February Work Day - Slip Sliding the Day

After a bit of snow and ice the night before, the roads around AH weren't in great shape, but with an OK forecast I still had hopes for a Winter Star Party.

Alas... the ice and clouds both proved persistent. Steve Pielock and I made run into "downtown" Cummington for a load of sand, and after spreading a few hundred pounds of the stuff, my van still couldn't make it to the barn! Steve's 4-wheel drive had not problems reaching the lower parking lot. Ray Burk and Glenn Benscotter also had 4-wheel drive vehicles, they ended up spending part of the morning pushing my minivan up and out of low spots.

Anyway, the clear skies in the forecast never materialized, but at least we got some sand down. If anyone wants to do some winter observing at AH, I'd strongly recommend you come in groups and have 4-wheel drive.

The 4 of us spend time cleaning out the barn. The mice had really made a mess of things. We filled up a 30 gallon trash bag, but I'm not sure that made much of a dent in things.

We'll see what March brings... maybe a Messier Marathon! If the weather cooperates...

Thanks to the hearty crew that showed up on a frigid icy February.