[Lvas] Desert observing tips / Anybody up for observing this week?

[Jonathan Kade]

Hello,

My wife and I are visiting from Detroit (she's in town for a
conference).  We brought along our 66mm achromat, a Voyager mount,
some eyepieces, her 15x70s, and our box of astrocards.  We're heavily
involved with the Warren Astronomical Society
(http://www.warrenastro.org) there and thought we'd get in touch with
club members here.  We've exclusively visual/non-goto observers
ourselves, but we're not religious about it.

We did a little bit of observing last night at the Lake Mead
recreation area just past the dam (just checking out Mercury before it
set), but the light dome from Vegas was pretty impressive.

We were a little bit apprehensive about desert critters.  How big a
problem are the mountain lions and javelinas?  Any other things one
might encounter in the desert we should be aware of?

If anybody is interested in going out sometime this week (we're
leaving Sunday morning), we'd love to go.  Otherwise, any tips and
tricks are appreciated!

Clear skies,

Jonathan