Star Gazing

Have you ever seen the Milky Way? Remarkably, 99% of people living in Europe or the United States live in light polluted communities that make it impossible to see the Milky Way. Lajitas is a dark sky community. That means the community has agreed to certain rules and regulations to preserve the night sky. Night skies are ranked from Class 1-9. Class 1 is the darkest sky on earth. Class 9 encompasses most inner city skies. At Maverick Ranch RV Park, the rules of the park clearly state that all campers should extinguish outdoor lighting from 9:00 pm to 6:00 am. Mark and I love staying in these communities because you can star gaze from your camper on a clear night. Ironically, on our first night here we were disappointed to observe some campers who weren’t following the rules. We shook our heads in disbelief, saying “what’s wrong with people?” Our fourth night here, we were sound asleep when we heard a knock at the door. It was the park manager pointing out we’d accidentally left our “porch light” on. Mark apologized and sheepishly turned out the light, but thankfully we learned our lesson and will be less judgmental of our neighbors the rest of our stay!