We so did Day 4 well! I didn’t wake up in the best mood. Last night’s accommodations didn’t quite meet my standard and the free continental breakfast didn’t appeal to me at all. Fortunately, Zak searched for the nearest Starbucks and found one not too out of the way on our way to Bandelier. The even better news was that they tried to pull that ol’ Starbucks trick of filling half the cup with foam and only a bit of the latte. Well, I totally called them out on it and they replaced it and I got to keep the original. Off to a good start!
We drove to Los Alamos and took one of the first shuttles of the day into Bandelier. The bus was filled, but we we’re the only folks to get off at the first stop. We chose to hike the two miles through the high desert to the Visitor’s Center. It was perfect. The breeze cooled us off and we saw dozens of lizards scampering just off the trail. Everyone was in a chipper mood!
We hiked down into Frijoles Canyon and abruptly came upon cliff dwellings and many of our fellow shuttle passengers. We were treated as if we had just returned from a 46 day journey across the country. We were bombarded with “You made it!” and “How was it??” It was kinda weird. Our tiny two mile hike wasn’t anything too out of the ordinary.
We were able to climb short ladders into many cliff dwellings and try to understand the life of Ancient Puebloans a bit better. Like Pecos yesterday and many of our 2016 stops it was spiritual.
In spite of not taking the shuttle, we DID make it to the Visitor’s Center and got our passport stamps and collect the Junior Ranger workbooks. (If they have to do one more word search, I’m going to write a (another) letter to Zinke myself. A word search does NOT teach the kids about the sites. Ugh.)
We then hiked past Long House which showed us the most beautiful cactuses and most preserved petroglyphs we’ve ever seen. We made our way up to Alcove House. And when I say up, I mean UP. The hike itself was flat, but then we reached the base of the cliff dwelling and had to climb 140 feet via ladders and a few stairs.
Ellie had a really hard time with it. We learned that she is scared of ladders. Not height or climbing, but ladders. Unfortunately, there were four tall ladders she needed to get up (and, because she made it up, eventually down.) What helped her keep taking the steps was reminding her how proud Grandma, Grandpa, Ranger Mike, Zoe, Mom, Dad, and, most importantly, herself would be when she got to the top (and bottom.) She accomplished it with a (small) smile on her face.
We finished our time at Bandelier wishing we could backpack and already thinking of our next visit.
Given Zak’s degree and profession, he is extremely interested in The Manhattan Project, so we stopped at the Historical Sites Visitor’s Center in Los Alamos. The awesome rangers gave us a few must-dos in the little bit of time we had, and, more importantly, pointed us in the direction of an awesome brewery.
After wandering around the Bradbury Science Museum for a bit, we found our way to Bathtub Row Brewery. (The museum was amazing, so well done, and full of hands on exhibits. Unfortunately, our craving for a cold one was larger than our urge for learning.)
And that’s where I leave you. We’re drinking craft IPAs, munching on a bag of Goldfish, and writing about our days. We’ll probably end up grabbing more tacos for dinner in Santa Fe and an evening swim at the pool.
