(April 27 – April 30, 2024)

Saturday –  Day 27 Started at 8am 41* last night got to 39.7 🥶 and yes the heater was on. Breakfast, dressed, packed up and ready to head out at 9:15am. At the dump station and it started to snow! Light dusting! BRRR. For the next 2 hours a lot of nothing. Horses, cows, goats and as far as you could see fields of hay. Ahead of us the mountains had really white clouds around them and it was snowing! So cool to see. Found a place for our daily Diet Coke’s! Our next adventure was Peco’s National Historical Park. 12:15 and only 49*. Did all the exhibits inside then took the trail outside through all the old structures. We got to go down into our very first Kiva and actually did 2 there throughout the Missions and Church. When we got back to the visitor center we had completed our Junior Ranger Book and got our badge plus a National Park pin. Saw lots of deer outside on the mountain side.

Along the highway and underpasses, New Mexico has them painted with snakes, rabbits, frogs, birds & flowers. We stopped in Santa Fe at a McDonald’s for a quick lunch and 🥤 Diet Coke’s!!! All the buildings and houses are all Adobe style and the same color brown. NO OTHER COLOR HERE!!! We drove through Los Alamos, which has Los Alamos National Laboratory, by way of many switchbacks and steep inclines. Arrived at Bandelier National Monument – Juniper Campground around 4pm. Found Coyote Loop site #45 and set up. The elevation here is 6690ft and 40* at 5:30pm. Had some rain around 6pm. Dinner & Movie 10:45pm it’s 34*!!! Traveled 171 miles today.

Sunday – 🥶 A cold 38.5* morning! We started exploring early this morning, right after breakfast. Stopping at all the overlooks making our way to the visitor center where we were sworn in as Jr Rangers and got another badge. Down in the Frijoles Canyon we crossed through a stream which reminded us both of our early adventures in Colorado. There were so many people hiking the trails down in the canyon we decided to drive to Los Alamos. The whole way through the forest, Elk crossing signs were everywhere but we didn’t see any elk this morning. Following the  “Lady in the Dash directions”….we found ourselves at a military check point to enter Los Alamos National Laboratory Area! Yikes!  We were instructed to go straight through, no turns amd no pictures! So apparently all these Tech Areas we’ve been seeing behind heavily fenced areas (and there’s 72), are Top Secret Areas. 🤫 This is where the Atomic Bomb was made. The area is still actively doing research, has a lot of Plutonium & is still making bombs!!! 12:45pm we found the Manhattan Project National Historical Park and as we entered we were asked if we’d like to go on a guided ranger tour of the area that is starting ASAP. Away we go! We were actually standing at one point where it all happened! Then we toured Bathtub Row. This was all the top scientists’ homes that had the only bathtubs in the area. Like J.Robert Oppenheimer who was an American theoretical physicist who served as the director of the Manhattan Project here at this Laboratory during World War II. Often called the “father of the Atomic Bomb” for his role in overseeing the development of the first nuclear weapons. This was approved by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. When we were finished with the tour I noticed an area that looked like outdoor seating so we walked around the corner to find Oppenheimer Brewing Co-op. For the first time at a bar we were served by a DR! She just got her PHD and works there twice a week and told us everyone in there were PHD’s, Scientists, Nuclear Physicists, Biologists, Electrical Engeneers, & Chemists who all love to drink beer! 🍻 All of a sudden we felt inadequate! A GENUIS TOWN! 🤯 After that wonderful experience we walked over to the Fuler Lodge which was built in 1928 as the Ranch School. Being a Sunday we drove through this quiet town enjoying the fresh air and the snow capped mountains that surrounded the area. Found a McDonald’s for Diet Cokes! 🥤4:30pm we drove back down to Bandelier Visitor Center in the canyon to do some hikes. Lots of Albert’s Squirrels, & rock squirrels 🐿running around. Took the Pueblo Loop Trail then took the Cliff Dwelling trail. Up on the mountain side, climbing rocks then ladders to go into dwellings. There were ones that we could stand up in and some that were up to 5 rooms that we wandered through. Lots of Petroglyphs on the walls that we couldn’t decipher! Walked along the “Long House” which went on for quite awhile. It was getting dark and the temperature was dropping so we headed back to make dinner. 8:15pm and its 52* Tonight I made turkey meatball noodle alfredo and green beans to warm us up. Today we traveled 41 miles  3am beautiful clear sky, lots of stars and a big orange full moon….too cold though to go out and photograph the night sky!

Monday – April 29, 2024 – 8am it’s a bright sunny day 🌞 and no clouds 45*. It got down to 37.8* last night…brrr. 10:30 and we’re off for another adventurous day! Passed a big tech area #49 hmmm wonder what’s going on there? Drove up to Valles Caldera National Preserve…don’t worry for this one has been extinct for a very long time. What a beautiful, winding and steep incline road. The area has had 3 fires over the past 15 years and the last major one was 2 years ago which got out of control (which started as a control burn by the Forestry Dept…oops) so there is a large area with no trees or all burnt tree trunks.  Really sad to see. Arrived at the ranger station where we toured all the exhibits, talked with the ranger awhile, took a few small trails around the grounds and earned our Jr. Ranger Badge. It only snowed here 2 days ago so a lot of the trails and roads won’t open till May 16th! We then hiked the Cerro La Jara Loop trail…2 miles with a elevation gain of only 62ft. Lots of prairie dogs as we hiked around the Lava Dome within the Caldera. We were amazed at all of cinder domes around. What a beautiful day for hiking…53*. Drove up to the 2nd Ranger Station and enjoyed a picnic lunch looking down into the caldera. The Caldera is 13 miles wide! We sat in amazement & enjoyed the peacefulness of nature. Heard lots of bugs, frogs, birds, and a Mountain Bluebird flew right in front of us. We just stared at the snow capped mountains. 🏔️ We watched 5 coyotes chasing Gunnison prairie dogs (no black stripes). Walked the cabin district where we talked to a ranger who told us about area. He said first thing this morning down in the area we hiked he saw over 100 Elk there! We played in the snow for a bit then headed back. Back in town we found a McDonald’s so Diet Coke time then spotted a Smith’s Marketplace and thought we’d investigate this store. OMG it had a Starbuck’s inside with the large seating area. As we looked to the left a sit down bar…yes beer on tap and wine. 🍺 🍷 We sat down at the bar…. Talked to the bartender and locals who suggested we drive to the town of White Rock to the Lookout Point. We shopped for a while and were amazed by the this store, it had a little bit of everything, clothes, shoes, house-wares, groceries and even a sitting area with tables outside for weekend concerts!!! Off to White Rock which doesn’t look like this is going to amount to much but as we drove through a residential area the snow capped mountain kept getting closer. We walked out to the point and it blew us away. There’s the Rio Grande in a deep gorge with rough rapids and the sun lighting up the mountains. What a spectacular view. Back to the RV where it’s 7:30, 66* and we enjoyed our last night night. This area has the 2nd largest population of Elk in New Mexico. Traveled 62 miles today. Good night campers. 😴🛏

Down inside a Kiva. The fire area was by the ladder.
Snow in the mountains as we were leaving. Could be Grapple also.
As you travel, signs make you think about regional differences.
Display in the visitors center.
Beautiful visitors center.
Sandy peering down into the Kiva. We’ve never been able to climb into one before. It was cold and windy outside but comfortable inside.
Down the wooden ladder.
Beautiful light and colors inside.
Desert cactus blooms.
The size of this mission was surprising.
The mission was in great shape for being over 150 years old and left for the elements.
You can imaging the size of how it was when complete.
Sworn in as Jr. Rangers. This Ranger insisted.
New Mexico’s beautiful art on the interstates and roadways.
Put it on your list. Bandelier is beautiful.
Our campsite at Bandelier National Monument.
View at Bandelier.
Bandelier National Monument Visitor Center
Park Ranger and Los Alamos gave us a history lesson of the area. It was fantastic.
Although most of the buildings are gone, this is where it all happed. Around this lake was where all the buildings and offices that did the research that made the bomb.
J. Robert Oppenheimer’s House. Yep it had a bathtub.
Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and General Leslie.
If you had a house on Bathtub Row you were important. Bathtubs were a luxury and heavy, so only the top scientist got houses with bathtubs.
Great brewery. Great hangout for all the scientists and geniuses to have a beer.
This room was part of the campus buildings. This hall was used many times in the movie.
Cherry blossoms.
View from the town of Los Alamos. Beautiful town with a great view.
Hike in Bandelier National Monument.
Albert’s Squirrel.
Ladder up to the dwellings.
Ruins of the dwellings in the valley. Some were very large.
View from the dwellings towards the Valley.
Some dwellings are big enough to stand up in. Look for Sandy sticking her head out.
Sandstone hoodoos’
Bigger dwelling.
Steep winding stairs to visit the dwellings.
The square holes in the rock face were where the beams for the long room roofs were held. roofs were even above the holes or windows to the dwellings inside.
Sandstone was on one side of the canyon and hard rock on the other side.
Bridge over the river.
Snow on the way to Valles Caldera National Preserve.
On our trail at Valles Caldera around a cinder cone.
Cinder cone in the middle of the huge caldera. Our trail went around this one.
Had a snack and a drink enjoying the amazing view near the cabin area.
Thanks to Google Maps, it took me through the restricted area. Here’s the checkpoint.
Great grocery store in Los Alamos.
Bar inside Smiths Grocery Store. Come on Publix!
Did not expect this view from city park. Wow!
The river below is the Rio Grande.
Night shot at our campsite at Bandelier.