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Hi Lee
Do plan to get away to dark skies when you can. Then the sky is a wondrous sight, naked eye and through a telescope!
You mention light pollution from nearby homes, but Rockie is a big city, so the real problem is the amount of light thrown skyward, greatly brightening the sky and removing many objects from view - the contrast between them and the well-lit sky, is too poor. Think of driving some 50km from the outskirts if you want to get away from that!
Here are a few easy tests:- Can you see the Epsilon star of the Southern Crux? Can you see the bright stars of the Constellation Musca (just "under" the Cross, in the direction of the south celestial pole). Can you see the band of the Milky Way overhead in the late evening? Can you see the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds to the south (look just before the first glimmerings of dawn (5am) when they are highest for you. What you can see naked eye will give some sense of the brightness of your sky.
Cheers
Eric
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