It's late on Saturday night. The air is cool and crisp -- a welcome respite from heat hovering around triple digits. We look at the vast field of stars over our heads -- many more than most of us see back home in our lighted cities.

One of us pipes up, “hey, is that the milky way?”

“No, the milky way should be over here. That's a cloud.”

“well ... that cloud is moving.”

[audible gasp in unison]

We move to a spot out of the nearby streetlight and focus on a mountain ridge northwest. There is a deep blue green wave flickering over the trees, with faint tendrils reaching over our heads.

“Is that ...?”

Another wave flickers.

“Oooooooooo!!”

The Aurora Borealis over Cicely. No, it doesn't get any better than that!

We are in Roslyn, Washington for Moosefest 2004. I arrived in town on Wednesday, driving the 1300 miles in a day and a half.

My home away from home in Cicely is the Huckleberry House Inn - a charming turn-of-the-century (1900s) bed and breakfast. I have a huge bed that I have to launch myself into and incredible views into downtown and over the surrounding hills.

The owners, Don and Sibyl, also are fans and now have a complete stock of Northern Exposure episodes on tape. Their adorable chocolate lab, Tino, helps ease missing my pups waiting at home.

Dan Dusek takes us on his annual filming sites bus tour and includes a few new places, including where Joel gets run over by the big rock in 6.11 The Great Mushroom.

We didn't realize it at the time, but we also saw the house that stood in as Marilyn's house for the last time. A couple of weeks after Moosefest, it burned down.

Dan at the cliff.