I really wanted to see the big Leonid showers in 2000 and 2001. My work responsibilities prevented taking the 8 hour drive option to get away from the San Diego clouds. I watched the 1989 Perseids from the California desert area north of Brawley. Spectacular. The PacBell strike duty put me in just the right spot. I enticed my wife to Palomar Mountain a few year later for another Perseids show. That was great too. It was the last "great" meteor shower that I've enjoyed in recent years. We did have a nice green aurora here in southern Idaho last summer. It followed a series of X class flares. I still haven't enjoyed the multi-colored shimmering curtain types of aurora yet.
Hang in there, when you see a really good auroral show it will be worth all the sleepless nights spent hunting. The fall seems to be the most active time. I have been fortunate enough to spend the last 3 spring through fall seasons in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan, near Mackinac Bridge. This is the "Sweet Spot" for auroras in the CONUS. During that time I became a connoisseur of auroras. It's actually pretty easy to distinguish whether the aurora is a result of a CME or high speed solar wind by the way it looks. High speed solar wind causes a wave effect, it looks like waves moving on a lake. CME auroras are much more spectacular, with reds and greens with large spikes and more "curtain" effect.
With all the weird celestial events that are expected this year, it may be a good one for sky gazing.
Space Weather News for May 5, 2004
http://spaceweather.com COMET NEAT: Long-awaited Comet NEAT (C/2001 Q4) is approaching Earth and
growing brighter. At closest approach on May 7th, it will be 0.32 AU (48
million km) from our planet and about as bright as a 3rd magnitude star.
The comet is now visible to the unaided eye--just barely--after sunset
from dark-sky locations in the northern hemisphere. It looks like a fuzzy
blob with a stubby tail. City dwellers are advised to use binoculars or a
small telescope. Visit Spaceweather.com for pictures of the comet and a
sky map.
METEOR SHOWER: Today Earth is passing through a stream of dusty debris
from Halley's Comet--the source of the annual eta Aquarid meteor shower.
Unfortunately, tonight's full Moon will outshine the display, reducing it
to near invisibility. Try listening, instead, using real-time links to
meteor radars on Spaceweather.com.