Hocking Hills State Park: John Glenn Astronomy Park

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Today, we're finishing our drive to Ohio. From Tinley Park, where we stayed overnight, it's about a six hour drive. I'd forgotten that we lose an hour and incorrectly estimated when we'd arrive! The drive was uneventful, which is a good thing.

We pulled into Hocking Hills State Park around 6pm. We're staying in the state park cabins but needed to check in at their new lodge (the lodge opened this past October). At the lodge, I quickly found my parents, my brother, some cousins, and some aunts and uncles. Some of the kids were heading to the lodge pool, so our kids quickly suited up and joined them. There is an indoor and outdoor pool and hot tub. I loved that the kids got to move a bit after being cooped up in the car all day, and they loved playing with their little cousins and second cousins. We followed up swimming with some pizzas from the lodge that we took over to my aunts' cabin. The pizza was pretty good, better than I expected!

John Glenn Astronomy Park is located in Hocking Hills near the cabins. They do free events a few times each week (usually Fridays and Saturdays), but you need to pre-register for them at https://registration.jgap.org/ . We'd registered for an event tonight and arrived right at the 9pm start time. It wasn't dark yet, but we could use the telescope there to take a look at the crescent moon. At approximately 9:30, they started the program. We learned a lot about what we'd be able to see in the night sky when it got dark (he said astronomical darkness would be at 10:45). We also learned about light pollution and the things we could do to help combat it (using motion detectors on outdoor lights, using lights that have a cover so they don't shine upward, and using amber filters). The later it got, the more stars we could see. By 10:30pm, the sky was full of stars, and we could faintly see the Milky Way! I love seeing the night sky and really enjoyed the park and program. Oh, we also learned that the astronomy park relies on donations. I felt bad that we didn't realize that and didn't bring cash with us. So, consider bringing a cash donation if you go! At the end of the program, the kids were starting to drift off. So, we headed back to the cabin. On our way, we passed the lodge and observed that they use amber filtered outdoor lights. So, apparently the state park is doing their part to reduce night pollution!

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