Still Here, and A Trip to Los Alamos

Yes, you're at the right place. I found an easier to read template that works very nicely, so switched to it.

Well, the countdown is continuing...we load the truck in a week and make the 6 hour drive to Phoenix the next day. I dread packing everything up again. We've been doing a little sorting and purging here and there, but I've put off getting boxes until next week.

Maybe that's cutting it a little too close, perhaps I'll make a token cruise of the area behind the mall today and see what I find. Cameron went for a long ride today and I opted to stay home. We just did a grueling 12 hour ride a couple of days ago and my knees just can't take that kind of abuse anymore. (I'll post about that ride in the next entry, still trying to catch up to current activities.) It was a painful last 3 hours.

This entry is about our ride to Los Alamos with a friend of ours. He's the one who picked up, stored and brought back, Cameron's motorcycle after the accident. That's who you'll see the back of in most of the pictures. He took us on a long and very interesting ride through some absolutely beautiful parts of New Mexico. I took lots of pictures of the scenery because it kept changing. One minute we were in typical high desert, the next in mountains, the next in red clay canyons; it was incredible.

We met him at his house, that was conveniently not far from ours, and headed north. It was a great day for a ride, though there was a possibility of rain along some stretches of our route. The sky was scattered with clouds the entire day, which I loved, and only added to the gorgeous surroundings.

We were on the bike for most of the day, except for a couple of fuel stops and to eat lunch in Los Alamos. Los Alamos was not as I had expected. (I wish I had taken more pictures as we drove through the section of downtown on the way to the little place we had lunch.) It's a small city, nestled in pine-covered mountains. Since we were traveling on a Sunday, most businesses were shut down and the place was pretty quiet. It would be interesting to visit it on a weekday to see what the general population was like and how busy it is.

What made it different from a typical mountain community was the presence of the laboratory complex. The entrance to its secured boundaries was also the route to a popular ski area. In order to get to the mountain road we were to head back on, we had to pass through guard gates. They just waved us on through, but I wondered what it would be like during ski season. There were a lot of gates, but it seems like it would still get congested. After passing through the gates, everything seemed like a normal road toward the higher mountains, until unobtrusive buildings started appearing to our left. There were signs designating sections and building numbers. The long gaps between buildings, made me think that was the end of it, then more would appear. They were not hidden, necessarily, but they weren't advertised, either. Painted the natural colors of the surroundings, made them easier to ignore (if one wasn't fascinated by their presence). They were not fenced and there were no apparent barriers, though I'm sure the place is well covered with cameras and other devices. After a while, we passed through a smaller row of guard gates, only about 2 as it was a narrow road. I guess it's so they can lock down the facility if needed. It's strange how it is so accessible the rest of the time.

The rest of the ride took us through canyons, mountain pastures and on and off of local reservations. The red rocks and green grasses in the pictures were as striking as they appear.

Follow this link to the slideshow.