Is there anybody out there?

Day 5: Wednesday, March 23, 2016

 

Today was a long day. It started at the VLA, which stands for Very Large Array. (I've noticed that scientists are not super-creative in their naming of things.) The VLA is a huge radio telescope in the middle of the New Mexico desert, 50 miles from pretty much anything and everything. Twenty-seven antennas, which are each 82 feet in diameter, collect radio waves from space and translate them into data for scientists all over the world. It was really interesting.  They use different configurations to get different data, and when they are at their farthest apart configuration, they span 22 miles! They essentially work together to make one antenna that is 22 miles across.  That's huge! Today they were in C configuration, so they weren't as spaced out as they could be (ha!), but they were pretty far apart. It was also REALLY cold and windy.  We had to bundle up into our winter gear, which I didn’t expect to need until we got to Colorado.  The best part was the exhibit where you could whisper into one dish and hear it clear as day from a faraway dish, which was even more impressive today since it was so windy it was hard to hear what people were saying when they were standing next to you.  The kids loved it. I did, too. I didn’t even know my kids knew how to whisper! It's a new skill I'm trying to cultivate in them now that I know it's even possible.

Open this picture and look at all the rock carvings!

After cleaning out the gift shop, we headed to Bandelier National Monument two hours away.  Bandelier was a second choice stop after Mesa Verde’s Spruce Tree House was closed, but it turned out to be a first rate attraction. I'd never heard of Bandelier before seeing a picture in a New Mexico visitor's guide, but, with that one picture, I knew we had to go. There was some really cool rock art, the dwellings were really interesting, and there were ladders to climb to get you right into the little cavates (cave – ate) the ancient Native Americans lived in.  Ladders into little hole-in-the-wall caves?  Sign my boys up! Who wouldn't love that? And they did. They totally did! Climbing down proved a little tricky, and there was supposedly a bigger house with bigger ladders that we did not check out for many reasons, as it turns out, but if anyone ever goes and does do the bigger ladders, I'd like to hear about it. The whole places was just very fascinating. The boys mostly just liked the ladders and the little herd of 7 or so deer we saw at the end, who did not, by the way, care one little bit that Tucker had just somersaulted down the hill and was sobbing not 10 feet away. They were completely unfazed by this little intrusion into their dinner. I would definitely go back to Bandelier one day, though. I'd be surprised if we didn't. 

After leaving the park, we took the scenic route through the Jemez National Forest. It was beautiful country, with giant ponderosa pines, snow in the shady spots, and a huge meadow for watching elk.  Of course, there were no elk, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying the view.  One thing that has struck us out here is that the ground is very flat.  That is, until it’s not.  There isn’t a lot of gradual incline or rolling hills.  It is just very flat until the ground runs up against a huge mountain, like in a child’s drawing.  It is so not like the east coast.

Anyway, tomorrow is a day I’ve been looking forward to for a long time.  I can’t wait to share it with you!