Los Alamos

We are now in Los Alamos, New Mexico having taken the short trip up from Albuquerque on Tuesday the 15^th. We are once again camped in Rae Anne and Dave’s driveway on the edge of the Los Alamos National Forest. The boys, Evan and Marcus were thrilled to see their grandma again and we are enjoying them as well. They run to the motorhome everyday after school to sit in the driver’s seat and beep the horn. (I stuffed the horns with rags to muffle them)  

Marcus at Wecks Resturant

Other than the madcap couple hours between the boys arriving from school and them having to go in the house for dinner we’ve had a quiet week. I did a few minor repairs to the motorhome and Millie and I washed it, but that’s all the work we’ve done.

On Thursday we went to a nearby part of Bandelier National Park. Tsankawi ruins (sank-ah-WEE) is the site of an old Indian village, it was built by Ancestral Pueblo Indians. Archeological evidence indicates that Tsankawi may have been constructed in the 1400s A.D. and occupied until the late 16th century.

The 1.5 mile trail through Tsankawi takes you along centuries-old paths to the top of the Mesa. There are also several ladders you must scale. In many areas, the trails have been worn into the rock 8 to 24 inches or more as the people traveled from the mesa tops to their farms in the canyons below. 

After the moderately strenuous trek up to the ruins and then back down, we were ready for lunch. We’re used to breathing fat sea level air and it’s a little thin here at 6500+/_ feet. On the way home we stopped for sandwiches and enjoyed a picnic lunch at Los Alamos’s downtown park.

Saturday the family went to a Mexican restaurant in Santee Fee. Wecks is a family friendly chain with restaurants in Albuquerque and Santee Fee. They only serve Breakfast and Lunch; by the time we drive down from Los Alamos we’re eating brunch but that’s ok it usually means a shorter wait for a table.

Evan at Wecks

Millie and I stayed in Santee Fee after brunch, browsing in the downtown historic district. I bought a couple shirts and Millie got a great deal on a weatherproof jacket.

Sunday the boys had an Easter egg hunt in the yard followed by a bunny cake that Millie made for them.

Note: I’m going to try to insert a link to Flickr with more pictures of the Tsankawi ruins.

Tsankawi ruins album on Flickr