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The Very Large Array is a radio
telescope operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and located on a plateau about
60 miles west of Socorro, New Mexico on U.S. 60. It is a very remote,
isolated area, but we arranged to pass by it on our way from Las Cruces to
Flagstaff at the end of the week. There's not a lot to see except the
radio telescope dishes themselves and a small visitor center. There are 27
dishes that can be arranged along railroad tracks in a variety of ways, the most
common of which is in a "Y" configuration.
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Sign on the visitor center. |
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| There are all sorts of admonitions
around! |
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In going from Las Cruces to the VLA, one climbs from
about 3,800 to about 7,000 feet in elevation, and on our particular day
the temperature dropped from a comfortable 75 in Las Cruces to a chilly
35 here. Some people stayed in the visitor center rather than
venture out onto the self-guided tour (maybe they were just afraid o'
them snakes!). Because the site is so remote, visitors are not
that frequent, and the visitor center is unattended. We did not
see a single other soul apart from ourselves during our visit. |
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Joshua took this photo in
black and white. |
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After leaving the VLA, we
continued west on U.S. 60. Two of the three vehicles stopped for
dinner here at the Largo Cafe in Quemado, New Mexico. The food was
great (or, at least, reasonably digestible), and we probably gave them
more business in the one-and-a-half hours we were there than they'd had
all the previous week. |
I took this photo through
the window of the cafe while waiting for the food to arrive. Just
above the center of the photo, in the distance, is a 1960 Chevy.
The first new car my father ever bought was a 1960 Chevy, and I was
three years old. He had it for four years, and I still remember riding around in it.
(Like you care!) |
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