(By Luke)At Bandalier National Monument we got to go in caves where Indians lived. Their really really old and cool! And one was the Long House. And the Kiava is a big under-ground room.
The dwellings at Bandelier were more Indian dwellings circa 1100-1300 AD. (some evidence of 300 AD). It was an interesting site because there was a large community structure in the valley floor, and then cliff dwellings in caves. The kids had fun climbing the ladders up in the caves. In the first photo, you can see the valley site walls, and then if you enlarge the picture and look at the cliffs you can see some of the caves in the Swiss cheese looking rocks.
We hiked another few miles today, and climbed up into the "Alcove House".
After leaving Bandelier, we drove to Los Alamos for a visit to the Bradbury Science museum. There was a lot on the Atom Bomb and nuclear research done at Los Alamos. Information Overload! We even had to go through a checkpoint and have the RV inspected because Los Alamos is still active today! Then back towards Santa Fe. We decided to go ahead and scout the downtown, for our planned next day visit. However, as we negotiated the RV through town (I was just hoping that I was not going to have to drive down the church steps to get out of some of the spots!), we did find an RV parking lot and decided to do it while we were there. We enjoyed a walk on the plaza (although the weather was changing and it started to snow!), and seeing the "oldest" church and house. Then we had dinner at a restaurant at the old Santa Fe train station.
We spent Thursday night in a nice RV park outside of Santa Fe, where we were planning on sitting for an extra day to rest and do laundry. However it was so cold and windy as a weather system came through (our water hose froze solid at night, low about 21 or less), that we decided to head to Amarillo for Friday night. After more than 2000 miles mostly on the highways and byways, it was nice to cover some ground on the Interstate.
Along the way, we stopped in Tucumcari, and while I got the oil changed, Amanda and kids enjoyed a lunch in a diner along old route 66. We are in Amarillo, taking a breather, and getting ready for Easter Sunday in Amarillo.
Hope you had a good time in Amarillo! That is where my grandparents lived, where my mom grew up and I have spent lots of time. We could have told you all the great places there. Rod and I even thought of moving there a couple times, maybe we still will...
ReplyDeleteAmanda by the looks of that ladder going up that rock you will up for Buck Rock this summer. Miss seeing you but it looks like a trip of a life time.
ReplyDeleteKris