More New Mexico!

Thursday 4/3.  Today we woke up to 27* and clear skies.  We headed east on Hwy 152, over Emory Pass on the “Backcountry Byway”.  It was a slow but beautiful drive with lots of twists and turns, ups and downs.  After almost two hours, we finally started heading the right direction, North!  

We pulled off the 25 at Truth or Consequences NM.  There were quite a few businesses that were closed so we just did a drive by.  Back on the interstate we rolled up to Black’s Smuggler Winery.  They are a Harvest Host, but we had plans to travel further north.  We had a tasting and snagged a bottle of white.  There were a handful of locals in the tasting room and we felt very welcomed.  The wines were good and it’s a fun stop!  

We traveled on to north Albuquerque and stopped for the night at another Harvest Host.  Starr Brothers Brewery has a large parking lot and there are 10 other campers here.  Katy liked the beers, especially the IPA.  I tried a margarita and mule and they were decent.  The food in our opinion was a 6.5-7 of 10.  Headed further north in the morning and hunkering down near Santa Fe as snow is in the forecast.  

Friday 4/4.  Katy woke me up at 0140 after hearing a string of gunfire and a speeding car.  I was out…thank you CBD/CBN.  After a minute of not hearing anything else, I went back to bed.  We got rolling a little after 9 and made our way up to Los Alamos.  It was an easy drive and we are looking forward to exploring the area.  We made it to our campsite and found a Class A parked in it.  

We confirmed that no one was supposed to be in it with the hosts.  They then called out LAPD who could not get anyone to answer.  We had since found an open spot and the hosts changed our reservation.  After dumping tanks and taking on fresh water we tried to set up.  We are on blacktop with a decent slope and had a difficult time setting up on our blocks.  This was a first for us as we had to use almost two packs of legos to get close to level.  

After finally getting set up we headed into town for a late lunch and to grocery shop.  We split a NM Philly with red chili on it.  It was good and a little spicy.  We grocery shopped and I had to take my new phone over to Verizon because it stopped working.  15 minutes later and a hard reset and I was back in business.  We got back home and put the groceries away, I took Duncan for a walk and then it started snowing/raining and we were in for the night.  

Saturday 4/5.  We woke up to snow and it stayed in the 30s all day.  We didn’t travel too far.  We headed up the hill to Los Alamos and spent the day touring the museums and exhibits related to the Manhattan Project.  

The NPS, etc has done a good job preserving and documenting what happened here in the 40s.  Being a history geek, this was right up my alley.  It’s also interesting to learn about the projects and research still being conducted at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.  There is a nice little walking tour to see the different sites.  Not so nice to walk when it’s 30, snowing and the wind is blowing.  

After looking around we went over to Bathtub Row Brewery and had a cider and a flight.  The drinks were good and we headed back for home.  We made a quick pit stop at Smiths and then came back and played some games.  I rounded out the evening by watching Oppenheimer again.  It really helps to understand the movie and the dynamics after you’ve been here and seen the exhibits.  Definitely worth a visit.