Camping at The Golden State Star Party 2013

The Dates: Saturday, July 6 through Wednesday, July 10th
The Location: Golden State Star Party Camping and Observing Site, Adin, CA 96006

The Basics: The Golden State Star Party is a 4 night dark sky event held each summer at Frosty Acres Ranch in North-Eastern California, near Mount Lassen, alongside rural Adin, California. GSSP has dark skies from horizon to horizon, and room for hundreds of astronomers and campers!

The Specifics: http://www.goldenstatestarparty.org/

The Star Party fee includes 4 nights camping, astro-swag, lots of clean Port-O-Potties, Fireline Services shower truck, Wi-Fi at the main tent.
All you need is a red-lens flashlight (no white light after sundown), a love for camping in open space, and an interest in astronomy. You get to stay out all night and sleep in late. For an extra fee, the Frosty Acres Ranch puts on a full-dinner BBQ Sunday and Monday evenings.

You do not need a telescope, but it will be extremely easy to find someone to help you set up that Newtonian reflector you got as a gift five or six years ago and have yet to take out of its box. It is an astro-geek-fest, all willing to show you the night sky through their (sometimes massive) telescope setups. The first time you meet a deep-space Messier Object, such as M57, the Ring Nebula, in a 16" Dobsonian Reflector (or bigger), you will feel wonderfully insignificant and hopelessly small, and you will want more!