Santa Fe

October 10, 2018

Up at 7:30 AM, it was 36°F outside the van and 48°F inside.  The foliage around our campsite reminded us a lot more of New England than the Southwest.   If you continued into the mountains just a little past our campground, there was snow. How ironic, we chose to travel east via a more southern route in order to stay warm and we see the high today in Concord, NH was 82°.  Are we sure there’s “no climate change?”

 There's fresh snow on these peaks.

We headed back into Santa Fe for breakfast, choosing Trip Advisor’s #4 rated restaurant, Clafoutis, which specializes in French cuisine.  Wow, it was great, and definitely photo worthy.  Best croissant I’ve had since we left France in July!

After breakfast we visited the oldest church in the United States, San Miguel Chapel, which was built in 1610.  Its classic simplicity was beautiful, and so typical of the dominant architecture found in Santa Fe.

Leaving the church, we visited the “oldest house in the United States” which was built in 1643. Hmmm, I think the Hoxie House in Sandwich was built in 1637, but I wasn’t going to argue with the docent, he probably didn’t create that sign.

We spent the next two hours touring the New Mexico History Museum.  It was fascinating and covered in detail how this area was part of Spain until 1810, and then became part of the US in 1850.  Sadly we were reminded how first the Spanish and then the US took these lands from the Indians…all in the name of greed.  The Spanish hoped they would find the same gold in this area that they found in Peru and in the Yucatan, and the US wanted the land for farmers and the railroad.

There was a very moving exhibit about how Indians were shipped off to boarding schools in order to cleanse them of their culture.

The museum included many exhibits about the impact of the settlement of the West, the coming of the railroad, the development of atomic energy, the mining of uranium, and the storage of atomic waste.

 Can you imagine riding inside a stage coach like this for months on end?

Today's trains still play a dominant role in Santa Fe

There was also an exhibit that focused on how both Hollywood and the record industry celebrated Santa Fe. Clips from Roy Rogers and Gene Autry movies were continuously running as well as recordings of various ATSF Railroad songs.

We had a late lunch at Santa Fe Bite, which is celebrated for its green chili cheese burgers.  We loved them!

We left Santa Fe around 4 PM, driving 135 miles east to the Santa Rosa State Recreation located on a large lake created by a dam on the Pecos River, just north of I-40/US 66.  As we entered the town of Santa Rosa on Route 66, we drove over the bridge on which Henry Fonda stood as he watched a freight train pass him in The Grapes of Wrath.

Our campsite for tonight was a modest one; we stayed in the overflow primitive area, since all spaces in the one open campground in the park were occupied.  No showers for us.

Los Alamos & Bandelier National Monument

October 9. 2018

We got up around 7:30 this morning; it was a chilly 40°F.   For breakfast we had raisin bran and coffee.  Before leaving the campsite, we chatted with our neighbors with the Sportsmobile Transit. They were from Bangor and like us, outfitted theirs' in Indiana.

In order to enter the National Monument beyond the campground, we had to retrace our steps for 8 miles and pick up a shuttle that took us to the Visitor’s Center in Frijoles Canyon.  For an unknown reason the Center lost power just after we arrived, so we could not see the overview film that we usually like to see.  Instead we took off for a short 1 mile hike that provides an excellent overview of both the cave dwellings of the Pueblo people who first came to this area 10,000 years ago, and the geology that distinguishes this national monument from all others.  

The monument is located on the Pajarito Plateau, which was formed 1 million years ago by two violent eruptions of the Jemez Volcano.  Scientists believe these eruptions were 600 times more powerful that the 1980 eruption of Mount Saoint Helens.  Over time, the 400 square mile plateau was covered in volcanic ash, which compacted overtime into a soft crumbly rock called “tuff”.  The rock was eventuatly eroded into multiple canyons creating the landscape that we see today.  Unlike the canyons in Utah, the tuff is beige in color and is filled with air pockets that create a Swiss cheese effect.

Look closely and you'll notice the foundations of Pueblo homes arranged in a circle.

Our hike to the cave dwellings was very reminiscent of Mesa Verde.  The inhabitants  of these dwellings are estimated to have maxed out at around 500, based on the number of rooms that were discovered.  It is also estimated that they only lived in these caves from 1200-1400 AD.

Leaving the monument we moved on to Los Alamos, which is also located on the Pajarito Plateau, but separated from the monument by several canyons.  When Los Alamos was selected in 1943 as the site Project “Y” of the multi site Manhattan Project, there was only a small boys school with about 45 students and their teachers.  Robert Openheimer, the project’s head scientist, selected this area after vacationing here as a teen.  The US government seized the school, and forced all other residents to leave, and quickly constructed enough housing and laboratories for 5000 scientists.  

 An exact sized replica of Fat Man, the bomb dropped on Nagasaki

In Los Alamos we visited two museums, the Bradbury Science Museum and the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.  Both were incredibly fascinating and could easily have captivated us for several days.  We condensed our visit to about 4 hours. Many of the buildings that made up the boys school are still standing as well as the home that Oppenheimer and his wife occupied.

Oppenheimer and Groves in front of the boys school

 Oppenheimer's home in Los Alamos, not open to the public, but maintained by the National Park Service

Today Los Alamos is home to 12,000 scientists who make up Los Alamos National Laboratories. Security around their buildings is still extremely tight, double barbed wire and armed guards protect the facilities, some of which are located very close to the campground where we stayed.

Leaving Los Alamos, we had an easy drive to a state campground just outside Santa Fe.  The road to the campground climbed into the mountains, and as we approached it, the temp kept dropping, finally settling at 37°F. Several snow covered vehicles also passed us as the climbed through the Santa Fe National Forest, so we anticipate a cold evening.

We picked out a site and left our portable potty PVC bucket with the words “SITE TAKEN” on the picnic table before heading down to Santa Fe for dinner.  Alex and Alice recommended we dine at The Shed, so we parked just across from it and got on the 90 minute waiting list for a table. 

The girl in the wedding dress is actually celebrating her 15 birthday and having her picture taken by a professional photographer.  We saw her posing in front of another building later.

We didn’t mind waiting, it was only 5:45 PM when we arrived, so we spent the wait time walking around Santa Fe, window shopping all the jewelry and clothing boutiques in the area.  Santa Fe is a beautiful city, with a dominant adobe architecture that is found in every home, shop, museum, and church. 

Our dinner was worth the wait:  sangria, margarita, soup, tamales, pollo adobo, and vanilla cream with a chocolate/chili sauce.  

We returned to our campsite only 8 miles from downtown Santa Fe around 9 PM…well prepared for the cold.

Another great day for the Aging Hippies!