April 13 – 14, 2024
The title may sound odd, but how many times has someone said you need a passport to go to New Mexico? Many Americans need geography lessons.
We couldn’t leave Texas without stopping at Cadillac Ranch. This is an “art project” regarding the progressive development of the outlandish tail fins of Cadillacs. Some rich guy sponsored this – we think to tick off some neighbors. Anyway, people stop there and use spray paint to “decorate” the cars or write their names on the cars. There are layers and layers of paint. We considered writing Van Go on a car, but earlier rains had created a muddy mess around the cars, so we just came and looked. I guess people have left over paint in their cans, so the road barriers, street and even dumpsters near the site are also “decorated.”
We then headed to Santa Rosa Lake, NM which is a Corps of Engineer lake/park. When we arrived we were surprised to see the low water levels. One of the rangers indicated that it is at about 14% of full pool. He also indicated that once they get the snow melt waters, it will be around 100%. That’s quite incredible. Our campsite there was not what one would call “level” or even near level. Time to use one of Ed’s new gizmos – the flatjack. This round rubber gizmo goes under the van tire, you pump in air, and it raises the van to make it more level. OK – I’ll believe this when I see it. By golly, it really works. Dinner was delicious – grilled chicken with cherry sauce, rice and corn on the cob. We’re not starving on this trip.
Left for Albuquerque early the next morning so that we could get to Mass at San Felipe de Neri church in Old Town. Ed met some fellow Knights of Columbus outside of the church and we got some ideas from them of places to go. The Church is old – originally built in 1706 and rebuilt in 1793 after the original church collapsed after a very rainy season. The walls are 5 feet thick – sturdy for many years. It has a simple interior, but very beautiful.
There was a car show outside of church – the cars were parked around the square. Took a picture of a rather interesting “license plate” car! We also went to one of the quirky places in town – the Giant Red Arrow. Sometimes you just have to do it!
There is art EVERYwhere in Albuquerque. In the yard of the church, there is a Madonna painted in the crevice of a tree. Driving down a street, we saw a car adorning the top of an arch.
Upon the recommendation of a friend from home, we went to the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. It was a really interesting place – so much so, that we returned the next day. Couldn’t get it all done in one visit. Learned a lot about the development of the nuclear bomb, which set us up for the later visit to Los Alamos. Exhibits also addressed nuclear medicine, nuclear power, and the race with Germany to develop the nuclear bomb. Found out that Hitler wasn’t so bright to get rid of the Jewish German scientists – many of them ended up working on the Manhattan Project and helped America to create the first nuclear bomb. There was also a great exhibit on DaVinci and his mechanical inventions.
