Wolfy's New Mexico Adventure

Around 2 pm on Friday, June 8, 2001, I saddled up Wolfy and headed West toward Dodge.  Boondocked Friday night in the Wal-Mart parking lot, then, on Saturday, headed South for the promised land of New Mexico.  I had no particular agenda in mind for the trip... Just go from observatory to observatory, and, naturally, hit Roswell.  I had hoped for a tour of the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope, but the fellow who was to be my guide was away for the week.  No matter.  New Mexico, here we come!
Saturday Lunch Stop - Somewhere in Kansas



Hard to believe I'd been on the road for a total of 10 hours, and I was still in Kansas!  Luckily, I only had to pass through a tiny sliver of Oklahoma and Texas before hitting New Mexico.

Texas Prairie Flowers

One of the more pleasant sights along the way was a Texas prairie ablaze with the color of wild flowers.  Most of the trip through Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas was pretty humdrum, however. -- that is, unless you're really into grain elevators.  I also passed numerous feed lots.  Incredible to come across cattle as far as the eye could see... all scrunched together in tiny corrals.  Like driving past a gulag.  Glad we're vegetarians!

First sight of New Mexico: Tucumcari Mountain
New Mexico Landscape Enroute to Roswell

Since the a/c was removed from my Westy by the PO (previous owner), I resorted to more primitive means of keeping cool.  

Here I am driving down the road with a wet towel on my head.  Evaporative cooling at work!

Now, back in KC, I'm looking for a theatre group wanting someone to play Obiwan Kanobi..
/


An Abandoned Bay Westy

What a sorry sight!  In Fort Sumner, on the way to Roswell, I came upon this abandoned Westy with Oregon plates.  

A VW bus is a terrible thing to waste!


Roswell, at Last!

Time to get some R&R.  It was Sunday, so not much to do.  Just eliminate some of the road wearies by stretching out in a canvas chair with a good book.

Behind me is the tripod for my 100 mm Unitron refractor.  With it and the scope in the van, there's not room for much more.  So every time we set up camp, the scope went into the upper berth and the tripod was relegated to spending the night outside.

The temperature was in the high 90s, but the low humidity made it comfortable in the shade.

OK.  I know you're dying to see some UFO photos.  If you really must, click here.

 Apache Indian Tipis

After Roswell, we (Wolfy and I) were off to Cloudcroft and Sunspot to visit the Apache Point and National Solar Observatories.

Part of our route took us through the heart of an Apache Indian reservation.  This high in the mountains (5,000 feet), the temperature was moderate and the scenery captivating -- pine forests interspersed with Alpine meadows.

One of the most exhilarating moments of the trip was stopping at this overlook at an altitude of
around 8,000 feet to look down upon Alamogordo and White Sands (upper left).

Wolfy made it up the mountain in fine shape.  Here we are parked at an elevation of 9,500 feet in the parking lot at the Apache Point Observatory.  Right:  The building that houses the 3.5 m telescope sits close to the 2.5 m scope being used in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
Sunspot, NM - The National Solar Observatory

After Apache Point, we drove about a mile further to the top of Sacramento Peak to visit the Solar Observatory.  The solar telescope is unique in its design, having a fixed large mirror at the base and a moveable mirror at the top of the column that directs the sunlight downward to the main reflector.

Then it was time to bid a fond adieu to New Mexico and return to the humid plains of Kansas.
This spectacular sunset was taken on the road from Alamogordo to Socorro.
1,933 miles in 5 days!  And Wolfy didn't miss a beat.


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