On Our Way to CO

From Flagstaff, we only needed one more stopover before heading to CO.  We made our way to Lake Cochiti campground in NM.  On our way there, we stopped off at Petrified Forest National Park.  G and I had been there five years ago, so we knew what we wanted to see.  

I told Bill, I want a countertop or tabletop of petrified wood in our next house.  They have gorgeous examples of polished petrified trees at the visitor center.  I'm sure it's totally affordable.  HA!  But it's so gorgeous, just absolutely amazing.              

The trunks are impressive, but I love to see the sections lying about where you can check out their colorations.  This is on the crystal trail.  The trees get filled up with water and then covered with dirt/sediment.  The wood decays, but all the minerals deposited take on the shape of the wood and harden back up into a petrified tree.            

We also got to check out the painted desert on our trip through Petrified Forest.  I love this picture of my two guys in their bandanas.              

From our campsite, Los Alamos was a little over an hour away, so we went to check that town out.  Bradbury Science Museum is a free museum about the Manhattan Project and some truly great science.  We spent a couple hours there, and I think the kids may have learned a thing or two.  NB even commented, as we listened to The Story of the World's part on the ending of WWII, that we had learned about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (link for convenience and clarity, I receive nothing from your click).  I visited Hiroshima when I was 16, and that has stayed with me.  Perhaps more passionately than my children would care to hear.  But learn from our past, they will!!!!!    

NS learning about ye olde timey phone.  They got to learn a lot about how those involved in the project communicated secretly, and some of the security protocols involved.  J especially loved the locked door that they got to practice opening with a card reader and palm scanner.          

We also hit Bandelier National Monument.  We went after 3pm so that we could drive ourselves around the park.  During certain times of the year (April to October?), you HAVE to take a shuttle from 8am to 3pm around the park.  Shuttles make me car sick, so we waited until after 3.  Plus, the hiking wasn't at the hottest part of the day that way!  The kids loved climbing the ladders and going into the pueblos.  I don't like climbing the ladders, so I observed from the bottom.      

The rock walls are impressive.  It's such gorgeous scenery, and yet, I have no desire to move to such a landscape.  I want more green in my life!              

NS and J also got to help fold the flag at the end of the day.  We happened to be in the right place at just the right time to help out the ranger with the flag for the night!