Travels to New Mexico

August 02, 2018

Travels to New Mexico

:: Travels to New Mexico ::

We went on our first big cross country trip this summer with the whole family. It was the first time we traveled by plane with the kids after years of saving airline points from all of Mister's travels. We spent five days in July traveling all over Alberquerque, Sante Fe, and Los Alamos. The first part of our trip was spent in Sante Fe visiting the Old Town district. We went through the Georgia O'Keeffe museum and saw many of her works. We visited the Bascilia of St. Francis of Assisi. The next day was spent traveling up to Los Alamos, New Mexico. It is a place my husband works when on travel. It is also the place where they developed the bombs that were used in World War II. It was a sobering experience and highly educational to walk through the two museums. They even have a Nobel Prize for Physics in residence there. I am glad that a place exists to edcuate future generations about our collective past. It isn't an easy subject to discuss with children and it can be a highly charged topic but since it was many years before our time I think we have the advantage of looking back and taking in the enormity of the situation placed on the people who lived and worked there. A burden shouldered by a generation who carried the heaviness of war. After a deep and thoughtful morning, we headed to Meow Wolf. I am not sure I can do this place justice with words. Meow Wolf is a collective of artists who got together to create an interactive art exhibit with a twist. It is kind of like Stranger Things meets The Labrinyth. You step into a family home and spooky mystery is unraveling around you with other worlds, hidden passages, and dark family secrets. But for the kids it was just a trippy maze of unfolding rooms and crazy passages. It is a tremendous undertaking and the whole place oozes with creativity. The energy is nothing short of electric as you step through portals into unkown universes. I wish I could live close by so that when my creative flow is stopped I could hang out there and get the flow back. If you have the opportunity to be in Sante Fe, Portland, or Denver. Go. You will not be disappointed.

We headed to Alberquerque at the beginning of the week. We spent the first day at the Alberquerque BioPark and Zoo. It is a beautiful open park with great green spaces and animal exhibits. I am not a big fan of zoological parks that don't promote animal well being and development and I am very picky about where we spend our money when it comes to this type of attraction. It is a lovely place and worth the trip. We also did a bunch of driving around the city and visited several other museums.We visited the Natural History Museum of New Mexico and the Nuclear Science and History Museum. We even got to touch a fossil that a researcher brought out to my kids from behind their glassed work space. We touched a real fossil!!! We ate lots of yummy food, swam in the hotel pool a lot, and did some shopping while my husband attended some meetings. The last day before heading home we traveled up the Sandia Mountains (10,860 above sea level to be exact) and stood looking down at the city. It was amazing. The mountains and landscape were beauitful.

The southwest is an amazing place. It is so different from our home. The landscape tells an anicent story of the natural changes of our planet. The mountains break through the desert ground with shear cliffs and pock marked holes that once housed native people. It is breath taking and also very hmbling to see these places and know that they have stood for millions of years. The people are welcoming and friendly. It was englightening to talk with Native Peoples, Mexican Amercians and those who trace their roots back to the Spanish. The trip reminded that our country is so beautiful and diverse. It has so much to offer her people. My husband and I both agreed that this is only the first of many trips we want to experience with our children. The gift of travel allows us to expand our world view and realize the deep connection we all share as Americans.

These are some of my photos

First Arriving in New Mexico