Holding my wheelrims securely, I look down the steep slope of ponderosa pine and shrubs watching as their shadows stretch and lengthen. A voice calls me over. My partner and an assortment of strangers assemble into a loose group. The guide looks around, his gaze pauses and then lingers on me before taking in the other people gathered, and asks, “What brought you up the mountain to spend a few hours looking at stars?” When my partner and I say we are celebrating our first anniversary, the guide laughs incredulously, responding, “Really!?” Surprised, I stare at him in disbelief. Maybe $50 a ticket is nothing to him, but when we came across a two-for-one coupon to stargaze through one of the largest telescopes open to the public, we snatched the chance to go and celebrate our anniversary with an adventure. The guide, still amused, turns and leads the group past old forest service buildings repurposed for the needs of the observatory, which sits perched on the pine-topped mountain cascading up out of the desert.