Day 37 - Santa Fe, NM (Day 2)

We probably should call this "Honor the Jacksons Day" ...  for Rev. Skip and Kathy Jackson at Indianola Presbyterian Church in Columbus.  Our driving tour took us through Los Alamos, one of their previous hometowns.

Our Campground:
We noted yesterday that sites here are pretty small.  Check out the distance between the patio and the sewer drain.  This doesn't work very well for wider rigs.

Curb side - not much room here

Street side - we're on top of the drain

Aside from the site squeeze and street noise, the park is attractive.  Folks obviously like it here. They're sold out for the next three days.  Park views follow.

Site #19

Entrance wall

Laundry and restrooms

They have some fun amenities, too

The Tour:

We took US-285 and NM-502 to Los Alamos.  The route passed the Santa Fe Opera site and some large casinos.  The sights included beautifully decorated overpasses and some of the most dramatic scenery we've ever seen.

Along US-285 ...

Pretty fancy overpass, huh?

Santa Fe Opera is discretely
 carved into the hillside

These overpasses certainly brighten the day

There are lots of casinos on
the Indian reservations

Buffalo Thunder is a biggie

Along NM-502 ...

We had planned to travel the National Geographic Jemez Mountain Trail Scenic Byway (Page 297).  The route took us to Bandelier National Monument before driving to Los Alamos, so we took NM-4 to the visitor center at White Rock and got a huge disappointment.  All traffic into Bandelier was suspended because of flooding.  So, we returned to NM-502.

Approaching Los Alamos ...
The scenery was outstanding to this point, then it got even better.  This is one of the most beautiful areas we've ever visited!

Starting the final climb to Los Alamos

It's up here, really!

We've come from down there

Los Alamos:
We were greeted by an attractive, vibrant city.  There were research facilities within and surrounding the city.    We drove through the historic district.  This looks like a very desirable place to live.

A city park

The library impressed

Research facilities came in many
shapes and sizes

Valles Caldera National Preserve ...
We drove through a security checkpoint and left Los Alamos on NM-501.  We connected with NM-4 (on the western edge of Bandelier National Monument) and drove to the Valles Caldera.  This was a drive to remember!

NM-4 is narrow and very curvy as it winds its way across the Jemez Mountains.  We had a close call with an 18-wheel dump trailer on a tight curve.  We pulled off the road as far as we could; he came within 6 inches of the driver's side door.

Approaching the caldera on NM-4

The caldera is a grassland, 14 miles across

The sign is a lot fancier than the entrance road

The visitor center is in the distance

This abandoned ranch (we think)
sits on the caldera

Heading home:
Dark clouds moving into the area convinced us to stop the tour.  We retraced our route.

One of the sharp turns on NM-4

A reminder ... we need to return

This table-rock on US-285 was
too good to ignore

Tomorrow:
The TrailBlazer needs an oil change.  We considered staying here another day to get it done, but found out there's "no room at the inn".  We're going to head for Taos.