Because of the switch in time and our latitudes here, nautical twilight (which is when I usually figure it's good enough to start observing) is around 5:30pm. But I didn't make it out to the site until 8ish.
Lately, my process is to start with Mars, then hunt galaxies, and then finish up again with Mars. For my first viewing of Mars for the night I'll use my left eye, to protect my dark adaptation in my right eye. Seeing was so-so. I sketched what I found and then drew another sketch when viewing Mars again at the end of my session. Later comparisons with maps showed that I was seeing Syrtis Major, Hellas, Mare Tyrrhenum, Mare Cimmerium, and Sinus Sabaeus. The northern area looked rather bright, so I suspect I was also seeing the Northern Hood, though I'd need an image to confirm that. Nothing amazing, but not bad Mars viewing.
Before moving on, I did have one fun object in mind: Uranus. I don't think I had ever seen it naked eye before, so that was my goal. I had brought a chart. And it turn out it wasn't hard to spot. I could see it fairly easily with averted vision and with some trouble with direct vision. Cool!
I then started in on galaxies and because of the good transparency was able to see quite a few for a not-so-long session. The confirmed objects:
UGC 36
UGC 33
UGC 37 (I wish I had a more accurate chart so I would have known where to look for nearby
Temps were in the lower 20's (F), and I started out rather tired, so at this point I packed it in.
Summary: A little Mars viewing, 18 galaxies, seeing Uranus naked eye, and home by 11:30 -- all in all a nice night!
