Getting to Wyoming...

...turned out to be difficult. My first flight was cancelled due to sudden mechanical problems with the plane (better on the ground than in air). An extremely patient Delta clerk, who had an entire planeload of disgruntled people to deal with, rebooked me through National in D.C. This involved a four-hour layover, missing the first Launchpad get-acquainted dinner, and inconvenience for Scott Humphries, who picked me up at the airport. Then he, I, and Cheryl Floyd-Miller, who had come from North Carolina by bus (!), drove the two-and-a-half hours north to the University of Wyoming campus at Laramie. The scenery may have been lovely, but it was too dark to see it.

LaunchPad, which is sponsored by NASA, brings fifteen SF writers here to learn about astronomy. Our instructors are Mike Brotherton and Jerry Oltion; Mike teaches at Laramie. As I write this, Day One is about to begin. Up too early because my body is on East Coast time, I feel very shaky this morning. We're at about 6,000 feet, and I'm not used to it. Hydrate! everyone says. Hydrate! So I'm hydrating, so far to no effect. My head feels light and my legs wobble a little.

On the other hand, maybe all I need is breakfast.