The Most Beautiful Day Trip

I have to give another thank you to Don and Sherlee for suggesting we take this day trip. If you ever go to Albuquerque or Sante Fe, this is a must. I can say this is the prettiest drive I have ever taken in my life. In total we drove 200 miles – 60 of which was bringing us back to Albuquerque from Sante Fe, which was not scenic, but the other 140 miles were breathtaking. Tommy and I found ourselves not even talking for 30 or 40 minutes at time. We were just taking it all in. This is the route we took from Albuquerque. Interstate 25 N to US 550 N to Rt 4 N – at Rt 4 is where it all begins!

Valle Caldera National Forrest is 89,000 acres of pristine beauty. Calderas are volcanoes that erupted leaving meadows and hills behind. One meadow is 15 miles long by 5 miles wide. You can see elk and deer grazing in the summer but will leave in the winter since it is hard for them to obtain food in the high country.

Bandelier National Monument is 33,727 acres of forests, canyons, and streams with an elevation of 6066 ft. Ruins have been excavated and the Tyuonyi, on the floor of the Frijoles Canyon, is a village and contained 400 rooms and housed approximately 100 people. Cave houses, Cavates (cave-eights) were plentiful due to this soft type of rock made from volcanic tuff and looks like Swiss cheese. The rooms were carved only using stone tools. The ceilings were blackened by smoke to harden the tuff.

The people needed to construct ladders to enter the caves. Tommy and I climbed the 140 feet of ladder to enter the Caves Kiva. This climb was something else, but was worth it. Glad I did it. Kivas (KEE-vah) are underground structures that are important part of the ceremonial cycle and culture and was the center of the community for the religious activity, education, and decision making. You would enter using a ladder through an opening in the roof. We were even able to see petroglyphs, which are writings or carvings, on the cave walls.

Soda Falls, a natural occurring dam, was neat to see.

You will enter a town of White Rock and you must go to Overlook park. I think the name says it all. You could see forever.

Los Alamos is the town of the government secret stuff. You would see hundreds of acres of mountains, meadows, and prairies. Then poof a building in the middle of nowhere with nothing around it ….hmmmm … strange.

The pictures I have taken, as I have said before in a previous post, cannot let you see what we saw. Anyone that know me knows that I am a talker. The beauty of this day left me quiet.