April 15-16, 2024

After returning to the National Museum of Nuclear Science in the morning to complete looking at the exhibits, we headed north. We drove to the Jemez area in search of hot springs. On the way we saw Soda Dam. The sign said “This spectacular formation has built up over the centuries by deposits of calcium carbonate from a spring that bubbles to the surface at this point, The river flows under a dome that is still building. The dam is 300 feet long, 50 feet high and 50 feet wide at the bottom.”

A short distance away, we found the turn off for Spence Springs. The view of the surrounding area was beautiful. We changed into bathing suits with clothing over them, and headed on our hike. The early trail was easy, but soon became less than obvious. It took some searching, but we finally found it up on a hillside. There was a girl sitting in the outside pool, which looked rather green and slimy, not really appealing to us. Then someone came out of the cave behind her – and someone else, and someone else…in all, 9 teenagers came out of the cave! They said it was great inside – warm and clear. We decided to give it a try. We ducked down, crawled thru and found a space about the size of a large car. Indeed the water was clear and warm. There we sat, Ed with 5 women!

After leaving the cave, it was more than a bit cool in the outside wind. We quickly dried off and headed back to the car. Just a few minutes later, after driving up a high hillside, we found ourselves looking at snow! Anyone ready for a snowball fight?

Continuing our drive, we came upon the Valles Caldera National Preserve. From the road, we could see the flat land ahead of us, and way far away we could see a building. That was the Visitor Center. We drove about 3-4 miles and finally arrived there. Upon entering we met a Park Ranger and started asking questions. We got the best talk about how the Caldera was formed – the eruption of volcanos, the collapse of the magma creating the bowl-like depression, then the isolated resurgence of part of the land causing the creation of Redondo Peak. Some people have a real knack for condensing over million years of activity! After that talk, we went to see some of the historic cabins on the property, then got out of the gate before closing time.

We were staying that night at American Spring Dispersed Camp Area. These are designated areas that are free camping, no designated spots, no services, but FREE. We pulled in and found a spot, got level and settled in for night. The wind started blowing , the trees were swaying, the temp dropping to about 30 and we were ready to turn on the generator and heat some hot soup. Uh oh, the generator wouldn’t start. Ed had tested that generator every month under a full load – why wouldn’t it start? Well, we still had a propane stove. We did heat some dinner, then put on long johns, additional layers and crawled under all the blankets we had. All night long we heard the wind howling and feared what might fall from the trees and hit the van. Not a great night’s sleep. The next morning we had a quick breakfast and took off – turning on the heat!

On to Bandelier National Monument. This is a site of the Ancestral Pueblo people. They built their homes in the walls of the hillsides. We hiked to the home sites and climbed the ladders into the carved out areas where they lived. We also explored the Long House where community meetings were held. Can’t imagine carrying water, food and all of life’s necessities up and down those ladders every day.

Time to move on. After learning about the development of the nuclear bomb at the Nuclear Science Museum, we HAD to stop at Los Alamos. Went to the Visitor Center where we were directed to several places that were associated with the Manhattan Project, Robert Oppenheimer, and the filming of the movie. We spent the afternoon exploring the Fuller Lodge – which hosted community activities for the lab employees and housed some of the employees, and the Los Alamos History Museum. This is such a learning experience!

Always searching for new and different places to stay, we headed to White Rock Visitors Center to spend the night. They actually have hookups for RVs – it was a great place. There was a library across the street where we worked on a blog entry using their wi-fi. Gotta use it when we can find it!