Atomic Museum, Albuquerque, NM

The Atomic Museum in Albuquerque had exhibits both inside and outside the building.

...and, a quote by Albert Einstein.

Coronado Historic Site

Today we visited the Coronado Historic Site in Bernalillo, NM.

"In 1540, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado—with 500 soldiers and 2,000 Indian allies from New Spain—entered the Rio Grande valley somewhere near this site.  Coronado was searching for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold.  Instead of treasure, he found a dozen villages inhabited by prosperous native farmers.  These newly "discovered" people spoke Tiwa, and their ancestors had already been living in this area for thousands of years.  Coronado called them: Los Indios de los Pueblos or Pueblo Indians.  He and his men visited all twelve Tiwa villages during the course of the next two years because they survived on food and other supplies that they obtained from them.  Without the assistance of the Tiwas (willing or unwilling), Coronado and his men very likely would have starved to death."

 

These Pinon trees are really cool, and produce edible seeds.  I'm going to look for a tree to bring home.

 

 

Happy Birthday lunch....and snow!

We went to Abuleta's for Mom's birthday lunch.

Having a niece is awesome!

Are you sure you want us to bring this snow back with us Mr VanHorn? :)

Christmas

River of Lights

Great night for a walk through the Albuquerque BioPark to see the River of Lights.  Of course we stopped by Monroe's for dinner.  It was such good food!!

 After dinner, with foot and hand warmers in place, we ventured out to see the lights.

The tractor was cool!

Goodnight

Here.

Safe.

Tired.

Pillows look mighty good right now. 

Almost there!

It is about 8pm now.  We just passed Moriarty, NM.  We have driven through snow, and now wet rainy stuff.  The roads are ok so far.  There has been a lot of wind.  Mike has been battling to keep the beast on the road...his arms will be sore tomorrow.

We are looking forward to coming over the crest of the Sandia Mountains within the next half bour to see Albuquerque.  Bernalillo isn't far after that.

We have had a wonderful trip...and are ready to land.

Night time driving

This makes night time driving fun....glow sticks!

New Mexico

We crossed the border into New Mexico moments before the rest area closed for the evening.  The boys were able to get New Mexico pressed pennies.

I was in the women's restroom when the attendant locked the door for the evening.  Imagine the panic when I went to leave the bathroom only to find the door deadbolted! It took a second of panic to realize that the other end of the bathroom had a door to the outside.  That door was unlocked!

I walked around the building to find Mike pressing pennies in the lobby with the boys.  I was locked out. I was relieved to see them there though. I was imagining one of the boys locked alone in the lobby...

All was good.  The lady let them out when they were done.

Texas Sunset

We are at the end of day three.  Dinner tonight was pulled pork, vegetables and crackers/chips.

This is Texas big sky country for sure.  The land is flat as far as the eye can see.

 We passed a feedlot earlier, where beef cattle are raised.  A good lesson in the ethics of food production for the boys.  What is good for the animal? What produces good food for people? How much land does it take to raise the same number of animals another way?  Their 'take home knowledge' ?...."I don't like cows that lick poop." Um.....

Detour..

Another memory maker stop...to touch Route 66. :)

The old road and the new road. 

The landscape...

The open road means higher speeds.

Road trip fun

There are some things you can do on a road trip that are out of the ordinary.  This is one. One of the boys said he had only flown into Texas. We were coming up to the Texas border and walking across the border came up. Yes! Absolutely!  We pulled the van over, hopped out, and walked across the Oklahoma/Texas border. Creating memories folks.  How often can you hop out of a vehicle on a highway and walk across a border?!

Oooooklahoma, where the...

Windmills abound...

Route 66

Lunchtime!

Quick stop for a Steak & Shake lunch.