We went to see the VLA -- Very Large Array-- about an hour from Socorro, New Mexico. The radio telescope array that was used in the film "Contact". It was awesome to see these huge telescopes. There are so many they take up 20 miles of a big open plain. It wasn't possible to get a picture that shows them all. We stood under the one where these people are and it moved while we were standing under it. These telescopes move all the time to stay on the area in space they are tracking. They weight a 1000 tons and yet you can't even hear them move. They are all on a railroad track system so they can move them around pretty easily. They are not actually used to listen for ET -they just used them in the film because they look cool. We had to watch the movie "Contact" again and yes we were exactly where they filmed -- same walkways -- view out the window of the building -- very cool.
We also finally got to change over to South Dakota license plates. We had changed to South Dakota residents last fall -- new address, drivers license but our license plates didn't need to change until February 09 so we waited. It only took a week after applying for them to actually get the new plates. They must not make many -- not that many people in South Dakota -- so it's very quick. We like being "residents" of South Dakota -- cheap licenses and no state income tax. Most of the full time RVer's we've met that no longer own a home somewhere have switched residency to a state with no income tax.
1 comment:
THAT is SO cool! We have that on our list now ... to see those telescopes someday. We were down there a few years ago ... flew into ABQ and drove to Farmington, the Four Corners area and then down into AZ to Canyon de Chelly and then of course The Grand ... we LOVED the Flagstaff area and of course the Oak Creek and Sedona areas ... then drove back to ABQ and of course through "Winslow Arizona" (although we didnt ever stand on The Corner there!) ... But we were aware that there are some "spacey" areas out there and meant to get back that way and then our wings ... clipped! Someday ... we will again ... until then we'll watch your blog! Have fun exploring and reporting and we will keep watching!
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