I have an observing run for about 3 nights at the 3.5m at the Apache Point Observatory, New Mexico, in about 2 weeks time. In September, I have another 4 nights in Las Campanas in Chile. This is a rather inordinate amount of observing stellar spectra for someone who purports to be working on cosmology theory, but it's a chance to travel.

I am looking forward to visit the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, the parts open to the public at any rate (and the White Sands National Park itself has lots of beautiful white sand in it, I'm told). Also Roswell/Area 51 is about 50 miles away from APO, but it's intriguing enough to warrant a drive there I suspect. I'm told that there will be many interesting characters I'll meet out there.

And the bicentennial of Chilean independence is 2 days after my allocated time in the Chile run, so it will be a fun experience to hang around to check it out.

To think that I'm ostensibly working all summer....