Oops, we haven't left yet... but
HOORAY, HOORAY... we finally have the license plate for the little guy.
We hit the road with the Fox's little brother. The drive was uneventful, the only non-challenge was our elevation change from our home, 3400 ft., to 7500 ft. at the campground.
This little campground is located in the small town of Mayhill.
This is their welcome on the side of the town gift shop. Once we got settled in at the campground, we headed into town for lunch at the Mayhill Café. we didn't have anything special, just a couple of burgers. After lunch we walked all the way to the general store... roughly 300 feet away, and found treasure in fudge. They had other items you would look for in a small general store, things like knives, ice cream, local apple, and cherry ciders, and souvenirs of course.
The first night was a bit chillier than our usual in Lakewood, at the Ranch. Because of the mini heat wave the temperatures got to the lower 90's during the day, then dipped to the upper 50's, lower 60's. at night. Here at 7500 feet the temperature dropped to the lower 40's. The one difference between the Fox and her little brother... insulation. The Fox is an all season, where Retro is more of a warmer climate kind of trailer, and needless to say, we had to use the heater.
Having survived the first night, Carol and I figured we would head into Cloudcroft and visit the Sacramento Mountain Museum, then go to lunch. We did check to ensure that the museum was open, the website indicated they were open Saturday, Sunday, and Monday from 10 to 4, YEAH. Once we got there we learned the website forgot an important piece of information... they are only open during the summer... and it ain't summer. We moved on to plan "B".
Plan "B"...
Lunch. It just happened to be at the Cloudcroft Brewing Company, where we had pizza and beer, root beer for me of course. The place is sensible when it comes to your dining pleasure... beer in glasses, sodas in plastic cups, and pizza served on cardboard trays. You could order off their regular pizza menu, or create your own. Carol and I chose to create our own.
While waiting for our pizzas, Carol enjoyed a flight of their in-house brewed beers, and a local brew.
She chose two IPAs, a dark, and a wheat. Left to right: Cloudcroft Brown Ale, Cloudcroft Experimental, Cloudcroft Trainwreck. The wheat beer was a Cheery Wheat from the Sierra Brewing Company.
Yes... we did walk away... with two growlers, one of Cloudcroft Brown Ale, and one of Sierra Cherry Wheat.
The next part of the plan was to visit the Cloudcroft Exchange, which is another term for little shops along the main street of town. It just so happened that...
there is a winery in the exchange. Our arms were twisted, so in we went for some sampling. The door we entered provided us the opportunity to taste oils and balsamic vinegars. Continuing around the room, we entered the wine tasting area. They too were successful in relieving gold from our pockets. It didn't stop there though, we came across the Elk Shed, where we were relieved of some silver for a variety of teas. After emptying the coffers, we headed back to the campground to figure out how we are going to hide the booty for travel.
Coming home from our treasure hunt, we took a short walk around the park, all 15 acres.
VIEW FROM THE BACK OF OUR SITE
ONE OF THE BIRDS AROUND US
IN FRONT OF THE OFFICE
THE ACTIVITY ROOM AND COMMUNAL FIRE PIT
What is neat about the activity room is the ability to watch TV provided by Dish, at no cost. Another cool aspect of the activity room is the opportunity to meet for church. The church that meets here is the Happy Trails Cowboy Church. They also have a laundry room with four washers and four dryers. They talk about a bathroom with a shower, and that's what they mean... a bathroom, a shower.
After church we drove into Alamogordo to visit the New Mexico Space Museum again. It has been a couple of years since we visited the first time, there are some new exhibits.
How many of you out there know the story of Galileo Galilei. Once he built his telescope, he began studying the stars and planets. Publishing his observations brought him fame and fortune. Now... for the rest of the story. After publishing his observations, he was charged with heresy, and spent the last nine years of his life in house arrest.
How many of you Air Force folks know of Holloman AFB, here in New Mexico? Holloman AFB did start out to be what it is today. Before WWII, it was intended to be a British Commonwealth training center for pilots. Once the U.S. entered WWII, everything changed. When the base was completed in 1942, it was commissioned as the Alamogordo Army Bombing and Gunnery Range, dedicated to training pilots and crews that flew B-24 and B-29 bombers. It didn't become Holloman AFB until after the war. Colonel George V. Holloman was a pioneer in guided missiles and pilotless aircraft - this paved the way for today's mission.
With the advent of aircraft getting faster in the mid-50's, the base played a major role in researching the dangers to pilots. Their research was conducted using humans and a rocket sled. The rocket sled test track measure 9 miles in length. One of their questions was: could a pilot survive ejecting from his plane at high speeds, and high altitudes. They answered their question when Colonel John P. Stapp rode the rocket sled to a speed of 632 MPH, and stopped suddenly, creating over 40G, and he survived. This run earned the Colonel the title of "The Fastest Man on Earth". The test track is still in use today.
FUN FACT: 2003, the AFB rocket sled set a land speed record of MACH 8.6, or 6,598 MPH.
Lets move to the 60's. Some of you may remember the name Sputnik. The USSR got into space first, but President Kennedy said we would get to the moon first. Holloman AFB played a big role in our drive for getting into space. It was here that two chimps, Ham, and Enos, were trained to travel into space. Thanks to these two chimps we were able to send men into space safely.
POEM FROM THE GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN
Today Holloman AFB is the home to the 49th Wing of the Air Education and Training Command. They are one of the leading centers for hypersonic research, advanced weapons, and drone training.
How many out there have been to White Sands National Park? White Sands was established back in 1945 as the White Sands Proving Ground, White Sands Missile Range (WSMR). This is one of the largest facilities in the U.S., measuring 125 miles, north to south, and 25 miles wide; think of it as covering approximately 3200 sq. miles. The German V-2 rocket was brought over to the U.S. to improve our rocket technology and scientific research; the first one was fired in 1945. Launching of the V-2s was the start of America's space efforts, and with that, the White Sands range was named "Birthplace of America's Missile and Space Activity".
In the 60's, White Sands played a pivotal role in testing the escape system for the Apollo program. They did this using the Little Joe II rocket to simulate the Saturn Rocket.
1982 brought about a historic moment for the range, the space shuttle Columbia landed, which was an exception, they usually landed in either California or Florida. The White Sands Space Harbor was also used to train shuttle pilots.
In the 1990's they began testing futuristic space vehicles, one was the Mc Donnell Douglas Delta Clipper Experimental (DC-X). The vehicle was a single-stage, vertical takeoff, vertical landing vehicle tested for three years, providing the technology for today's commercial rockets.
What is the big deal with this picture? I'm sure you remember what happened to several towns in Japan towards the end of WWII, this picture is a pre-cursor. In July 1945 the first atomic bomb was detonated at the White Sands range. At ground zero the explosion turned the sand into a green substance known as Trinitite. Because of this, the site was named as Trinity Site. Today there is a volcanic rock obelisk marking the spot of the detonation.
On to a new exhibit, satellites. I guess I never paid any attention to the fact that satellites are categorized: communication, spy, astronomy, space physics, solar physics, weather, Earth resources and environment, navigation, and space.
WANT TO GUESS HOW MANY SATELLITES THERE ARE?
These are active, inactive, and junk satellites orbiting around Earth. Isn't technology great.
Lesson time:
COMMUNICATIONS: these satellites function as relay towers thousands of miles apart. In the beginning they were launched low in the Earth's atmosphere, but with improved rocket technology, they can be launched further out in space, into geostationary orbit (GEO). Because they are launched further out in space, the satellite looks like it is stationary to the naked eye. NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS), links the International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope, and other satellites to ground control. One of the ground stations is located here in New Mexico, at Las Cruces.
As the technology improved over the decades, high-speed, low-noise electronics made possible low-altitude networks allowing our ground phones to seamlessly shift from one satellite to another.
The military has their own satellite network as well, and it orbits waaaaaay out in space.
ASTRONOMY: these satellites allow us to view star nurseries in infrared, and violent deaths of neutron stars in gamma rays, without the atmosphere ruining the view. One of the most famous satellites here is the Hubble Space Telescope.
SPACE PHYSICS: space is a quiet storm of magnetic fields, electrified gas, and solar radiation. How do we know this, Explorer 1 satellite, and about 50 others like it. They reveal to us the subtleties and contortions that can damage spacecrafts, as well as our power grid. Think about when they talk about solar flares.
SOLAR PHYSICS: the ultraviolet radiation and X-ray outbursts from stars near us are blocked by the atmosphere. In space we are able to study the faint corona as it becomes the solar wind that drives space weather that effects Earth.
WEATHER: from the geostationary orbit, satellites can track storms, measure moisture, dust, and winds. These satellites observe half the globe, and polar orbits.
EARTH RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT: these satellites, through infrared colors can reveal drought stress, flood patterns, city growth, and more. How about light pollution? Archeologists can find ruins, and illegal logging can be detected. Using radar or lasers, elevations and the sea can be mapped.
SPY SATELLITES: what are they good for... taking pictures, eavesdropping on your neighbor, monitoring radar activity, and watching for questionable missile launches. Only information about the oldest technology has been released, and part of that was the legendary "Big Bird" (KH-9 Hexagon), which was calibrated outside of Cloudcroft, NM.
NAVIGATION: if you thought that these satellites are telling you where you are...wrong. The satellites are actually sending in their location and time of day to a receiver. The receivers take information from multiple satellites to calculate your position. Today's GPS uses 38 satellites, ensuring that three are visible at all times to vector your position. Other nations have similar systems. Nearby Holloman AFB tests GPS equipment.
Lesson over.
This folks is the Television and Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS), built by RCA. It was the first satellite to display weather information... 60+ years ago.
This was great news for the weather guesser, but it didn't last long. Launched in April 1960, it shutdown in June of 1960 due to an electrical failure. Before it shutdown however, it transmitted over 23,000 images. The original satellite is still in orbit today.
This satellite is Canadian, called the "Alouette"; two were built. They measured the electron density in the upper atmosphere, radiation in the lower parts of the Van Allen radiation belt, and galactic and solar radio noise. Both satellites are inactively orbiting the Earth today.
Here we have an American satellite, called SATCOM 1, launched in December of 1975. You cable channel junkies, this is your satellite. It brought in the era of HBO, ESPN, and The Weather Channel. It was also the first satellite used by the three major television networks.
This satellite is your navigation brain on trips. The first satellite in this constellation was launched in February of 1978. This network of satellites is operated by the United States Space Force. The accuracy of this constellation of satellites is between 10 and 16 feet.
This is a mock up of Explorer 10. Its showed us the relationship between the Earth's magnetic field and solar winds. That silver ball was the most sensitive magnetometer of the three onboard. It produced a slight electrical current as a magnetic field passed through it.
As we were moving down to the next floor there is a small exhibit that pertains to the windows in Blockhouse 5/6, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station...
This is looking from the side of the window. The window is made up of 15 layers of glass, weighing in at roughly 200 pounds. The window was embedded in the concrete, allowing for safe viewing of launches, a mere 300 feet away.
This museum is always enjoyable to walk through. This trip Carol chose not to do the theatre show.
For those of you that enjoy spoof movies, this is one of my favorite, Galaxy Quest. This is one of the Thermian uniforms. If you remember the movie you might remember these aliens were octopoidal, blue blooded creatures from Thermia in the Klatu Nebula.
FUN FACT: this is a spoof on Star Trek. Back in 2013, at the Star Trek convention, it was voted the 7th greatest film in the "Star Trek" franchise, even though it was not really part of the franchise.
After our day outing we headed back home to complete mapping out our next journey... through New England.
No comments:
Post a Comment