Old Town, Albuquerque, NM

Albuquerque's Old Town encompasses about ten blocks of historic adobe buildings.  We enter from

the Art Museum parking lot.

It is a maze of courtyards

and Gardens

and adobe buildings.  Here is a cut-out showing the adobe construction.

Then you hit the Town Square.  Old Town looks much like it did when it was founded.  It consists of about 10 blocks of historic adobe buildings, shops and Native crafts.

The focal point of the Square is the San Felipe Church.  It is the oldest building in the City - built in 1793.

This was the 306th Founders Day.

The Plaza was buzzing with activity.

Native American Dancers

A Mariachi Band played in the Gazebo.

Sundays are Free at the Art Museum so we visited it.  No pictures allowed inside the Museum but they have a great Sculpture Garden outside.  This sculpture depicts Don Juan de Oñate leading the first group of Spanish colonists into New Mexico.   This did not meet with unanimous approval.  We learned a little bit about him at the Gutierrez Hubbell House.  Another statue of Onate erected just outside Espanola, NM  had it's right foot cut off by a protestor.  It seems that Onate pillaged, raped, mutilated (cutting the right foot off of captured males) and murdered the native americans.  Eventually he was tried for his crimes, incarcerated for a short time and then exiled from New Mexico forever.  So why they are honoring this guy left and right is beyond me. 

Till Later!

Meanwhile, we keep on Trek'n

Melissa, Gary & Tucson

A Drive along the Jemez Mountain National Scenic Byway

It is supposed to be a beautiful day so we decide to drive the Jemez Mountain National Scenic Byway.

We stop at  the Walatowa Visitors Center in the Jemez Pueblo.  The Pueblo has 3400 Tribal members, descendants of the native people who lived and hunted in these mountains centuries before the first European Explorers.   There are no photos allowed in the Pueblo. 

I have been surprised to see Lilacs here.

Valles Caldera is a Super Volcano - unfortunately the Park does not open until the end of May so we did not get to see it.

We get a peak of the Coronado State Monument remains of the Pueblo of Kuaua

Our first stop is at the Soda Dam.

Water from underground hot springs has flowed here for centuries and has formed these strange formations.

The Jemez River flows by.

The little cave behind us actually lead into a smaller cave with a shallow pool where kids were playing.

Next stop Battleship Rock.  A sheer cliff of welded Volcanic Ash that resembles the bow of a ship.

We hiked a bit around the campground and tried to follow a trail but found out it was 2 miles one way and uphill.

We drive to our next destination - Spence Hot Springs.

After a winding switchback hike we arrive at the Hot Springs.

I dunked my feet for a short while and took in the view.

We never pass an overlook!

From there we continue to Jemez Falls Campground where it is supposed to be a short hike from the campground to the Falls.  What we didn't know was that the campground was still closed and it was over a mile walk in.  It was a nice hike through tall ponderosa pines.  It's times like this that I really feel guilty that poor Tucson doesn't have a yard.

We arrive at the Falls

We stop and take a break.

Next is Fenton Lake State Park.  The place is hopping with picnickers and fishermen.

Route 485 which is supposed to have some tunnels is shown on the map right next to the Park, but we don't find it.  On our way we turn down what might be a road and find this overlook.   We stop and talk to some people leaving and ask them where 485 is.  They say that the dirt road below is it and that it is about 20 miles long, we would be better going back through Jemez Falls as the tunnels are only a few miles in from there.

So we had back to Jemez Springs and through the Red Rocks.

The first tunnel looms ahead!

The tunnels were blasted through solid rock back in the 1920's to construct a rail line to haul logs out of the Mountains.  The narrow road through the gilman Tunnels follows the Guadalupe River.

We double back to town for dinner.

We do Los Ojos Saloon.  I had the Chicken Burrito Grande in Green Chile Sauce (green veggies are good for you!)  Gary had the Green Chile Chicken Sandwich. 

A great drive and the sun sets on another beautiful day!

Till  Later!

Meanwhile, we keep on Trek'n


Melissa, Gary & Tucson

A Blast from the Past - Trinity Site - 1st nuclear explosion

The Trinity Site where the first atomic bomb was tested on July 16, 1945.  It was known as the Manhattan Project.   It is open to the public 2 times a year - the first Saturday in April and October.  Since we were in the neighborhood we decided to "drop" in!

You have to pass through a guarded gate at White Sands Missile Range and present ID.  No pictures are to be taken once through the gate until you are at Ground Zero. 

"You're taking me where???"

The guys ahead of us had a Geiger counter we figured if they turned around and ran we would follow suit! 

A obelisk made from volcanic rock has been erected at ground zero. 

The blast caused the sand below it to turn into glass - they call it "trinitite".  It has a gray/green tinge to it .

but don't even think about leaving with any! 

This is a "Fat Boy" container similar to the one that held the Atomic Bomb that was dropped in Nagasaki, Japan

This the ground zero shelter.  It was built to protect a portion of the original crater floor, in the center is a mound of sand covering that Trinitite for the future.  The bomb was detonated on top of a 100 ft tower so there was not a deep crater, but it was still about 4 ft deep and 240 ft in diameter.  The tower was vaporized and the shock wave broke windows at least 160 miles away.  The story, at the time, was that a munitions storage area had accidentally exploded at the Alamogordo Bombing Range.

The explosion at .006 seconds

At .025 seconds 

At .053 seconds

and at .100 seconds 

Next we went to the George McDonald Farm House where the bomb was assembled.   

The Master Bedroom was turned into a clean room for the assembly of the plutonium core. 

There are remains of a bunkhouse, barn and corrals. 

Radiation at the site is minimal.  1 hour at the site exposes you to one half mrem of radiation.  Radioactivity from air, water & food - about 240 mrem.  A chest X-ray 6 mrem a CAT scan 110 mrem

A very interesting tour.

Till Later!

Meanwhile, we keep on Trek'n

Melissa, Gary & Tucson