It was back to a fairly nice room again. Plenty of space to turn around without bumping into something (ouch) or each other (not so bad). The problem in that hotel, though, was the elevator. The door was not quite as wide as the door to the room. And their luggage cart was the elite model – the largest one we have had yet. The cart barely fit, and we had to stand in single file. Strange. Oh, and this was the second place that we had to go clear down to the first floor to the only ice machine. Not so convenient. But hey … every little thing adds to the adventure, right?
On
our way to our next stop, we were stopped by a soldier at the vehicle
checkpoint of the American National Laboratory.
That’s where they originally developed the atomic bomb. I tried several times to get a picture of
their sign, but “something” always kept getting in the way. Suspicious, if you ask me. What manner of research could be going on in
there, anyway? We aren’t that far from
Roswell, you know. It is kind like the
trouble I have had getting a picture of one of the Smokey Bear signs in the numerous
National Forests we have been through.
What a surprise it was when Chris pointed out – up there in the middle of
pollen-producing country – a little Smokey Bear, just dying to join us. He’s had severe allergies all his life. Stunted his growth dramatically. It was our duty to rescue him, right?
And
speaking of critters and names, they have been coming in for that little
rabbit-ish pika critter. Josiah was
first to respond with Wimpy the Womp Rat.
Certainly has a ring to it, even if it’s not really a rat – no tail and
all. Here’s a few others:
Chu
(oh, I get it. Pika-Chu. It’s like you’re sneezing, right?).
Elite
(Like pica vs. elite font sizes. A
choice designed to be confusing. I like
it).
Mr.
Pickles (Kind of random. But he does
kind of look like a big pickle).
Dilly
(See what she did there?
Pika-Dilly. Cuteness overload).
I
guess we’ll go with … The Reverend Mister Pika Chu Dilly Elite Pickles, nicknamed
Wimpy, but only by all his friends who know him well.
Once
our army friend let us through, it didn’t take us long to pull into the Bandelier
National something or other. All those
names run together for me now. It was
simply straight back up the mountain we just came down from. Once there we took off on the big hike they
had set up to where some Anasazi Indians had built some ant people dwellings. This time we got to crawl up a ladder and
actually into the ruins. Those ant
people couldn’t have spent much time in their dwellings. They were nice and cool and all, but way too
tiny for much stuff. Kind of called to
mind a certain hotel room. We did have a
professional photographer offer to do a photo shoot for us at one of the
ladders. Well, she said she wasn’t a pro,
and she never mentioned a whole shoot, but I ended up with 13 pictures of us by
the time she finished. People on
vacation are great.
Speaking
of people on vacation, we met a family from New York. They were doing the exact same type of trip
we were with one major exception. They
had rented a travel trailer. Their plan
was to end up in Salt Lake or Las Vegas or somewhere, turn in the trailer, and fly
home. We swapped National Park stories
for a long time before continuing our respective hikes.
The
hike ended back at the visitor’s center.
Of course, we had already picked up our stamp, but we were getting
hungry. To our surprise, they had a
little café on the premises. Chris had a
grilled cheese sandwich. I had an elk burger
cheeseburger with grilled onions. First
for me - elk. The meat was really
lean. Good stuff.
From
there we headed back down the mountain to a place about two blocks from our
hotel – The Manhattan Project National Monument. It designated the site of the original lab
that developed “a way to end World War II.”
Never mentioned “atom bomb.” Does
the name sound familiar? It should. They just moved up on the mountain. Now they are officially the American National
Laboratory – same outfit with the soldier that stopped us earlier. Come to find out, the hotel we had just
stayed at was on the grounds of the original project site. So, I’m pretty sure we have been exposed to
residual radiation. No telling what
super-powers will begin to manifest as time goes on. There was not much to this place. Chris got a stamp at the visitor center,
though. Well, one of three. See, this stuff is so top secret that even
the stamps have been divided into three different ones. To complete the set, we have to travel to
somewhere in Washington State and somewhere in Tennessee. Tricky.
Their hike was basically taking a walk through downtown Los Alamos. We just did a little bit of it. I for one didn’t want to get that close to
the government, especially after being stopped twice where I had to hand over
my driver’s license (when I wasn’t even driving), and then being exposed
to radiation and all.
So
we popped back into the car and headed for Pecos National Historical Park near
(surprise!) Pecos, New Mexico.
Actually, the real surprise is that it was right next to Glorieta. Both of us are still wondering how we could
go there for so many years and never realize there was a National Park right
nearby. It was a fairly simple site. Some Pueblo ruins and the ruins of a Spanish
mission church. They had some kivas, too. Difference was, these had been reconstructed,
and you could crawl down the ladder into the underground chamber, just like
ants into their anthill. It was Sunday,
so I prayed for the people who would be entering the kiva in the future. And then on the hike, I preached a little to
the trees. Didn’t help. I still have allergy difficulties. Oh, and Chris and I took a selfie inside those
old Spanish church ruins. See? We did go to church!
Philippians
1:3-4 says, “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always
pray with joy”
Father,
thank you for the chances we have had to get a glimpse into the life and
culture of people from long ago - and from far away (i.e. those folks from
New York). Amen.
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