Learning at Museums

While in Albuquerque, we went to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.  We really are learning as we go to more museums.  Maybe it all doesn’t sink in at first, but repeated visits from different viewpoints helps.  This museum was good in that it organized the displays over time.  It gives you a better view on how it all fits in.  Had to laugh though.  While they started with the Big Bang, one of the last displays was on computers.  This is a chair that Bill Gates sat on while working in New Mexico.  Really?

While we think of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming as the big states for dinosaurs, many have been found in New Mexico.  It’s always fun to see dinosaurs!

 Outside we saw a roadrunner in the parking lot.  Cool!

Tent Rocks

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rock Monument has only been existence since 2001, so it’s pretty new for a national park.  The rock formations were formed when a harder rock at the top reduced the amount of erosion below it.  Many of the formations still have the top rock, while others have fallen over time and look like a teepee.

There is also a hike through a narrow canyon.  Wonderful hike!  There were quite a few people hiking the trail.  It made it interesting since someone had to wait at a point that was wide enough for people to pass.  But it was cool was that you really couldn’t hear other people around the curves of the canyon.  It felt very private even if others were there.

The path ends at the top and far end of a mesa.  So, even though you’ve accomplished the difficult part of climbing to the top of the mesa, the goal is to go the end.  And people will tell you that you have to hike to the end.  Seems silly, but we got a “Wahoo!” from others when we completed the hike!  Terrific view all around.

Walking in the footsteps

Most of the snow melted, which allowed us to do more sightseeing.  Our first stop was a science museum for the Los Alamos National Laboratory.  I’ve always been fascinated by nuclear physics, so the history and science was neat to see.  The only problem with this museum is that it is an information overload with all the different subjects the lab is researching.

We did a short hike in a different area of the park.  There were more homes in cavates or in separate buildings, but also it was an interesting path in and of itself.  The rock wore down as the Pueblo people walked the same path between caves and around the area.  Over the years the path is as deep as four feet in places.  The ranger said they’ve had to add a coating to the bottom to prevent it from wearing more.

Life is a (snowy) adventure!

As we drove back to our RV, we saw a few snowflakes.  This soon changed into the largest snow storm of the season for this area.  By morning we had five inches of snow. Most of this is quickly melting.  Absolutely gorgeous!

We had to pull out blankets we had already stored, but we survived quite well in our RV even without power (this national park camp ground is just dry camping).  However the second night we misjudged our energy usage (this is embarrassing considering my work in energy management).  When dry camping you have to offset energy use by running the generator.  In the middle of the night we lost all power.  You aren’t allowed to run a generator late at night since that will wake other campers. This meant the heater fan turned off leaving us in the cold.  It dropped to 41 F in the RV.  Yet, we were warm under blankets and I know we had to be warmer than the people camping in tents.  They definitely get points toward their polar bear patch!

Cliff Dwellings

We’re in New Mexico again, but now in the northern half.  It is full of cliff dwellings and pueblos.  This stop is Bandelier National Monument.  Millions of years ago volcanos erupted dropping LOTS of ash.  This changed into a rock called tuff.  The rock now has a Swiss cheese look to it.  The Pueblo people lived in some of the larger openings in 1200-1400 CE or so.  The rock is fairly soft so people were able to enlarge an opening or add holes for beams for extra buildings in the front of the cave. Instead of calling them caves, they call them cavates since they are fairly small and more of a ledge. 


They also lived in rooms along the river.  All the rooms seem very small.  Some were used for sleeping or storage.  Some of the larger rooms or kivas were used for community activities including working on a loom making cloth. 

The park is nice in that they preserve the majority of the cavates, but have ladders to allow you to crawl into a few of them.  Some of the ladders are high (MUCH taller than the one pictured).  At one point we watched a dad crawl down a ladder helping his frightened son who was right above him and with a young daughter in his backpack.  The things parents do!

There are petroglyphs above many of the cavates.  Here’s proof positive of the existence of aliens!  To the right of the opening is the drawing of the alien head. (Just kidding!)

As we drove back to our RV, it started snowing.  Wahoo!

Playing with spray paint

Cadillac ranch is just cool!  Just west of Amarillo Texas are 10 cars partially buried in the middle of a field.  Supposedly they are buried at the same angle as the Giza pyramid.  These were buried as public art in 1974. They are just fun. People park along the road, cross the field, and spray paint whatever they want on them.  Whatever you paint won’t last long since someone else will be by soon. 

When we were there about 10 cars were parked.  I saw people from kids barely able to walk to eighty year olds.  Most people will buy a can or two of spray paint, but if you forget you probably will find someone who has extra.  We handed our can over to some kids who ended up being much better artists than we were.

The paint is on thick by now.  John was amazed that the bolts in the wheel were completely covered so that you can’t see them anymore.

Fun day!

Going with the flow

Today was one of those days.  First, we needed gas in the RV.  John tries to find gas stations with good prices, but also the space so we can get the RV and car in and out OK.  We stopped at a station that looked good, but had steel barriers that reduced the turning radius.  We ended up having to separate the car to make the turn.  In the process there were a lot of frustrated feelings plus a small scrape on the car.

Next, I found online a Route 66 museum that was well rated.  We had to do some maneuvering, but got to the museum, parked, got out cameras, and went in.  Then we found out the museum was closed for renovations but we could buy stuff in their gift shop.  Really?!

We got to our RV stop at a reasonable time to find out there were no spaces available.  I couldn’t find any alternates in town, so we ended up driving another 2 hours to our next stop.

 

On the way were several stops I was hoping to visit.  All very kitschy, but fun.  Given the frustrations of the day, we skipped the barbed wire museum.  The next ones we just drove past.  So, what you see are pictures taken through the RV window with bird poop on the window and with a bumpy ride.  The picture above is a leaning water tower.  The one below is a 190 foot cross.