From: "ULTIMATE ECO-VACATIONS SITE" - Via Stellaris, September, 1999

A Visit to Astronomical Adventures

by Tim Perry

This past June, I had the opportunity to attend the University of Arizona's Astronomy Camp for educators in Tucson. (But that's another story - coming soon.) Since I knew I would be in the area, I decided to e-mail Bob Woolley (former VBAS president and CEO of Astronomical Adventures) and ask if he would be willing to show me around northern Arizona so we could visit and I could see more of the state. He was very gracious and invited me to stay a while so he could show me the local geologic wonders and so I could help him work on his 30-inch Dobsonian telescope mirror.

On Friday, after the U. of A. camp was completed, I headed north towards Flagstaff with a short-planned detour in Phoenix, where Bob lives. I followed his email directions of how to get to his house and dropped by to catch up a bit on what was new with Astronomical Adventures as well as to visit with his family. I was entertained by Bob's tales of recent guests at his camp, his neighbor troubles, his new dog, Tank, as well as pictures of places I could visit with him around Arizona over the next few days. He even drew up a couple of Woolley-maps to some places the usual tourists don't know about so that I could see the best sights and learn some geology of the area. His suggestions were excellent! We agreed to meet again on Sunday morning in Flagstaff and I could accompany his family on a trip to the Grand Canyon.

In the meantime, on Saturday, I planned to visit Sedona and the beautiful Oak Creek Canyon and Red Rocks area. Bob had advised me to take the bumpy, rocky, gravel and dirt Schnebly Hill Road (exit 320 off I-17) down into the

canyon. He was right! Despite the rocks and a few bumps to my Saturn, this road provided the best views of the Sedona canyon area and some great geology and natural areas. It was quite worth the trouble of trying to maneuver my car down a road usually reserved for off-road vehicles, though I wouldn't recommend it to people who aren't used to a lot of off-road driving or who don't trust their vehicles in such area. When I reached the bottom of the canyon in Sedona, I visited several of the locally-flavored shops including a place called Mother Nature's in a strange community/shop area called Talequapaqui. The whole community is very interesting with a lot of local artists (Bob calls them hippies) in a Spanish-style sort of courtyards. Mother Nature's has museum-quality fossils and rock/mineral samples for sale -quite a place! A few more side detours to see Bell Rock and some other interesting formations and then it was back to Flagstaff.

On Sunday, Bob, his wife Linda, and their two kids, William and Katherine, drove up from Phoenix to pick me up in Flagstaff on their way to the Grand Canyon. During the whole trip he was able to give a running commentary on

the local geology, geologic features, as well as the history of the area. Quite the royal treatment, and yes folks, he has written a book on all this too! (Coming soon to a book store near you - check with Bob.) It was really nice to be able to spend time with Bob and his family at such an awe-inspiring spectacle of a place as the Grand Canyon. As typical of Bob's tours, we traveled to one of the overlooks that he likes and proceeded to rock-climb down over the edge, much to the astonishment of the other tourists, in order to go up to a point that provides the best all-around view of the Grand Canyon on the South Rim! We helped Katherine and William to climb around the rocks and we all had a great time! Again, this is not something I would recommend to everyone.

We then proceeded down the south rim to a point where we could hike down part of the Bright Angel trail. Bob and I proceeded down, discussed geology and hiked out to an emergency helicopter pad that provides a good view of the Grand Canyon. It was exceptionally hot that day and we suffered a bit for it, but the views were excellent and we even saw a wild goat!

Over the next couple of days and mostly using an itinerary devised by Bob, I visited Lowell Observatory, Sunset Crater Volcano, the Cinder Hills area, and Meteor Crater, but I'll save those for another article.

On Wednesday, I was to meet Bob again at Astronomical Adventures, his astronomy camp at the Flying M Ranch east of Flagstaff, so we could load up his 30-inch telescope mirrors to be taken to Salt Lake City to be recoated.

(I'll detail this in another article). In order to get there, I had to take Arizona exit 219 (Twin Arrows) off of I-40 and go south on a gravel/dirt road through the winding ranches of the Colorado plateau. Now, Bob drives about 60 mph. or so down this road, but I was a bit more cautious; and considering that you have to go 16 miles before you get to the next turn - it was a very interesting drive! I took a left at the fork in the road and another two miles and then a right into the Flying M ranch gate, a working ranch for cattle and dogies as they are called by the locals. Anyway, his observatories are located on the left, a short drive inside the ranch gate just past some ranch houses, trailers and other small guest houses that Bob sometimes uses for his guests at the camp. Local ranchers are very nice and have running water, electricity (thanks to a generator) and even a broadcast telephone (when the frequency isn't being

used by the nearby Indian reservation).

The ranch is quite dusty and can be windy (Bob says up to 70 mph!), after all, you are at over 6000 ft. elevation on the plateau! Due to these conditions, he has a roll-out canvas and metal observatory covering over his 30- and 36-inch Dobsonians, carefully anchored to the ground. He has a small trailer in which he keeps smaller telescopes and books. He even sleeps here during camps!

Bob is in the process of constructing another canvas-and-metal building to serve as a separate observatory for his 30-inch scope. It will ride on a circular track on the ground. He can pull up a flap on the canvas to act as a door for his scope. He needs this because with such a large Dobsonian, even the slightest breeze at night can cause the images to move around a lot.

Perfect Setting for Observation

From this home base, he runs his business, Astronomical Adventures, giving day tours at many of the places I've mentioned and guiding observing through his telescopes at night. He has a great sky - quite dark and transparent

with little glow from any city lights. He has clear views all the way to the horizon with only very low, small light domes from the cities of Flagstaff, Winslow, and Phoenix. (A sky to die for!) His two greatest challenges are atmospheric instability, which causes breezes that move telescopes, impacting seeing conditions, and "upstart competitors" who have recently started camps similar to his, taking his idea and using it to siphon off some of his potential customers into what are most likely lower quality, higher-cost astronomical experiences.

As many VBAS members already know, this business has been a dream of Bob's for many years, and as he points out, he has been in this business longer than all but one of these competitors. He is one of the most interesting

and informative guides a guest could ask for in one of these types of camps; you will not find someone with his experiences at competing camps!

During his tenure at the VBAS, Bob Woolley was also the director of the Aviation Challenge at the U.S. Space and Rockets Center. He has flown F-14 fighters for the Navy, taught college astronomy courses, and is a self-studied expert in telescope construction and design. He recently completed a book about the geology of northern Arizona, a comprehensive guide in the process of being published. He is working with the Challenger Learning Center in Phoenix to provide astronomy experiences for teachers and students utilizing his facilities and tour abilities. Also, he is building a telescope trailer so he can tow around to various locations in Arizona and Utah to provide camp experiences at other locations. For those who don't know him, Bob is quite a character in that he always has a story or an interesting insight to share about astronomy, his experiences, or just life in general.

Von Braun Astronomical Society