Very Large Array (10/8/23 Sun)

A very calm night after the storm. Coffee at the campsite while I hung my quilt and sheet in the sun. Packed up a dry tent and headed out of Arizona and into New Mexico.

At one of the last towns in Arizona, I pulled off for fuel, coffee and a breakfast burrito. Burritos seem like a good seller around here. Before going out to lube my chain I talked a bit with the cashier. She said the gangs in AZ and NM will walk into Walmarts (and other stores) fill carts and walk out. Walmart is closing a half dozen stores in NM. I asked if it was the Drug Gangs from Mexico spilling over into this area. But she seemed convinced local gangs have been doing this too. Apparently lots of security wasn't brought back after the Covid-19 shutdowns.

In Arizona on different days I saw both a coyote and a road runner. My campground buddy from Saskatchewan said he distrusts authority because a coyote has a top speed nearly double that of a roadrunner. But perhaps it's not a matter of mis-information but surface observations presumed fact. When I saw the coyote at a campground in Sedona it just stood there dazed, like it had fallen from a cliff through a hole. The roadrunner was at full tilt from the left side of the road diagonally accross my road and cornered at full speed to disappear around a bush to my right. I was traveling at 55mph with ear plugs, but it's upright dignified posture makes it easy to imagine him with a few quick taps of the horn, in a short pardon my interuption kind sir. Or maybe the sun has baked my brain.

My destination was the Very Large Array (VLA) in Magdalena, New Mexico. This is the radio telescope that gave us spectacular views of space for decades. It's been upgraded with newer guts and backend computing power. The scale of this telescope fits it's "Large" name. The photos will show lots of facts about the place. It has railroad tracks to move the dishes around the desert floor into bases that are designed to anable four configurations that scan different frequencies. So all of these dishes, as large as they are, get moved every few months. During my visit they are in the A configurations, so mostly concentrated in the center, where I was. Upon arriving they request that you turn off all transmitting electronics. After leaving I waited to turn back on my electronics until I was a few miles away. But I did forget to start InReach tracking for about 10 minutes. The VLA was a set location in the Jodi Foster movie Contact and is also a Pink Floyd album cover. Plus some films and rock videos that I cared less about.

In Socorro, NM, I appear to be on the edge of the weather system. Leaving the VLA I saw lightning in a rain strom to my east. A guy I met at a Colorado campgrouund had given me the location of a free campsite near here, but I worry that it could locate me just into the rain on the other side of a mountain that is very dark at the moment. Today may be a good day to handle a few road chores. I'm in need of another laundry day and a bike oil change. Not sure yet what to do with my waste oil, so I'll have to ask when I buy the oil. There is a Walmart close, and a TSC across the street from where I stopped for gas and Arby's.

At TSC I picked up a new chain lube and a gallon of Rotella T6. Then on to Walmart for a cheap oil catch pan. Laundry turned out to be at a car wash across the street from Walmart, so there I went. After changing into my swimming shorts and starting all my clothes and bedding on a wash cycle, I went out and did my 47,300 mile oil change.

I expected the lady at the register to come out and complain, but it never happened. I was done with the oil change in 30 minutes and went back in to wait for my wash to finish. After almost an hour I asked the lady and she said sometimes they stay running. She pulled out a large screwdriver and jamed it into the machine to get the door open. Moved clothes to the dry phase, and then outside to pour my dirty oil back into the nearly empty T6 container. All done with less than 4 drips of oil on the parkig spot pavement. OK I did spill a few tablespoons worth in the catch pan to jug pour, but I did that in a gravel area away from the building.

I tossed the oil catch pan into a local dumpster. The oil I'm backing along with me for the moment. Everyplace suggested I take it to a local garage, but they aren't open on Sunday. So the gallon of waste oil now rides in my pillion spot.

Changed from my swim trunks, back to pants and packed up my bike. Taking a quick inventory I I became aware that my riding pants are missing. I retraced my steps and asked at TSC and Arby's but no pants. I think a homeless guy I saw passing when I went into Arby's snagged them. I don't recall having to work arouund them when I secured the T6 at TSC. Good news is that the zippers really don't work well anymore, so I was planning to replace them after this trip. Hopefully I can find something down south before my return to New England in late October.

Southeast to Valley of Fires Recreation campground, about an hours drive away. Arrived just after dark and roamed the campground without finding any open site. Stopped at the campground host, who sent me to the group campsite. I was followed there by three guys from Texas A&M asking if I knew it was OK to camp there. I told them about the camp host. Off they went to see that wizard and probably pay at the drop box. Finaly returning to setup a one man tent (the other two sleep in the SUV).

The guys told me a bout a town called Rudoso, not far from here. I may check it out tomorrow.