Paris, VA (USA)

[Mollie and Brenna talked to me about going out west of the city to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower this weekend (brought back some memories of a trip I took with the twins in AUG 2007) - we headed out on the road around 1645 - errands on the way - this made us late for Mass at Kim's parish, but we got there (Great Falls) almost in time - it was great to hear her play again and the kids like the shorter than usual service... - we departed around 1830 and headed south on Baron Cameron Avenue - missed turn onto Reston Parkway and ended up driving all the way (via Elden Street) into Herndon - found a Popeye's for dinner - back on the road, we made our way towards US-50 on Centreville Road - it was a pleasant drive along the Lee Jackson Highway - we saw lots of places we haven't visited before (western suburbs with big car dealerships, nice homes, etc.) - highlight was the last few miles before we reached Sky Meadows State Park (passed through small, historic towns like Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville) - we arrived just as the sun went down behind the hills (close to 2000) near Paris, Virginia - Mollie and I had found this park on one of our adventures recently (see MAY 2013) - it was a lot different this time (crowded with lots of people from the city) - there were representatives from the Smithsonian and NASA, describing the Perseids - it took a very long time to get really dark - but we were lucky, since there had been a cloud cover until then - lots of people had obnoxious bright lights that made it hard to adjust to the night sky (eventually, many of them left - due to boredom, I suspect) - the moon was just a sliver and we could see bright stars and planets (along with lots of aircraft) - around 2200, we started to see a few shooting stars - unfortunately, it was not as exciting as we had hoped - still, the three of us had a nice evening (not hot and not too cold, comfortable in our chairs and blankets) - we talked to lots of amateur atronomers with high-priced telescopes - every time there was a meteor, the entire group ooohed and aaaahed - park rangers told us we had to leave at 2230 (sad)... - we drove south on US-17 and made it onto I-66 very quickly (and didn't hit any deer fortunately...) - made good time and arrived at the house by 2330]