Sticks and stones

Petrified wood is an amazing phenomenon. It’s the fossilized remains of ancient trees that retain the shape and texture of real wood despite being made entirely of stone. It’s created when the tree’s organic material is replaced over thousands of years by minerals, often quart and other silicates. The word petrified comes from the Greek root petro meaning "rock" or "stone"; literally "wood turned into stone".

Conditions have to be just right for petrifaction to occur. The wood must first be buried by sediment that inhibits aerobic decomposition. Mineral-laden water must then flow through the sediment depositing minerals in the tree’s cells as passes, forming a permanent stone mould. Erosion of the surrounding sediment then exposes the rock logs for all to see.

I remember learning about petrified wood at school. At the time my Science textbook included fascinating images of the Petrified Forest in Eastern Arizona. I was totally captivated by the concept of logs made from stone and longed to see them for myself. My childhood dream came true this week after Garry and I spent a day driving through the Petrified Forest National Park.

First designated as a national monument in 1906, the 94,000-acre park is scattered with fossilized vegetation dating from 225 million years ago. Petrified logs are literally lying everywhere you look. They’re a fascinating shade of red, often lying in jumbled line of truncated segments. Up close each log really does look like a tree trunk. The trunk’s rough, crevassed bark surface is clearly visible, occasionally broken by classic branch knots. It cross-section reveals hundreds of narrow growth rings, each preserved by colourful minerals. It’s amazing to see.

Despite the heat, we ventured out to explore several walking tracks that took visitors passed the park’s best preserved logs. Some were more than ten metres long, others were as wide as we were tall. Interestingly, every log was always found in short sections. We discovered the reason for these segments on one of our walks. Basically, the hard mineral logs are buried in layers of comparatively soft sedimentary sandstone. Over time these sediments erode. Flash floods form deep crevasses in the soft rock, occasionally exposing the end of a log. These exposed ends eventually collapse under their own weight. A new length of log is then exposed and the process repeats until the entire log has been excavated from the ground.

The process of erosion has resulted in some incredible sights. At one location we saw exposed logs resting precariously on the crest of narrow ridges, tens of metres above the surrounding valley. Elsewhere the erosion has simply exposed colourful layers of sediment that ring the hills for miles around. In fact, just a few miles north lies the equally spectacular Painted Desert.

You reach it by crossing over Interstate 40. This highway bisects the entire state of Arizona. It replaced the famous two-lane highway, Route 66, became immortalized in American pop culture. Today, the road that once passed through the park is gone. However, its route is still traced across the desert by a decaying row of old wooden telegraph poles. They’re a haunted memorial of another, more simple time. The route is more formally memorialized by a rusting old car mounted in stone on the park roadside.

I was rather disappointed by the Painted Desert. Prior to our visit I’d seen images of a dry, red and eroded valley floor. The undulating, multilayer rock formations looked stunning. However, our visit came at the tail end of weeks of heavy rain. As a result the entire desert floor was awash with grass and plant life. Instead of seeing classic images of a harsh baren desert we encountered something that looked remarkably like a local sheep farmer’s paddock.  As a result, I've enhanced colours in the images posted here to bring the spectacle to life.

The entire experience was made all the more amusing by Garry’s constant comments about the amazing desert colours. I simply couldn’t understand why Garry thought such grey and green landscape was so spectacular. It wasn’t until we were leaving our final outlook stop that we suddenly realized his polarized sunglasses had helpfully tinting the entire scene a vivid, desert red. I tried them on and instantly entire desertscape was transformed. We both had a chuckle at the misunderstanding that had dominated our afternoon. Judge the differnce for youself below..

Expanded VLA

Almost any science fiction fan can identify an image of the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope. This impressive collection of 27 mobile antennas was the opening backdrop for "Contact", a screen adaptation of Carl Sagan's popular novel, starring Jodi Foster. In the movie, Jodie's character detects the first signals from an alien species while relaxing in the shadow of the array.

The VLA sits on the Plains of San Agustin, a desolate plateau in western New Mexico, more than 50 miles from the nearest city. They make for a spectacular scene as you crest hills circling the plateau. Each of the telescope's white dish antennas measures 25 metres in diameter and weighs a hefty 230 tons. They ride on railway tracks, which enable them to fan out into a Y-shape configuration up to 37 km apart. Two of the three rail arms even extend across local highways.

The complex was originally authorised by the US Congress in 1972. It officially opened in 1980 after more than 16 years of steady construction. The US National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), a joint venture between the nation's universities and the National Science Foundation, maintains the facility and controls its use.

In 2001, the NRAO began work on the US$98 million Expanded VLA (or EVLA) project. The project, due for completion next year, is an extensive technology upgrade designed to make the telescope ten times more sensitive to faint radio frequencies. Its 1970s-vintage electronics, analogue data transmission systems and computing technology are being replaced by modern optical fibre technology and a new, powerful supercomputing that can process in an hour the same volume of data collected by the VLA during its first thirty years of service.

Garry and I visited the EVLA today en route to Arizona. We couldn't have picked a better day to visit. The array is currently being transitioned from its most compact formation. This meant we could see all 27 antennas in close proximity and watch its special red transporter unit carefully relocate the gleaming white dishes. Visitors can take a self-guided walk around the facility, including a close-up look at one of the active dishes. We were also lucky enough to see a dish undergoing repair in the facility’s giant workshed.

Today’s lunch was hosted by Pie Town. This unassuming town was founded by Clyde Norman in 1922, who was known for baking pies for passing travellers. Several cafes still offer pies as their signature dish. However, Garry and I stuck with our regular picnic in the town park’s open-air picnic shelter. We’ve just missed the annual Pie Town festival and pie-eating contest. It was held a week ago on 10 September.

We’ve also crossed the state border. This evening we’re staying at the clean but rather nondescript Best Western Sunrise Inn in Eagar, Arizona. Tomorrow we turn north and head for the Painted Desert, and what's left of the immortal Route 66.  We also clocked up our first 500 miles this afternoon. We'll do at least another 600 before we're done.

Room enough to swing a cat

Where do you go when you need to test a missile?  White Sands Missile Range of course.  This restricted area stretches more than 50 miles along the edge of the Organ Mountains.  Almost every missile in the US military arsenal was tested here at some point.  More than 65 years after opening, missile testing continues on the range today.  Each test closes the State Highway 70 that crosses the range, often for hours at a time.

Some of the range's earliest test subjects are currently on display in a spectacular missile park.  The park and accompanying museum sit on the edge of a secure military facility.  Visitors are required to park their car outside the perimeter fence and walk through a secure checkpoint.  As you cross, you're warned not to take photographs beyond the boundary of the missile park, with your camera always facing west.

It seemed somewhat ironic that we could wander unfettered between dozens of missiles on display, taking photos at will while the latest nuclear delivery system was being tested nearby.  However, Garry and I both noted that almost every missile in the park was first tested at least three decades ago.  The latest technology was clearly not on display.

The park is also home to one of the world's best-preserved German V2 rockets.  More than 200 of them were shipped to White Sands at the end of WWII as America sought to master this new technology.  The V2 currently on display has been carefully cut open to reveal its interior. The engineering was fascinating.  It was clear the Germans were far ahead of the times, even more so given that Robert Goddard had only launched the world's first successful liquid fuel rocket less than 25 years earlier.

New Mexico is the perfect place to test a missile.  The state is vast and empty. In the last two days we've driven hundreds of kilometres, soaking up views of an arid, empty landscape.  As you can from the photo above, at times the road seemed to stretch forever. 

The area's harsh climate was also brought into stark relief when we visited Elephant Butte Lake.  This is a man-made body of water formed when the Rio Grande was dammed in 1916.  Currently, it's almost empty with a series of prominent mineral deposits ringing the lake's edge more than 25 metres above the current water line.

I booked us into a hotel in the nearby town of Truth or Consequences. Originally, I'd hoped to join a tour of New Mexico's recently opened Spaceport, located about 25 miles east of the town. This is where Virgin Galactic will eventually operate its sub-orbital spaceflights. Unfortunately, only weekend tours are currently running. This doesn't sync with our itinerary, so I had to give the idea a miss.

However, all is not lost.  We stayed at the Sierra Grande Lodge & Spa, a restored hotel in Truth or Consequences.  The hotel sits atop a natural mineral hot spring.  As guests, we were invited to enjoy a complimentary soak before enjoying a refreshing massage. Ahhhh. Relaxing!

Oh yes, the town's name.  The town changed its name as part of a popular radio show contest in 1950. The show, called Truth or Consequences, announced it would air the program on its 10th anniversary from the first town that renamed itself after the show. Hot Springs, as it was known at the time, voted to change its name. The show's host duly visited and continued to return for the next 50 years for an annual festival the town subsequently founded. A rather clever PR exercise!

A view that's out of this world

 

We've just completed Day Two of our grand road trip. The last couple of days have been an entertaining blend of space science, Wild West sights and natural wonders. Here are a few brief highlights.

Yesterday began with a visit to the International UFO Museum & Research Centre in Roswell. The walls of this cavernous warehouse-like building contain a series of simple displays, including original photographs and eyewitness accounts of the 1947 Roswell Incident. Sadly, the exhibit lacked a cohesive flow, with items often displayed in no meaningful sequence. As a result, much of the drama surrounding this controversial event was lost.

Our second tourist stop, the Roswell Museum & Art Centre, was a little more rewarding. Among its exhibits is a reconstruction of the lab operated by Dr Robert Goddard, the man who built the world’s first liquid fuel rocket. The lab is filled with his original tools and machinery, donated by his wife when she died in 1982. The museum also displays a variety of Goddard's early rocketry artefacts, including some of his earliest pioneering efforts.

We then headed west to Alamogordo, stopping briefly to take in the historic streetscape of Lincoln, where the outlaw Billy the Kid kicked off his infamous criminal exploits. These days, it's largely a ghost town. However, isolated buildings along Main Street have been beautifully restored, offering plenty of wild west covered verandahs and saloon-style facades. 

Most of them have been repurposed into museums and tourism ventures. We decided to satisfy ourselves with a simple drive-by tour. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos. Hence, I’ve pulled a few from the web to give you a taste of the town.

Our bed for the night was at the White Sands Motel, a classic, family-owned roadside motel. The original architecture and illuminated billboard sign have been lovingly preserved, while each room's interior has been meticulously restored. I loved it.

We spent today touring the New Mexico Museum of Space History and the spectacular sand dunes that give White Sands its name. The fully glazed, cuboid-shaped Space History Museum sits on a hill overlooking the town. In the distance, a jagged boundary of white dunes divides the desert plateau from the San Andreas mountains.

Many of the museum’s exhibits are devoted to the missile and rocket research conducted in the area. As a result, most exhibits are what’s known as boilerplates, or mockups, used in ground or flight testing rather than flight-ready hardware. It's also home to the International Space Hall of Fame. Although, to be honest, this particular exhibit proved to be little more than rows of plaques on a wall.

Its most iconic exhibit is the Little Joe II rocket, which tested the Apollo’s command module’s emergency escape rocket. This fat, stubby rocket was launched five times just a few miles down the road. Nearby stand two equally captivating rocket sleds used to test human tolerance for rapid deceleration.  Why test rapid deceleration? The answer is simple. The Air Force needed to know whether a pilot could survive an emergency cockpit ejection at near supersonic speeds. There's no point in installing an ejection seat if it's going to kill you. 

We learned that John Stapp reached a speed of 632 mph (1,017 km/h) on the appropriately coloured, racing-red Sonic Wind I in December 1954. He exceeded the land speed record at the time, making him the fastest man on Earth.  I was also reminded that the Space Shuttle (STS-3) landed near here once, just once, in 1982, when the original landing site at Edward’s Airforce Base flooded. The locals are clearly proud of this one-time contribution to the shuttle's test program.

I was also surprised to discover the gravesite for Ham the Astrochimp near the main entrance. He was the first chimpanzee sent into space, venturing aloft just a few months before Alan Shepard became the first American in space. He was buried here following his death in 1983.

We then drove out to the White Sands National Monument. National Parks in the USA are often called monuments. The area’s famous white sand consists of chalky, powdered gypsum, a rare form of sand. Gypsum dissolves readily in water and thus rarely survives long enough to form giant rolling dunes. The sand here really is white, at times impossibly white! 

A 16-mile scenic road loops through the dunes, offering one stunning vista after another. We stopped several times to trek, climb the lily-white dunes and admire the scene around us. Inevitably, we took plenty of stunning photos, just a few of which I've posted here. 

The park also offers a couple of educational walks, each signposted with a series of detailed information panels. For example, compared to other dune types, gypsum dunes remain moist during the longest droughts. This moisture prevents the dunes from blowing away. I can also testify that it makes them firmer and easier to walk on. 

Tonight we’re staying in Las Cruces, on the far side of the San Andreas mountains. However, we’ll briefly cross back to visit the White Sands Missile Range tomorrow.

The adventure begins

We've arrived safely in Roswell, New Mexico. Our long-haul flight from Sydney to Dallas passed without incident, landing almost 20 minutes ahead of schedule. This allowed us to make a leisurely transfer to our onward flight into Roswell.

Arriving at Roswell was quite spectacular. The airport includes an expanding "airplane graveyard" where retired commercial aircraft are parked when they're taken out of service. Several hundred aircraft of all sizes from 747s to small commuter jets stand glinting in the afternoon sun. Our plane taxied past every single one of them on it's way to the tiny terminal building where another dozen 747s sat dormant.

Roswell has two claims to fame. Ten miles north of town rumour has it that a UFO crash-landed here more than 60 years ago. While the crash has long been attributed to debris from a weather balloon, conspiracy theorists continue to claim alien bodies were recovered from the wreckage of an intergalactic spacecraft. No doubt we'll learn more tomorrow when we visit the International UFO Research Museum in the centre of town.

Roswell is also home to Dr Robert Goddard, the man who invented liquid propulsion rocketry. He experimented on a series of ever larger and more sophisticated rockets on the outskirts of town for more than thirty years. Every modern rocket, from Apollo's Saturn V to the recently retired Space Shuttle main engines, can trace its origins back to his pioneering work.

Today a statue of Goddard stands proudly on the main street looking up at one of his carefully preserved launch towers. Earlier this evening we stopped briefly to pay homage to his bronze edifice while returning from dinner. I swear it's a coincidence that our hotel is located just across the street.

• Posted from my iPhone
• Location: W Country Club Rd,Roswell,United States

UPDATE:
You follow our travel adventures in New Mexico and Arizona starting with this post. Click through our journey as it unfolded by selecting the New Post link at the bottom of each post.

Counting down the days

We're making final preparations for our road trip through New Mexico and Arizona.  We fly out for Dallas on Saturday morning.  Stay tuned for dozens of images and adventures in the weeks ahead.