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February 8, 2010, a Monday
Elephant Butte Lake State Park (South Monticello) to Pie Town, New Mexico, USA
— Visited the VLA (Very Large Array) and ate cake in Pie Town
Had my normal breakfast then vacuumed out the inside of the RV. This will be our last day with shore power for several weeks, and I wanted to take advantage of it. I topped off the fresh water tank, then ...
We went over to our friend Andy Baird's RV around 9:00 to say good bye.
We returned to our RV, unplugged from shore power, and went to dump around 9:20. After dumping, we hooked up the Jeep to tow and got underway at 9:45.
We went to Casey's RV Park in Socorro at 11:01 to get propane. We're being really proactive this time — the tank was at 3/8 full. We left at 11:10.
We went to WalMart in Socorro at 11:17 to pick up a few things.
We went to the Valero gas station in Socorro around 11:48 to fill up both vehicles at $2.569/gal and we had to wait for a pump to open up.
We moved over to the Denny's in Socorro to try to go online through their Wi-Fi, and it wasn't available like it had been last time we were in town. :( So, I went online using my Verizon Wireless USB stick.
I had lunch around 12:10, and J went into Smith's (grocery store) around 12:15 to start shopping. I went in around 12:35, helped pick up some things, then returned to the RV around 12:55. J returned around 1:18.
We went to the Holiday Inn Express parking lot in Socorro at 1:32 and went online through their fast Wi-Fi network. :) I downloaded the system update that failed when we were in Truth or Consequences. We left at 3:25 and ...
Took US-60 west out of town. It was a first for both J and I.
We reached the VLA (Very Large Array), part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, at 4:35. We went into the Visitor Center, and it was deserted — J thought it was eerie. The VLA is composed of 27 82-ft (25m) diameter parabolic antennas in a Y configuration. They are generally deployed in one of four configurations ranging from the smallest (D), where the all of the antennas are within 2000 ft (0.6 km) of the array center, to the largest (A), where the antennas stretch out to 13 mi (21 km) from the center. The antennas were in the D configuration which was good for J to photograph them. We left at 6:12.
We stopped for dinner at 6:25 at the VLA Rest Area on US-60 where one of the arms of the VLA crosses the highway. I made a batch of trail mix while J cooked dinner.
We had dinner around 6:55 starting with a green salad while the main course finished cooking. When J opened up the bottle of ranch dressing, it sprayed all over me. :( We were at about 7000 ft (2134m), and she was holding the bottle upside down. The low atmospheric pressure, compared to the last time it was opened, helped with the "explosion." While J was dishing out the main course of Hunt's Classic Italian Zesty & Spicy Spaghetti sauce with Rosina Italian Meatballs over some whole wheat rotini, she flipped the large serving spoon, loaded with spaghetti sauce, onto the floor. It made an even bigger mess than the ranch dressing because it got all over the carpet. :( The meatballs were delicious! I thought the spaghetti sauce was bland, but J loved it. I did the dishes, and we got underway at 8:00.
We went over the Continental Divide at 8:40 at 7796 ft (2376m) and it was snowing lightly.
We reached the City Park in Pie Town at 8:44, our boondocking spot for the night. We had dessert of Pepperidge Farm Coconut 3-Layer Cake — probably sacrilegious to have cake in Pie Town. There was a nice Verizon Wireless Broadband signal so we could go online :) I started to work up a blog entry.
We went over to our friend Andy Baird's RV around 9:00 to say good bye.
We returned to our RV, unplugged from shore power, and went to dump around 9:20. After dumping, we hooked up the Jeep to tow and got underway at 9:45.
We went to Casey's RV Park in Socorro at 11:01 to get propane. We're being really proactive this time — the tank was at 3/8 full. We left at 11:10.
We went to WalMart in Socorro at 11:17 to pick up a few things.
We went to the Valero gas station in Socorro around 11:48 to fill up both vehicles at $2.569/gal and we had to wait for a pump to open up.
We moved over to the Denny's in Socorro to try to go online through their Wi-Fi, and it wasn't available like it had been last time we were in town. :( So, I went online using my Verizon Wireless USB stick.
I had lunch around 12:10, and J went into Smith's (grocery store) around 12:15 to start shopping. I went in around 12:35, helped pick up some things, then returned to the RV around 12:55. J returned around 1:18.
We went to the Holiday Inn Express parking lot in Socorro at 1:32 and went online through their fast Wi-Fi network. :) I downloaded the system update that failed when we were in Truth or Consequences. We left at 3:25 and ...
Took US-60 west out of town. It was a first for both J and I.
We reached the VLA (Very Large Array), part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, at 4:35. We went into the Visitor Center, and it was deserted — J thought it was eerie. The VLA is composed of 27 82-ft (25m) diameter parabolic antennas in a Y configuration. They are generally deployed in one of four configurations ranging from the smallest (D), where the all of the antennas are within 2000 ft (0.6 km) of the array center, to the largest (A), where the antennas stretch out to 13 mi (21 km) from the center. The antennas were in the D configuration which was good for J to photograph them. We left at 6:12.
We stopped for dinner at 6:25 at the VLA Rest Area on US-60 where one of the arms of the VLA crosses the highway. I made a batch of trail mix while J cooked dinner.
We had dinner around 6:55 starting with a green salad while the main course finished cooking. When J opened up the bottle of ranch dressing, it sprayed all over me. :( We were at about 7000 ft (2134m), and she was holding the bottle upside down. The low atmospheric pressure, compared to the last time it was opened, helped with the "explosion." While J was dishing out the main course of Hunt's Classic Italian Zesty & Spicy Spaghetti sauce with Rosina Italian Meatballs over some whole wheat rotini, she flipped the large serving spoon, loaded with spaghetti sauce, onto the floor. It made an even bigger mess than the ranch dressing because it got all over the carpet. :( The meatballs were delicious! I thought the spaghetti sauce was bland, but J loved it. I did the dishes, and we got underway at 8:00.
We went over the Continental Divide at 8:40 at 7796 ft (2376m) and it was snowing lightly.
We reached the City Park in Pie Town at 8:44, our boondocking spot for the night. We had dessert of Pepperidge Farm Coconut 3-Layer Cake — probably sacrilegious to have cake in Pie Town. There was a nice Verizon Wireless Broadband signal so we could go online :) I started to work up a blog entry.