03/25/2023
We had such an eventful and amazing night March 23rd, 2023... started off at 6pm, my oldest decided not to make the drive 2 1/2 hours north (though regretted it shortly after I left :( ) so i headed out at 6:30 with 5 of my 8 kids. We got to the tip of the thumb around 9pm, as the sky was finally getting dark. First park I went to had a terrible street light and it made the worst glow for pictures, and the show itself was a bit lame, so I decided to try another park. Drove about 5 minutes up the road to park 2. Again, show wasnt spectacular, but it was darker overall with no street lights, though the parking lot and beach were right next to the main road so passersby shined their lights unknowingly on the show. Kids were getting bored, I was a little disheartened by the lack of, pizzazz we will say, so I decided to drive up the road a little more. The next park I came to seemed a bit busy , the one after was closed, so I headed to the dark sky park hoping the gates were open. I watched as 2 or 3 cars went in and came right back out so I knew they were closed, but then overhead I saw the most beautiful glow and pillars, so I grabbed my camera, took a picture (the one with reddish and green over a line of trees) and right then I KNEW we had to get back to the park we were just at. We arrived minutes later and the sky EXPLODED. I could see greens and a hint of magenta for the first time with the naked eye. My kids watched excitedly as the lights dance not only across the sky in front of us, but directly above us and beyond. They squealed in excitement, as did I. My 4 year old called it the dancing zebra lines. 😂😂 after at least 30-40 minutes of perfection, we all decided it was time to pack up and head back home for a 3 hour drive back... but before I left the area entirely, I pulled over (rather stopped in the middle of the road) and took the final picture. I bought a new beginner manual wide angle lens for the workshop next week and I was SO HAPPY to practice with it tonight. I was happy to experience this with 5 of my kids, and I hope to do it again with all of them. This show far exceeded the show on labor day for me last year. 😍