Onward to Arizona

Today we headed west on highway 60, through high desert plains and forests of ponderosa and juniper, enjoying the cool of the 7,000+ altitude. We passed through some interesting little towns - all obviously connected at one time to the big cattle drives and gold mining. A completely different but interesting site was an instillation on the San Augstine Plains, the VLA - National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

The view from the highway is deceiving. Each of what appears to be a fairly small radio dish is actually a row of them, mounted on rails so they can move. As for size - they are each 422 feet in diameter. Some of the filming for the movie "Contact" was done here.

Once over the Great Divide the forest dropped away, and as soon as we crossed the Arizona border the scenery changed dramatically...it looked like Arizona! Red cliffs and sagebrush, and beautiful clouds in a bright blue sky.

We are staying two nights at Lyman Lake State Park. Red cliffs surround the lake, so it's rather picturesque and there are hiking trails and other things to do, but we won't be exploring today. After a long drive and a trip into town to visit a museum and pick up groceries we're ready to call it a day.