A Visit with History in Northern New Mexico

It was June and we needed to get away. Somewhere back in time.

So, Catherine and I decided to take a trip out west, where you can go back in time. Maybe we’ve seen too many Westerns. Maybe it’s because so much of its history is still visible, from the endless landscape that never changes, to historic cities and their buildings, to entire towns abandoned by progress. The dry climate preserves this history.

Our focus was New Mexico, more specifically northern New Mexico, mainly to visit Los Alamos, where Catherine’s father was stationed during the building of the atomic bomb. He and other young engineering students were perfect for testing various small explosive configurations out in the field. In 1970, Catherine’s father had a reunion out there so he brought his family.

This visit was a reunion of sorts for me as well. I taught a class at Los Alamos National Labs (LANL) in the early 1990s when I worked for Cray Research. The labs had different models of Cray supercomputers over the years. I taught operators how to start, stop and monitor the system. Basic stuff, except that this computer allowed scientists to run programs that simulated experiments before trying the real thing, which is wise if you’re testing bombs. These computer systems cost millions.

Los Alamos is smaller than Red Wing. The labs were intentionally built there because it was virtually inaccessible to enemies. Its small area is probably why most of the labs’ 16,000 employees live elsewhere. It’s built near the edge of an extinct volcano caldera. It’s a popular place to visit now because of the movie “Oppenheimer.”

Little Boy and Fat Man

We visited the Bradbury Science Museum where their Cray-1 was on display along with some other early computer technology to show how it has progressed over time. There were also exacting models of Little Boy and Fat Man, the two nuclear bombs dropped on Japan that led to the end of WWII. There is way too much to absorb in one visit but admission is free.

Catherine discovered an exhibit of some mechanical arms used to safely handle radioactive materials and otherwise dangerous chemicals. Sure enough, it was manufactured in Red Wing at Central Research, a company formed by three MIT grads, famous for its development of mechanical arms. It’s interesting to have a connection to people and places as significant as Los Alamos.

We also visited nearby Bandelier National Monument which preserves the homes and territory of ancestral Pueblo tribes that lived in this canyon area. They lived along a creek in the canyon base but also had dwellings in the side walls of the canyon. Most of the structures date to two eras, between 1150 and 1600 AD. Drought is why they moved on. We climbed long ladders to a couple of cliff dwellings. We saw some very old petroglyphs (rock carvings).

Santa Fe was also a visit to history. We visited the nation’s oldest Catholic mission. We saw the doorway that everyone on the Los Alamos project passed through as they were processed before heading to Los Alamos. Santa Fe was a bit too artsy for me but Catherine was mesmerized by all the jewelry for sale.

We took an old two-lane highway back to Albuquerque where we had started our New Mexico visit. Along the way we drove to Sandia Crest, the top of the Sandia Mountains. At% an altitude of 10,660 feet, we got an almost cloud-level view of Albuquerque. It’s really hard for Midwesterners to breathe at that height.

The temperature was a lot cooler there than at the base where the highs were in the mid 90s. The higher elevations of Albuquerque and Santa Fe make it cooler than places like Phoenix, even though both have desert climates.

Get Your Kicks on Route 66

Albuquerque straddles the Rio Grande, its main source of water. If you look at a map, you can see that the city is very reliant on it. We stayed at the renovated El Vado Motel in Albuquerque, one of the many motels on the historic U.S. Route 66 highway across half of America. Route 66 is still a big theme out west. For more information, see the movie “Cars.”

I can just imagine what it must have been like traveling across the country on that very busy two-lane road with a car full of kids and luggage, and no air conditioning. We came close as kids in our station wagons but by then the interstate highway system had made Route 66 mainly a memory.

The motels of that era were often designed so you parked your car right in front of your room. When they were full, their neon signs lit up the No Vacancy light. Back in the day, that’s how travelers often picked motels. The El Vado sign said No Vacancy. Good thing we had reservations.

We ate Mexican food every day. It was all delicious but I have to say, the Mexican restaurants in Red Wing are just as good. I wonder if blue corn pancakes are served locally. They were delicious. The only thing missing out west was photos of the meal options.

They don’t need photos out west but they sure come in handy for Scandinavians from Minnesota.