The history and science of the nuclear program.
White dessert sands.
Stargazing.
These are just some of the things that fascinate me. I grew up through the space program. I remember the little Lunar Landing Module models that gas-stations gave away for kids to cut out and assemble. I'm a late baby-boomer and the Cold War was very much a part of my childhood. I loved the dessert scenes from books like The Horse and His Boy, and the Lawrence of Arabia tales. I used to imagine being part of a nomad family during the time of Abraham. And a clear view of the stars from a non-populated area? Wow!
These are some of the glories of New Mexico.
Alamagordo was established in 1898 to support the growing railroad (trains?! an added bonus in my book!).
| Photo Courtesy of Ross Griff |
It is the closest town to White Sands National Monument
 |
| Photo Courtesy of John Fowler through Wikimedia Commons |
Holloman Air Force Base,
 | |
| F-22 Raptor landing in 2008 Photo courtesy of Wikimedia |
 |
| Photo courtesy of Wikimedia |
the White Sands Missile Range, (another good link here)
 |
| Photo Courtesy Wikimedia Commons |
and the Trinity Test Site.
Believe it or not, one of the big attractions at White Sands is Dune Sledding. I do know that there are You Tube videos of that, but I try not to make it a habit to post any You Tube links. Yikes!
And then there is the stargazing.
Lying on your back in the sand, looking up at a sky with no civilization lights, and only the light of the stars and the moon. You just can't beat that!
By the way, if you are looking for a good astronomy book, check out this one by H. A. Rey. Yes, that's the H. A. Rey of Curious George fame, but he also wrote the best astronomy book ever! And no, I don't get paid by Amazon for that plug; I just think it's a great book.
Some of the earlier walking posts may be found here
No comments:
Post a Comment