We finally arrived in Santa Fe a day later than we had planned because of RV repairs in Tucson. We are staying at the Trailer Ranch RV Resort only 4 miles from downtown Santa Fe. After settling into our site we drove into Santa Fe and went for dinner at the Blue Corn Café. We walked the streets and gazed at all the beautiful art pieces in the windows and on the sidewalks. The next day we drove to Canyon Road which is an entire street dedicated to galleries and art shops. We had breakfast at The Teahouse, sitting outside under the trees, enjoying the best oatmeal I have ever eaten, (and I’ve eaten a lot of oatmeal). We walked up and down Canyon Street exploring all the unique shops with different art sculptures and paintings, and Décor for homes. Click on thumbnail to view images
Then we headed north through Tesuque Village on the way to Bandelier National Monument. The Monument protects Ancestral Pueblo archeological sites and a diverse scenic landscape. Bandelier was designated by President Woodrow Wilson as a National Monument on Feb 11, 1916, and named for Adolph Bandelier, an anthropologist who researched and supported preservation of the sites. After leaving the Visitor Center we walked along the 1.2 mile “Main Loop Trail” through Frijoles Canyon stopping to view a number of ancestral pueblo homes, including Tyuonyi, a circular pueblo site that once stood 1-3 stories tall, kivas(ceremonial structures), rock paintings, and petroglyphs. Another trail took us to the Alcove House, a shelter cave produced by erosion of the soft rock and containing a small, reconstructed kiva, that was closed to visitors. We ascended into the cave by 4 wooden ladders that were very tall and steep,140 feet above the floor of Frijoles Canyon. We were disappointed that the kiva was closed because the last time we had visited here we went down into the kiva. Click on thumbnail to view images
We left Bandelier National Monument and drove to Los Alamos, it is the home of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, established in 1943 for the Manhattan Project. Previously the site was occupied by the Los Alamos Ranch School, a private ranch school for boys, that offered a program modeled after the Boy Scouts of America, combining a college preparatory curriculum with a rigorous outdoor life. The school was closed when the government used its power of eminent domain to take over the Ranch School for the Manhattan Project, the building of the atomic bomb that ended WW ll. We learned all about the Manhattan Project at the Bradbury Science Museum, founded in 1953, and was named for the Laboratory’s second director Norris E Bradbury. We saw exhibits including artifacts and documents from the World War ll Manhattan Project and full size models of the Little Boy and Fat Man atomic bombs. What a fascinating place to visit, as I did not know that the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima to end WW ll was built here in Los Alamos. And the journey continues…… Click on thumbnail to view images
