Day 1 · July 20, 2026
Setting Off!
Added this day
1new state
The day started the same as all days that require Curtis to do any packing; by pulling an all nighter.... whoops.
But by 5pm the van was packed and ready to go! I said a last goodbye to Ollie and Ricky and started on the road towards the first stop: A Very Large Array.
It was a brisk 4 hour drive, made easier with some phone conversations.
The only highlight along the drive (other than the Dino) was driving through the town Truth or Consequences, NM. The town's peculiar name came into existence because there was a 1950s gameshow called Truth or Consequences, and the host created a challenge. The first local government that agrees to name their town after the gameshow would host a single broadcast of the production. And that was somehow a good enough reason to convince them.
They used to be called Hotsprings, NM because of all the hotspring resorts that are still bustling on their historic drive.
A few podcast episodes later and it is sundown and I made it to my campsite. I checked in, got ready for bed, and then setup my Starlink internet and used Chatgpt to work on the blog website by remote desktoping into my PC in El Paso... I love connecting with nature <3
Great first day! Excited to see the big satellites tomorrow, almost makes me not notice the missing Ricky Cat (and Ollie ig).
More scenes from the day
Campfire comments
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this is my official notice that since you left on my birthday for this trip that i’m now “racing” your mileage as you venture on the road with my uber mileage in the same time frame