I took my daughter to the top of Fremont Peak (3,000 ft) near San Juan Bautista, CA to watch the Perseids when she was about 7 or 8 years old. We spent an amazing evening watching all the shooting stars from that somewhat remote and very dark place. We got back home around 4 AM and she had school that day! Lots of amateur star-gazers go to Fremont Peak for events like that.
By the way, I doubt you saw Skylab. Skylab’s orbit decayed and it disintegrated in the atmosphere on July 11, 1979, scattering debris across the Indian Ocean and Western Australia. I’m sure you meant the International Space Station (ISS). You could not have seen it several times because it does not pass over the same point on earth on successive orbits. If you are in a dark location, you will see lots of satellites passing overhead.
I used to take our young kids out on the deck late at night when we were on vacation in the mountains to count satellites. They got real good at it and would spot them long before me. We DID see the ISS about five years ago in Fairplay, Colorado at 11,000 feet. It was really spectacular seeing it shortly after sunset and with so little atmosphere above us.
I saw Skylab around 75. No telescope. Just amazing.
We’ve no mountain tops to climb, here on the plains. Just as well, a poor climber here.
Watching several years ago we pulled the TV outside, sat by the pond, listened to the Moody Blues at Red Rock on PBS and enjoyed the tremendous light show created for us. Country living and clear skies gave us an exceptional view of the Heavens. One evening never to be forgotten. Majestic.