Very Large Array day

Let's first consider the best way to start a road trip:

chewy, soft, crunchy, cheesy BAGELS!

We went to Wolfe's for our green chile bagel with veggie schmear (on left) and swiss cheese, cracker and pepper bagel with dill schmear (on right).

Toasted. Oh yeah.

This is normal.

It was considerably cold that day so the camo mask was somewhat necessary, although not really in the car. Marc's geriatric bones needed the heater up to 85 degrees. (haha! just kidding, I'm so sorry Meo! I will only make fun of you one more time, then I'll stop! Pinky pwomise!)

Anyway, we hopped on I-25 south and of course, Marc had to whiz after only 15 minutes outside of Albuquerque. We stopped at Rattlesnake Pit Stop.

We're coming to get you, snowy mountains! Wait, actually, were we? I'M ALREADY LOST HELP!

Got back in the car, put on Combat Rock and raced down the highway.

An hour later, took the Socorro exit and marveled at all of the christian church signs littering the main road. Creepy!

Well, Socorro was an awful little reminder of the scary stranglehold christianity has on small towns. We whipped through the town and found ourselves in the prettiest drive down highway 60, west bound.

Just, magnificent.

A wild gang of goats running away from me as I try to snap them. WAIT FOR ME! I JUST WANT TAKE A PICTURE, GOATS! YOU LOOK CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another hour later, we reached the VLA.

There was a small museum there that Marc had to look at (BOR-RING) and several groups of Italian tourists wandered through, pointing and gabbing in their own language.

Hello? We came out here to be dazzled by a VERY LARGE ARRAY not a very average museum.

omg, almost there.

so close.

"Ok, Marc, go pose in front of the antenna. Go 'head, go on!"

"Nice big smile! Good, I want one to show the grand-cats."

Meanwhile, he was doing the Vulcan hand greeting, but I couldn't tell bc of how chubby his gloves were.

Wow.

It's the size of a baseball diamond.

(There's only so many pictures you can take of a Very Large Array.)

Then we continued the self-guided tour. There were signs everywhere reminding us to not disturb the physicists, like at the zoo where you're warned to not disturb the rabid possums. I was like, "um, why? Are they malfunctioning robots? Can't they communicate to us themselves?"

Woe is the under-developed social expectations of engineers. 'Tis sad.

ANYWAY.

Seriously, the drive from Socorro to Magdalena is worth the drive itself to south-central New Mexico. The mountains gradually dissolve into the far edges of desert. The wild junipers rise up slowly and steadily, until you're in a forest of dark green juniper trees. The highway acting like a river, it felt like we were sailing through the lost woods into a foreign country. Then, suddenly you're in the exact center of foggy plains, not a mountain in sight. Is this New Mexico?

I highly recommend the drive :)

This was not a life changing trip, but it entertained me throughout. Running after wild goats on the side of a highway, ordering weird coffee at teeny tiny cafes, waving at cowboys in beat up trucks, rocking out to the Clash, feeding each other cheesy bagels, and making each other laugh for a whole two hours in the car filled me up inside.

Maybe it did change me, but I haven't figured it out yet (how profound, ew, what's happening to me?)