It is cold as we step out of the car under a cloudless night sky still ablaze with stars. Without the moon, it is difficult to see the pond in front of us, but a moment of silence confirms our early rise was worthwhile. By the sound, there must be hundreds of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese on this pond, where they have overnighted for safety. But soon the birds will be off hunting for breakfast, so we have arrived on time.
In the east, the early morning rays of the sun paint the sky pink, then yellow, then orange behind us. As we stand and watch the sun rise, we see small dark shapes in the sky. Slowly, almost imperceptibly there is a sound. It grows louder as the shapes get bigger. Yep, geese. Snow Geese to be precise. In the air and moving this way. Clearly, the Snow Geese in front of us on the pond can hear them coming, but they seem content to wait for their arrival. The new geese circle overhead, honking and honking, as they filter down to join their comrades. Once all the new geese have landed the volume of noise drops but it never goes quiet. We wait and watch. Then without warning, a blast of noise as almost in complete unison, the entire flock of snow geese take off. The sound is almost deafening. Then, they are gone.
Such is a morning in Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge near Socorro, New Mexico in early February.
The sun shines intermittently on the fresh snow that blankets the desert vegetation of the Plains of San Agustin, an area 50 miles west of Socorro, New Mexico . There are storm clouds to the west threatening more snow, but for the moment the crisp air is refreshing. The high, broad plains seem empty and isolated, a perfect location for listening to space.
So we should be able to hear something with the Very Large Array or VLA, a collection of 27 large radio telescopes capable of being moved along railroad tracks to form many different configurations. The independent dishes can be linked together to create a single massive radio telescope or interferometer. The largest configuration of the array has a diameter of 36 km or 22.3 miles. Pretty impressive and ingenious.
If these telescopes look familiar its because they have been featured in many science fiction films, most notably “Contact” with Jodi Foster. However, unlike in the movie, these radio telescopes are not really listening for ET, but are used to “see” distant space objects like planets, stars and galaxies.
Walking the high desert of the Rio Grande Valley on a mild January morning, we were not expecting to find aliens. Sure we expected to find snakes and lizards or rabbits and road runners, but certainly not aliens. But there they were just as plain as day. At least, that’s my interpretation of the strange rock carvings we found in the Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I was amazed by the number, variety, quality and ease of access to these ancient carved images which are attributed to the Ancient Pueblo Indians. I wondered why there are so many petroglyphs located here, over 20,000 according to the brochure. I asked in the Visitor Center and was informed that the park is located in the area of 5 ancient cinder volcanoes. According to the Ancient Pueblo culture, the volcanoes gave access to the underworld which plays heavily into their spiritual culture.
So if you are ever in Albuquerque, I would highly recommend visiting the park. It is close to I-40 and many of the petroglyphs can be seen during a short walk from your car. To see more photographs from Petroglyph National Monument, click here.
We stopped at Camping World to buy some toilet paper and bought this instead… Hmmm, rather expensive toilet paper, but Bruce sure does seem happy. Check out the full gallery of photos here.
Well, this is quite an accomplishment, 17 states visited in less than 6 months.
Although we started off slowly, we really managed to pack on the states this summer. We could also claim 2 Canadian provinces as well, but we don’t have any stickers for Canada yet. We drove the RV from Key Largo, Florida to Bar Harbor Maine in about a week. Looking at a map, the obvious route was to drive I-95 the whole way as it is a direct route. But wanting to avoid the big cities along the eastern seaboard, we took a more indirect route, while allowed us to pick up most of the eastern states of the US. Unfortunately, I failed to notice that we were very close to Rhode Island, but did not actually visit Rhode Island. So we have a small hole in the map that will require us to revisit this area to fix.
On our return home, we spent a day in Philadelphia which was great fun. As we were leaving of course we had to make a grand tour of the area so we could make sure to claim New Jersey and Delaware.
Bruce and I had the privilege of helping at the Marine Mammal Conservancy in Key Largo, Florida. They currently have 3 short-finned pilot whales, who beached themselves in early May. Before we could get into the water with the whales we had to go through a briefing, both for our and the whales protection. We learned that the whales were in a field hospital equivalent of an ICU. We needed to keep our voices down and our movements slow and easy. Our jobs in the water were to help support the whales, to allow them to rest. Bruce and I did two four hour shifts over two days. We were in the water supporting the whales several times during the two shifts. We also got to help when the whales received physical therapy and I helped a trainer feed one of the whales.
Our brief visit to the Conservancy was a real eye opener in the workings of a large animal field hospital. The dedication and resourcefulness of the staff was impressive, as was their seemly endless patience with both the numerous volunteers and the sick whales. Clearly, the need of volunteers was critical to the hospitals operation. The staff was very good about explaining what they needed help with and was constantly on the lookout for the volunteer’s safety. I personally felt very well looked after by all of the Conservancy’s staff. All in all a very gratifying experience.
The snow geese have arrived at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife refuge in eastern North Carolina. Bruce scouted a few days ago in preparation for a 3 day trip starting Jan 7th.
