[This blog is for January 22, but hey, better late than never! Also, pictures are to come, so stay tuned!]

Hello all! Alyssa here. Today was another driving day, but, as is expected to be with a group of astronomy students, not without loads of adventure and excitement! Who would have thought that the road from Tuscon, AZ to Socorro, NM would pass by the cultural site of Ice Age hunters, a once-lawless town named Tombstone, and a small town named after a game show?

But let's start from the beginning (a very good place to start). It was a good day for driving, because it was rainy and not good for much else. However, that didn't stop us from taking a wet hike at the Clovis site, where archaeologists have discovered artifacts from the Ice Age and geologists have discovered nanodiamonds - tiny little diamonds that could possibly be indicators of an impact that could possibly be related to the beginning of the Ice Age (and the extinction of the mammoths!). We didn't find any nanodiamonds, but we got to experience the smells and muds of the wet desert!

The adventure did not stop, however, when we were in the van. We had one of the more impressive lunches of the trip, prepared and eaten entirely in the van (lovingly dubbed Moby, now coated in many layers of sediment) en route to Socorro. I ended up cutting cheese for Wonderbread sandwiches on my leg with a butter knife... good times. With our combined brainpower, we smashed through a crossword puzzle before taking a pit stop in Tombstone, AZ.

That's right, Tombstone. As in Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. We were there. ;)

We also stopped in Truth or Consequences, a tiny little town named after a game show forever ago, where we ordered good food and nine chocolate malts (Josh is a nonconformist and got a shake instead), taking the workers by surprise... and not long after that, we arrived at the lovely Motel Six, where we got some much-needed shut-eye. :)

Next up: A double-packed day of missile ranges and very large radio telescopes... don't miss it!