Thanks for the reply, Houghy. I'll lay awake tonight trying to figure out how to pronounce your name.....
I will be arriving about May 15th (full moon +/-, giving me time to get oriented and acclimatized without wasting valuable dark-sky time) and be leaving around July 27 (I'm going to Mongolia for the solar eclipse on the way home). It doesn't sound like any of the star Parties that you mentioned fall into this time window.
if there is a Star Party anywhere in the country that falls inside my 'window' I will attend it.
d.c.