A Visit from the Osterhouts

My folks and brother got here Wednesday afternoon and Stephen met them at the airport to help pick up the rental car and point them toward their hotel.  I had to teach some lessons at the studio, so I stopped by the hotel after work, arriving just as they were finishing dinner in the hotel restaurant.  We visited for a short time and made plans to meet for dinner on Thursday.  Unfortunately, Stephen had to fly to Salt Lake City, Utah the next day for work, and didn't get home until late.  I went to school and the studio and my family explored Old Town and went to the Nuclear Museum.  Then I met them at Yanni's on Central Ave for dinner, which was delicious and relaxing. 

On Friday Stephen and I went to work, and the Osterhouts went to Santa Fe, returning on the Turquoise Trail.  I had arranged not to teach at the studio, so after school we met at my house.  Stephen and I showed Mom the trails in the open space while David and Dad relaxed in the living room with Spike for company.

I made tamales and posole with green chile on the side to introduce some New Mexican fare.

Saturday was the only day that had been planned far in advance.  Dad wanted to see the Trinity site, which is open to the public only 2 days a year, for 6 hours each day.  The timing of the entire visit was planned around this event, and we were fortunate that the government sequestration of funds didn't effect the opening this time.
We met at the hotel and Stephen drove the rental van South.  It took a couple of hours to get there, but the scenery was interesting and the time passed quickly.  Stephen and I had not been this far South before, so it was new territory for us as well.  The Trinity site is remote, as you would expect.  We had to stop in a line of traffic and wait to show our picture IDs.  We received a pamphlet with lots of rules and a history of the site and the project.  We were told not to take any pictures until we reached ground zero, and that alcohol, firearms, and protests were not allowed.  We continued driving for several more miles until we reached the parking area, which was quite crowded, just a short walk from ground zero.  There is a large circular fenced-in area where the bomb crater was, with a small monument in the middle, and what's left of one of the original footings.  The nuclear museum had brought in some displays of photographs and a life-sized model of fatboy for the day.  Docents from the museum were there to answer questions and military personnel provided security and gave directions.

Walking from the parking lot to ground zero.

Trinitite is sand that was fused into glass by the force of the bomb.

The monument at the blast site.

Model of fatboy.

What's left of an original footing.

When we left the site, Dad suggested an alternate route back that would take us on a loop through the desert.  Stephen hates to retrace a route, and he's not that fond of interstate driving, so he readily agreed.  First, we stopped at a diner in Alamogordo for lunch.  Dad's guide book said that it was a family restaurant offering varied fare and generous portions, and that was a fair description of the place.  David and I had Mexican dishes and the others had a variety of traditional diner food.
Then we headed for Abq.  All was well at first as we cruised along looking at the desert and distant mountains.  There were cactus and a few cattle grazing on the sparse grass and sagebrush.  We entered Navajo reservation land which seemed to be mostly empty with the occasional ranch or house.  Eventually, we saw a sign that said "State Highway Maintenance Ends."  We should have taken this as an ominous sign, but we were blissfully ignorant of what was ahead.  The road got bumpier, including a couple of unmarked dips that nearly made us hit our heads on the van roof, and then the pavement ended altogether so that we were driving on a rutted, washboard dirt road.  Stephen said that you know it's a bad road when the cattle guards are the smoothest part.  After what seemed like hours of bouncing around on this road, Mom fired up the GPS to try to find out how far we had to go.  When it was able to get a signal, it told us that we were on Indian Road 54, and that in 26 miles we should make a left onto Indian Road 55.  This was not terribly comforting, and I started taking inventory of our resources.  We had about 5 ounces of water and 12 M&M's for five people in a rented Kia in the middle of nowhere in the desert.  I did not like the math.  We had passed a pickup truck about 10 miles back, but no sign of humans since.  It became quite clear why the Native American man in the pickup truck looked at us like we were insane when we passed.

I took a few seconds of video with my ipod, right about the time when Stephen decided that he could maybe see I-40, or perhaps a train, he wasn't sure at first.  Thankfully, it was I-40, and we made it back to Abq without further incident, our water and M&Ms intact.

On Sunday we went to Stephen's place of business for a tour, then continued on to the little towns South of Abq.  We had lunch at Dion's in Los Lunas, then continued on to the Abo ruins that we visited when Stephen's parents visited in February.  The history is quite interesting, the site is incredibly beautiful, and the place is very wheelchair accessible. 

We stayed on the trail.

The guys rested while Mom and I went into the ruins.

I found a bird guide at the information center and David got a patch.  Now if only the birds would sit still while I look through the guide I'm sure I could identify them!

We dropped the folks off at the hotel and they arranged to meet Mom's cousin Marge and her husband Terry who live in Colorado and had driven down for a few days in order to get together with us.  Mom and Marge are close in age and were friends growing up but have lived on opposite sides of the country for many years. 

I had taken Monday off from school, but Stephen had to go to work.  The rest of us met in the hotel lobby and went to the Bio Park.  The original plan had been to ride the Tram on Monday, but it was closed for spring maintenance.  There were also high winds predicted, so it might not have worked out anyway.  I have been told by many Abq residents that spring is their least favorite season here because of the high winds.  Fortunately, it's not windy every day, but I have experienced the phenomenon and it can be difficult to be outside.  When you're driving, it can look like a brown-out with the sand and dirt blowing around.  I'm pretty sure they wouldn't run the tram under such conditions. 
It was not terribly windy at 11 AM when we arrived at the Bio Park, so I suggested we explore the Botanical Garden first and go into the Aquarium later when the winds picked up.  This turned out to be a good suggestion and we had a lovely visit to the gardens.

 The aquarium is not large, but it was well-laid out and accessible with lots of interesting exhibits.  I hadn't been there before.  We got to watch workers in wetsuits feeding the rays and sharks. 

On Monday afternoon we all met at my house.  Stephen grilled steaks for the non-vegans and we had a very nice visit over dinner. On Tuesday, Marge and Terry showed the Osterhouts the Balloon Museum while Stephen and I were at work, then we all met at Yanni's for dinner.  That was the end of the visit, but we hope everyone will come back again.  If the flights going back to NY are as successful as the Westbound flights, I think there's a good chance that we'll get to show the Osterhouts more of ABQ.