Who can resist more airplanes? 🙂
Tag Archives: Travel
Postcard From Space?
So what is the Very Large Array, you ask? From Wikipedia:
The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array is a centimeter-wavelength radio astronomy observatory located in central New Mexico on the Plains of San Agustin, between the towns of Magdalena and Datil, 50 miles west of Socorro. The VLA comprises twenty-eight 25-meter radio telescopes (27 of which are operational while one is always rotating through maintenance) deployed in a Y-shaped array and all the equipment, instrumentation, and computing power to function as an interferometer. Each of the massive telescopes is mounted on double parallel railroad tracks, so the radius and density of the array can be transformed to adjust the balance between its angular resolution and its surface brightness sensitivity.[2] Astronomers using the VLA have made key observations of black holes and protoplanetary disks around young stars, discovered magnetic filaments and traced complex gas motions at the Milky Way’s center, probed the Universe’s cosmological parameters, and provided new knowledge about the physical mechanisms that produce radio emission.
The VLA stands at an elevation of 6,970 feet above sea level. It is a component of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The NRAO is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
Postcard From White Sands, New Mexico
We only spent a few hours here – one afternoon and one morning. But my oh my what a wonderful place!
In case anyone wonders, what looks like haloing between the sky and the dune is actually blowing sand!
Postcard From Roswell, New Mexico
Tastefully Kitcshy is how I would describe the UFO-related signage around town.
Postcard From Marfa, Texas
It was quite an eventful day and it’s late. But here is one tidbit from first thing this morning.
Prada Marfa is a permanent sculptural art installation by artists Elmgreen and Dragset, located 1.4 miles northwest of Valentine, Texas, just off U.S. Highway 90, and about 26 miles northwest of the city of Marfa. The installation, in the form of a freestanding building—specifically a Prada storefront—was inaugurated on October 1, 2005. The artists described the work as a “pop architectural land art project.”
Postcard From Big Bend National Park
I’m skipping a few stops but this one was too good to wait on. Kathy & I visited Big Bend National Park today. What a spectacular place – we had no idea! This is just one photo that hardly represents the entirety of the place, only just one part. But since (for us) the point was getting to the Rio Grande, it represents that goal. I’ll post more once we get home, but it has been a busy trip so far!
Postcard From Johnson City, Texas
Kathy & I visited the LBJ Ranch National Historical Park near Johnson City. This is the “Texas White House,” home of President Lyndon Johnson and used as an offsite location for Johnson during his presidency.
Postcard From Hye, Texas
Howdy from Hye!
We had an adventurous couple of days in the Hill Country of Texas. Headed tomorrow to the Rio Grande Valley region for some more scenery. Lots of photos, so little time for processing!
Postcard From Selma, Alabama
We made it to Columbus, GA on Sunday night, our first night out, and traveled today to Ruston, LA. On our way we realized we were passing through Selma, AL and decided to stop at the Edmund Pettus Bridge and the Selma Interpretive Center. We also walked around town a bit and stopped by the Brown Chapel AME Church. I’ll refrain from additional commentary for now but it was quite the moving experience.
A Quick Visit to Southport, NC
Kathy & I made our return trip to Southport, NC this past Thursday & Friday to get our second round of the Covid vaccine. Kathy fared pretty well (so far) but it really kicked my butt. Not unusual I suppose, but I had been very optimistic that my experience would be a non-event. Not so.
The weather this time was conducive to spending time in town and having dinner at one of the many waterfront restaurants there. We spent a little time walking around after dinner before finally needing to escape what I can only imagine were sand fleas. Pesky little buggers who like to get in your hair and other places you don’t want bugs. Yuck!
We depart on Sunday for our latest road trip – a journey to the Southwest through Texas, southern New Mexico & Arizona with a return via parts of Route 66. We should be gone about 3 weeks and I’ll likely be posting my “postcards” as we go.