Los Alamos and Roswell

He asked me to bring him along..

December 2nd, 2013

My next big destination was Carlsbad Caverns. On the way there, I couldn't help but stop at two landmark places in New Mexico: Los Alamos and Roswell.

The Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos is open to the public and describes the history of atomic fission and fusion. They also had exhibits detailing some of the current work they are doing at the Labs. Back when I was graduating college I had an interview to work at Los Alamos. It never went past the campus interview, but it was interesting imagining what my role would have been had I gotten the job.

The museum wasn't very busy, but it was also midday.

Bombs the size of a few people can decimate the lives of hundreds of thousands.

They had a short history on computers, which was really cool!

I am not sure exactly what I was hoping to see at the exhibits. It was both amazing to see how the technology progressed and terrifying. They played a video of the first nuclear tests. J. Robert Oppenheimer described the scene with the words of Bhagavad Gita: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." After seeing it, even on video, you can appreciate the description. I honestly hope humanity never has to see another one of these devices used again.

After spending a little time at Los Alamos I made my way south to Roswell. Since I had to drive through to get to Carlsbad, I figured why not stop. I assumed it would be a corny tourist trap, and I wasn't disappointed.

My photo is even fuzzy, just like the real ones!

I honestly can't tell you why there was a plaster horse in the hall.

Ancient Aliens.

It all makes sense!

There were a few more legitimate exhibits there, explaining the probabilities that we are likely not alone in the universe. Unfortunately, they were set up right next to the abduction stories, which I couldn't help but laugh when I read their accounts.

It was all good fun. They even had a gift shop that was supporting people searching. Say what you will, but at least these people are dedicated to searching for what they believe in. They wouldn't allow me to take pictures though, so you will have to go look for yourself.

Pictures from Los Alamos and Roswell

Mesa Verde

Guided tour to one of the sites. Well worth the wait!

December 1st, 2013

I was pretty tired when I pulled into Durango. I hit a lot of stops during the day and wanted to relax. So what did I do? Go to the local brewery of course! I stopped at Carver Brewing Co. for a few drinks and some dinner. I would recommend them if you ever end up in Durango.

I also did something a little strange for me: I talked to strangers. I am a pretty introverted person by nature, but being by myself traveling was starting to take it's toll. Humans are social by nature. Even the most introverted of us will feel the need to strike up a conversation with anyone after not really talking to people for the past week. So with a little bit of social lubricant, I promptly started talking to people in the bar. When I felt like I had talked them up enough, I went back to the hotel to talk to the receptionist. I don't remember much about our conversation, but I do remember she was going to college in the area and I talked about my trip. Thinking back now, I am pretty sure I bored the crap out of her for an hour. Whoops.

I also did something else a little unprecedented. I had a date. Well, probably more like coffee. I was using Tinder (off of the suggestion of a friend) at the time to help to stave away some loneliness, and ended up with a morning date before this girl went to work. 

If you aren't familiar with Tinder, it is a dating app where you see a person's picture and a few sentences about their hobbies. You then answer whether or not you would be interested in this person and you get a new person to rate. In order to actually connect, both people have to "like" each other. You also only see people within a few miles of your location to keep the matches local.

It is amazing that we even connected, let alone went on a date because the timing was so tight. Since I was always traveling, Tinder was probably the WORST tool. This is because in order for a match to happen, I would have to load the app to have it update my location, then rate someone as like. Then they would have to load the app after I did, so I was a potential match, and like me. Then we would have to send a messages, which may or may not get ignored. Then we would have setup a plan to meet. All of this had to happen in the matter of less than 24 hours. It happened once on my trip, and only once.

For the miraculous chain of events, not much happened (not that I expected anything to happen). We met at a local coffee shop, talked about work and my trip, and then left. She was nice and I can say it was probably one of the most unique dates I had ever been on, mainly due to the pure coincidence. I sent her the link to this blog, but I doubt she ever visited. At least I got a new story! 

After that rather eventful morning, I made my way to Mesa Verde. I ran into an old friend: the cloud sea.

Even though the clouds had become a more common sight for me, there is something about standing on the edge overlooking the cloud sea. It fills you with a sense of adventure. Is this what it felt like for people first exploring these lands years ago?

Mesa Verde is another World Heritage site. I wholeheartedly agree with their assessment.

The park offers tours of cliff dwelling a few times a day. This is the only way to get an up close and personal view of the sites. It is worth making sure you are on time for the tour as seeing these up close is amazing. You also benefit greatly from the knowledge of the ranger leading the tour.

The black at the top is actually soot from burning the juniper trees nearby. You are actually looking at the result of thousands of campfires worth of soot on the ceiling!

This is a little hard to see, but you can make out some markings on the wall.

This is one of the ceremony rooms, minus the roof that would normally cover it. The are very sacred places, and over time these went from being above ground structures to ones like these pictured. I really can't remember much more about them. This is one of the problems with writing this down over a year after it happened.

The hole holds a very special significance in the ceremonies. I believe it has something to do with marking the place we sprang from the earth, and is where we will all eventually go. That is probably a gross oversimplification, but it is the best that I can remember.

This is where they would grind corn down. It is amazing how they utilized everything they could from their environment.

This is what it looks like inside one of the complete ceremony rooms. They actually covered the floor with a foot of dirt so no one stands directly on or near the hole. There are still intact rooms that have ceremonies to this day, but it is very rare that any outsider is allowed to visit. Our tour guide, in part for the work that he does, was invited to one once.

You can see some faint marks in the stone. It is sandstone, so you can wear it down pretty easily. This is another reason they restrict where people can walk on the site.

Picture of our tour guide. If you are wondering, the sign says to keep off the wall (ie, don't wreck what is still standing). The dude in the black coat is fine where he is standing.

There are lots of sites in the park. Some are better preserved than others, mostly depending on how much coverage they had from the cliff. They built some of the towers pretty high. The openings are doors, so try and imagine more buildings leading up to the top. Pretty wild sandstone skyscrapers.

Earlier, the ceremony sites were held in mostly above ground circular rooms. This site is one of the in between states where it is partially buried. The buried sites held up much better than the above ground sites, so this is a pretty rare find and also why it is enclosed in a shed.

Cliff cliff cliff. Oh wait, what is that up in the top left of the picture?

You could find buildings pretty much anywhere there was a suitable ledge. It is pretty impressive that they were able to build these so high. In order to reach most of these sites, there are hand and foot holds along the cliff face. They also split into multiple tracks. If you weren't from that settlement, it would be very easy to get lost on the cliff face. Not exactly the best place to stop and ask for directions.

There was a pretty big fire there a few years ago. Add the fog and this become kind of creepy.

Mesa Verde is a really cool park. I highly recommend it. They also had a lot of camping available for the summer, which I might try to utilize next time.

Click here for more pictures of Mesa Verde!

Navajo National Monument/Monument Valley/Four Corners

Ah, monument Valley! Oh wait...

November 30th, 2013

After visiting the Grand Canyon, I made my way East. My next BIG stop was Mesa Verde, but I had a few places picked out along the way.

The first stop was Navajo National Monument. After stopping at Zion and the Grand Canyon, this place looked tiny. There was a small museum, which explained the history of the area and a few trails.

A lot like the other canyon areas I had stopped, the clouds liked to settle in the canyon. It provided a very cool effect early in the morning.

Navajo National Monument provided me with my first look at cliff dwellings. It is unlike anything I have ever seen before. The benefits of making such a place your home a clear: shade, protection from the wind/rain, and protection from predators. There is something distinctly human about this place, even though no one has lived there for a long, long time.

The snow was also unlike anything I was accustomed to in Michigan. There were large crystal formations. As you walked on the trail you heard a crunch, as they broke beneath your feet. I never thought snow would capture my attention, since we always had plenty of it back home.

I also had a visitor pop out of the trees to say hi on my way out of the park!

The next place I wanted to stop by was Monument Valley. Unfortunately for me, the weather didn't want to cooperate.

You could tell you are at the base of something massive, but you can't see what it is. I guess I will have to add this to my trip next time. ONWARD!

I continued heading East until I came across one of the oddities of our country: Four Corners. This is where the states of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico all meet at a single point.

And I had to get my picture taken with a part of my body in every one of the states!

You can see some stalls in the background. I assume during the summer they are absolutely packed for the tourists. Today, not so much.

It was starting to get a little dark, so I made my way past Mesa Verde to Durango, CO for the night. I would cycle back and hit it in the morning.

Click here for all my pictures of Navajo National Monument, Monument Valley, and Four Corners!