  We made it all the way down without any complaining.  We got back to Roswell on Thursday with just enough time to go to the UFO Research Center and Museum.  Alex liked the UFO pictures and replicas.  Aurora was excited to find a collector's book to collect the flat pennies she has been making at each stop.

Friday we packed up again and headed to White Sands for the Star Party.  We signed in and got our packets and then headed to the dunes to setup camp.  The kids grabbed their sleds and immediately headed out to slide down the dunes while we talked with friends and set up our tents.  One of Josh's co-workers came along and brought his wife and daughter.  We all hit it off immediately and the little girl and Alex really liked each other!  They were even holding hands!  Friday night the astronomers setup their gear and checked out each others' setup, swapped ideas, and took pictures.

Saturday morning we woke up to a gorgeous sunrise and stumbled out into the cold to get some drinks and snacks.  When the sun came up and warmed everything we got dressed and headed into Alamagordo.  As part of the event we get free tickets to the IMAX and NM Space History Museum.  We got some breakfast and then went to the IMAX to see a show on Sea Monsters.  Grandma and Grandpa K had driven down the night before and met us there.  Alex loved the movie and talked about sea monsters the rest of the weekend!  After the show we went through the space museum and looked at the rockets and other historical items, and played with the space shuttle simulator.

Then we grabbed some food and headed back to White Sands for some events.  The director of the space museum came out and did some activities with the kids, including making paper rockets.  They held a raffle, which Aurora got to draw the tickets for and she was so pleased with having such an important task.  Grandma and Grandma won some shirts and we won some astronomy equipment and a signed copy of a book that is about to be published by a prominent astronomer in the community.  Josh was really happy!

The WSSP is also a community event so on Saturday night they invite the public in to learn about astronomy, look through the telescopes, and visit with the astronomers.  When they all come in they do a presentation and go over the Star Party rules.  Josh and Aurora gave a presentation showing some of the images Josh has taken and give some info on it.  It was so cute to see Aurora up there, all proud, next to her daddy!  Then the astronomers sat next to their gear and let the public view through them and answer any questions they have.  It's a really neat event!

The kids pretty much went up and down the dunes the entire time, sledding or playing with sand toys.  When the public was there in the dark, we set them up in the tent to watch a movie on the portable DVD.  They had a blast and slept hard all night long.

Sunday we packed up, happy but exhausted, and headed home!  It was a fun trip and hopefully something the kids will always remember!  I had so many pictures I wanted to share that I decided to do a slide show.