Before we had even decided to go west, I had mentioned an article to Mike and the kids. I was joking about how scientists come up with such original names for things. The article was talking about using the VLA to help interpret some strange readings from a system in space. VLA stands for Very Large Array. It is a radio telescope that can ‘see’ things that other telescopes can’t because it looks for radio waves. At one of our stops I saw a brochure for it, and it wasn’t far off of our course…so why not?
We spent the morning walking around the VLA. They have a nice museum and a walking trail that takes you right to the base of one of the dishes. There is also a very nice sun dial with pillars signed by scientists and special date circles in the concrete. While we were there they had a school group and they moved the one dish down so everyone could see the top surface. Then they realigned all of the dishes on a different spot of the sky. They actually move fairly quickly and quietly.
On the way out of the valley where the VLA resides we encountered a small herd of antelope that watched us warily but allowed some pictures.
We ate a late lunch at the Largo Cafe in Quemodo, NM on our way to Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. There is no camping there, so we decided to stop at Lyman Lake State Park, AZ.
By 4:15 we had camp set up and decided to hike a short trail called the Petroglyph Trail. We got to see quite a few petroglyphs up close as we watched the setting sun and incoming storm clouds warily. We made it back to camp before the winds picked up and it poured for a short time. We re-staked our tent, cooked dinner under the shelter and were off to bed and trying to keep warm. It dropped to 37 degrees F that night.
