GRB 2007 Conference

The GRB 2007 Conference was held at the Santa Fe Hilton (Marker A on this interactive Google map) in New Mexico from November 5^th through November 9^th. This page chronicles some of my after-hours activities.

Note -- click on the thumbnails below to see larger images.
Note -- markers below can be found on this interactive Google map.

Monday, November 5^th, 2007

I flew on United Airlines from BWI to Albuquerque with a change of planes in Denver. The leg from Denver to Albuquerque provided an opportunity to enjoy the wild landscape of Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico looking east from the airplane. Much of the flight path followed the Rio Grande River. Cripple Creek (above left photo; Marker G on Google map) was the site of a huge gold rush starting in 1891 that produced 700 tons of gold. The original mines are long since exhausted, but the open pit mine near the center of the photo has been operating since 1994. The Great Sand Dunes National Park (above, middle left photo; Marker B) includes the tallest (750') sand dunes in North America. They were formed from the sand left behind after Lake Alamosa either dried up or breached the southern end of the San Luis Valley and drained down the Rio Grande River. Prevailing winds push the sand to this corner of the valley. Ute Mountain (above, middle right photo; Marker C) (topo map) is an extinct volcano just south of the Colorado-New Mexico border that recently became protected public land. With an altitude of 10,093 feet, it towers over the surrounding area including the gorge cut in its western flank by the Rio Grande River. The final picture shows part of the enormous Black Mesa (above, right photo; Marker D) just north of Española, NM. The mesa extends off the picture for a total length of ~25 km. The top of the mesa has an altitude of ~6900' with a drop at the edge of ~1000' (topo map). The Rio Grande River is just beyond (east of) the mesa, and US Highway 285 follows the west side.

Food

Lunches at the hotel were included in the registration fee, but evenings provided opportunities to sample the interesting bars/restaurants in Santa Fe. After the welcoming reception on Monday, AF (an ex-local) lead about a dozen of us a few blocks south to (Marker E) the Cowgirl Hall of Fame BBQ and Western Grill. The friendly waitresses dressed as cowgirls, and the walls were covered with cowgirl photos. We did not sample the food, but there was a large selection of good, inexpensive beers. Tuesday I enjoyed Gabriel's, a good Mexican restaurant about 10 miles north of town (Marker F). On the way back, we make like astronomers, and drove a bit off the main highway to get a glimpse of Comet Holmes. The sky was very dark, but the comet was just a small fuzz ball. The conference banquet was Wednesday at the local Scottish Rite Masonic Center (left photo; Marker G), which is only a short walk from the hotel. Strangely, the currently very pink building seems to have been brown (Flickr photo) a couple of years ago. The center includes an ornate theater (center photo), and we were invited backstage to examine the fancy costumes (right photos). They must have very elaborate ceremonies in the theater. Finally on Thursday, a large group of us tried to have dinner at the Shed, but the wait was way too long. Instead we returned to Cowgirl, which managed to squeeze us in.