Above: sidewalk stargazers watch the International Space Station fly over Sedona, Arizona for five minutes on July 27, 2025
From Phoenix to Payson
After building my van, I departed Phoenix and headed to Payson, Arizona 2.5 hours north, where I camped in the van for three nights.
Night One: north of Payson on federal land near Waterwheel Falls, where the Milky Way stretched high above, the sky so dark that I could see some of the star clusters I show during private stargazing.
Night Two: the interesting night. I drove past a campsite I tented at last year and went off road onto federal lands a few miles up. The van has an additional inch of clearance compared to my Kia Soul, so navigating the rough terrain was similar to what I’m used to (and I navigated way worse on the Mogollon Rim back in May). After about two miles, I pulled off next to an obvious campfire ring – but remember, fires have been awful this year, so DO NOT start an open flame or charcoal fire where you camp. The signs are everywhere.
Once I ate and got situated, I walked a little up the road and spotted three elk grazing in a meadow – and then two coyotes crossed 100 feet in front of me, trotting into the forest.
As the sky grew dark, I began hearing elk sirens throughout the forest…and then something else. Turns out it was a bear. The heavy thudding and low grunts and growls were my sign to get back in the van and call it a night.
I’m not sure what I did, because this hasn’t happened since, but when I woke up the next morning, the van wouldn’t start! My best guess is that I had a door open and the lights stayed on…or something. Honestly haven’t figured it out. But! I have car jumpers that plug into my solar batteries, no second car required. I was up and running in five minutes.
Night Three: I stayed at a campground east of Payson just in case the battery issue happened again, giving me easy access to town if I needed to replace the battery. I got it tested, and it’s holding a normal voltage, and has been fine ever since. So yeah, not sure what I did that night that caused it to die! I don’t think it was cold weather. Night four was much, much colder, and it didn’t happen again.
Night Four: I drove north, ignored my map that wanted me to head west toward Sedona, and instead drove north through Coconino National Forest past the towns of Pine and Strawberry and then up to Happy Jack, where I managed to find a site on federal land. I had to go way back on the road, as a dozen other people in RVs had the same idea. I later pulled my van around so the Moon could shine through my back doors as I relaxed, the cold air acting as my natural AC for the night. Just need to get bug screens for the doors!
Onward to Sedona
I spent the next morning relaxing and charging my solar to near full, then hit the road, once again ignoring the map that wanted me to go north to Flagstaff then down to Sedona. Instead, I took Stonewall Lake Road, bumpy as it was, which cut right across the forest and on the other side, you could see the red rocks rising over the buttes. But instead of going straight across, you have to drive way far to the south on Hwy 17 in order to go around the buttes, then hook back northwest and come in on 179 through Village of Oak Creek.
Upon entering Sedona, I set up in Wildflower Bread and went straight to editing some chapters in Purnell, Book 5 of my science-fiction series. I’m about 2/3 of the way through my editors’ edits, then I’ll go through the book two or three more times before publication on October 17th.
The Space Station Visits Sedona
Then 6pm rolled around, and I went back to my van and gathered my telescope and photography, and was set up by 6:45pm, ready for people to look through and view the Moon, which was illuminated 10% Sunday night, a waxing crescent growing day by day til Full on August 9th.
The “star” of the show, however, arrived at 8:43pm. I told everyone to come back by 8:40pm at the latest, because the Space Station was passing over! About 50 people returned, and we all watched together as the ISS rose from the northwest horizon, through the handle of the Big Dipper, and then 90 degrees up – as high as physically possible! At that moment, it was exactly 261 miles above the Earth (average is 250 miles, so that’s what I say in the video).
It was a great moment for everyone to witness together, sharing in a bit of cosmic wonder that humans ourselves created to perform science in space.
While the ISS has a few more passes this week, only one other will come close to the spectacle of Sunday night: Tuesday’s 8:45pm pass, but even that will only get up to 25 degrees (less that 1/3 up in the sky off the horizon), and 1/6th as bright.
Schedule a Private Stargazing Tour!
Reminder that I will be in Sedona through August 7th. You can visit my telescope and view the Moon, or hire me for a private stargazing tour starting at $250/group for a 1 hour 15 minute session, or $400/group for a 2 hour 30 minute session. More details here.
This world is beautiful.
Alex
Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, or YouTube
Purchase my photography prints
Support my mission, travel, and outreach with a tip on Venmo or PayPal.
Leave a Reply