Mountains Beyond Mountains

(I've decided it's ok to rip off the title from this post from that of one of my favorite books, but for the record, it was Tracy Kidder's idea.)

So New Mexico treated me pretty well all in all, although the ride from Socorro to Pietown almost broke my spirit (we gained 4000 ft of elevation, ending near 8000 ft.) I definitely felt the altitude, and the beauty of the mountains and the scenery was almost worth it, but I can't lie, yesterday was the hardest day yet. I am incredibly happy to have made it all the way through (it was about 93 miles altogether). On the way a bunch of us detoured to the Very Large Array (of radio telescopes), which were truly incredible. There are 27 of them, they are huge (230 tons each), and they can be rolled around to configure into any number of formations for various purposes. It is located in the middle of nowhere, in a flat desert with no buildings within twenty miles of it, and it is surrounded by mountains, so that interference from cell phone towers etc is minimal. We got to watch a video, walk up to one of the telescopes, learn about quasars (Kaylea, I'll be asking you more about that later) etc. If you've seen the movie Contact, parts were filmed there. The rest of the day was really hard, more climbing, but the views were incredible. In the past few days we have been seeing a lot of old volcanic relics, which the geo nerd in me loved.

Pietown, when after much sweat blood and tears we reached it, was awesome. It has a population of 60, but they put us up in style with a lovely dinner and PIE! It was a glorious way to end a hard day. Today we headed into Arizona, and our final time change of the trip. I can't believe how far we have come, and how close we are to the Grand Canyon! Internet is hard to come by, but I will try to keep posting, and until then, love to all, and thanks for all the support!