Blue Lightening May Hate Me
Well, it certainly started out as a mundane day – laundry. But it has to be done. Or, at least if I want people to sit near me at the restaurant. And my first stop of the day didn’t open until 10:00 AM so the timing worked out well.
And the first stop was the Manhattan Project National Historic Park and things started looking up right away. The visitor center was a short walk from the hotel and took in a park with a small, man-made lake. The visitor center was small (2 rooms) but the site includes several other buildings within downtown Los Alamos. Some of those other structures include the Fuller Lodge, the Los Alamos History Museum, the Hans Bethe House, and the Bradbury Science Museum. Entrance fee to the history museum also includes the entrance fee to the Hans Bethe House. Really interesting material in both and the collection of intellect assembled for the Manhattan Project was awe inspiring. The Oppenheimer house is next door to the Hans Bethe house but isn’t currently open for viewing (but peering through windows is allowed).
After about an hour and a half checking out the Manhattan Project I headed west on highway 4 over the mountains. What an amazing ride through the mountains. Some twisty roads and great views – don’t enjoy both at the same time. While up high (>8,400 ft) the weather was splendid (sunny with temperatures in the low to mid 70’s). By the time I was down to Jemez Springs (~6,200 ft), the temperature had climbed to 93F. Still a great weather, just hot.
In Jemez, I found a New Mexico state historic site – a Jemez people (Pueblo) village that was established in the 14th century with a later 17th century Spanish church. Descendents of the Jemez people still reside in the valley and it’s the only place that their dialect of the Pueblo language is spoken. The site includes a underground kiva that has had the rough reconstructed. A couple of pictures of the outside are below but they ask that photos are not taken inside the structure. The church was constructed in the 17th century under the ‘direction’ of the Spaniards.
After about half an hour it was time to lather on some more SPF 50 sunscreen and get moving again. The target this time is the Gilman Tunnels – a recommendation from a convenience store owner where I first stopped for gas in New Mexico.
After overshooting my turn by about 10 miles (because nobody sells a map in New Mexico) I corrected and finally found the tunnels. The tunnels aren’t long. They really don’t go anywhere. But they are definitely cool. And they are unusually high and were hewn out of a really nice granitoid. The tunnels were constructed in the 1920’s to facilitate logging operations in the western Jemez Mountains.
After the Gilman Tunnels, I headed back north on highway 4 to highway (?) 126 towards Cuba, NM. Absolutely amazing road for 2/3rds of its length. Unimproved for the remainder. And they are serious about the unimproved. This is not a gravel road but a heavily rutted dirt track at best in places. Blue Lightening (my motorcycle) and I traveled about 10 miles in first gear and I’m not sure if she’ll forgive me. One of the biggest tips I took away from watching the Long Way Around was not to fight the bike in conditions like those. It definitely paid dividends today. I’ll try and get up early tomorrow to give her a well deserved bath.