The full moon will set around midnight on Sunday night. So, the best hours for meteor viewing will be after that moon set until dawn and then again the following night from about 1 AM to dawn. If you set an alarm and get outside a little after midnight, it will give you time to get yourself situated lying down on a nice blanket and give your eyes some time to adjust before the best part of the show begins. At the height of the meteor shower you can expect to see up to 70 meteors an hour. These aren't just little flashes in the sky, these are those good old fashion "shooting stars" that go all the way across the sky in some instances.
When I was 12 my family was driving across West Texas coming home from Oregon during this meteor shower and we all woke up to watch the show. Let me tell you, it was definitely a show! The dark sky with meteors flying over every minute or so, sometimes with two or three in the sky at the same time was unbelievable!
But here's the key and the reason that I am putting this on my travel blog and not just on my personal blog. You've got to get out of the city in order to see it. Now, there are a lot of places you can go for viewing a meteor shower. But the rule of thumb is that when you look up in the sky, you must be able to see each star of the big dipper clearly for optimal viewing of the meteor shower. There are 7 stars in the big dipper if you were wondering. If you live in Dallas and you think the 6 stars you've been seeing in the constellation all these years are all that's there, you're going to be in for a big surprise when you drive 90 to 100 miles outside of the city and see all the stars that actually exist in a dark sky.
If you have an RV, this would be the perfect opportunity to use that sucker! This could be the answer to all those times you've looked out of your kitchen window at the eyesore in your driveway and thought, why did we spend all that money on that thing? Maybe it was necessary for this exact weekend!
So, here's my suggestion. Grab a blanket, a couple of bottles of wine and if you are so inclined a camera with a tripod. Pack it all up in the car or RV on Sunday. If you don't have an RV get on line or you could even call me before you leave and find yourself a nice little bed and breakfast some place in East Texas or the hill country and spend a night or two. In case it's cloudy one of those nights you'll want an extra night to make sure you see as many shooting stars as possible. Have dinner at a quirky diner wherever you stop for your meteor viewing. Be sure to order the chicken fried steak at the diner. There's no point in doing all of this if you aren't going to do it right. Go to bed early on Sunday night, after all you're in a small town in east or central Texas, what else are you going to do? Then set an alarm for 12:30 AM. Go out in a field somewhere open your bottle of wine (hope you remembered the corkscrew and glasses). Spread your blanket out and lay back and watch the show. You might have to call in sick on Monday and Tuesday (so you should probably start practicing your raspy voice now). But here's a small sample of what you might see....
While you're out there in east or central Texas, be sure and stop at a DQ once or twice. You'll thank me for this advice after you've done it. Also stop in at a diner that serves homemade pies. I personally could be talked into to doing this myself around Ben Wheeler or Edom. If you go to Edom, you can eat at The Shed. Of course, Edom's not big enough to have a DQ, but there is one in Van and Canton. So, you'll be okay. And the Chicken Fried Steak and pie at The Shed are to die for! Believe me, I've had both.... in one sitting...
Don't worry, you're not going to get hit by a meteor, these are mostly tiny little things that totally burn up in the atmosphere before the ever actually reach earth. But if you do, think of how famous you'll be! Maybe they'll even change the name of the annual meteor shower to your name in memory. I've always wanted my own meteor shower. Have a great weekend and happy meteor viewing!
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