Pictures of Life in the Land of Oz: Santa Fe

Guys. This is 80 pictures and I swear, I really trimmed this down. It might well have been near 200 to begin with.

On our last day in New Mexico, we packed up and hauled out of our hotel room by 9 am. We actually pulled out of the parking lot at 9:02, so how's that for nailing a departure goal?! That included 7 people dressing, going to the bathroom (sharing 1 toilet), packing all our stuff, tidying the room so we could see if anything got left behind, loading the van with bags and humans, grabbing breakfast to go from the hotel lobby (cooking waffles for some). We were pretty impressed with ourselves!

We drove a little northwest to Bandelier National Monument near Los Alamos, which is where the Manhattan Project took place and there's a museum that would be awesome to visit with older minds who would understand and appreciate it. Bandelier is a former Pueblo Indian site with kivas, cliff dwellings and a huge alcove high up in the cliffs. It is beautiful, gives perspective, offers stunning vistas, and has lots of ladders to climb. There's a strong, yet peaceful energy about the place.

Passing through another reservation. They mark their names on the overpasses.

I talked before about the deliciousness of food trucks, but there were also jerky trucks! A gallon bag of jerky for $20. And it is the most amazing, divine jerky we have ever eaten. So thin and crisp, compared to normal thick, chewy jerky. I'm not kidding, this stuff is crunchy and it's amazing! Our favorite flavor was Christmas. In New Mexico, there is red chile, green chile, and Christmas, which is both. Christmas is always the right choice.

We took a shuttle bus to get there. During peak tourist season, you have to park at the visitor's center and then catch a shuttle into the park. The kids were really excited about another new mode of transportation to ride!

{Shad and Samson}

I love how this picture came out with Dancy in such sharp focus and everything else slightly blurred.

{Thora, me, Dancy}

{Tommy, Shad, Samson}

Katie made another friend.

The site is set up with minimal interference, leaving it looking as natural and undisturbed as possible. There are no plaques to explain what you're looking at, rather you can buy or rent a $2 booklet telling you what you're looking at. There are small markers with numbers so you know which section to read at each spot.

A kiva with 200 home ruins behind us

{Thora, Katie, me, Tommy, Dancy, Samson}

Ruins of 200 homes

The kiva. This is a sacred site where all things religious took place. That included government because that was also religious to them.

{Thora, Katie, Dancy, Tommy, me, Samson}

It's nice when they're nice with each other!

{Dancy, Katie, Thora}

The first cliff home.

Fire pit

We all fit! The roof is smoke-blackened because that made the fine, powdery pumice stone stronger and less inclined to erosion.

{Megan, Thora, Tommy, Dancy, Shad, Samson, Katie}

Ventilation

On the way to the next house.

{Thora, Samson, Tommy, Katie, Dancy, Shad}

First petroglyph inside what is thought to be a sacred building. Note the zigzags in black. It's a snake.

Waiting for our turn to go in.

{Samson, Dancy, Thora, me, Katie, Tommy}

{Samson, Dancy, Katie, Thora, me, Tommy}

In the second cliff house. This one was larger with a couple of rooms branched off from the main room. Samson and Thora claimed a room of their own.

{Tommy, Samson, Thora, Katie, Dancy}

The view

Looking up

No big deal, just a narrow stairway down to the next dwelling with a two-year-old leading the way...

{Samson, Katie, Tommy, Dancy, me, Thora}

This one was different. It's a weaving house! It had two vent holes in the ceiling, holes in the floor and ceiling for loom posts.

Picking their room again.

{Thora, me, Samson, Tommy, Dancy, Shad, Katie}

"I like your kitty cat ears!" We heard that everywhere we went. A friend gave Thora that headband shortly before our trip. We went for a game night and Emily asked me if she could give the headband to Thora because Thora liked it and she, Emily, was "just not into that anymore." Thora wore it every day!

The side entrance.

Flowers manage to grow on the side of the cliffs!

Snack break! Katie has jerky in her mouth. She's not toothless.

{Samson, Dancy, Tommy, Katie, Thora}

The cliff face

The circular indentations mark where roof posts used to rest in the cliff.

Three years ago there was a flood in the valley that took down a lot of trees. Debris could still be seen in many places.

To the petroglyphs!

See the person? Towards the top to the right of the crack.

More petroglyphs. I see another snake and some others I can't identify.

Thank you to the Civilian Conservation Corps whose work we still enjoy 85 years later.

Finishing the main trail, we crossed a nice stream back to the trail that you can take to either loop back to the beginning, or continue on to the Alcove House. I wanted to continue, the kids didn't, Shad bribed them with McDonald's for lunch if they did it without complaint.

Tall trees

Snack and rest break, playing with other kids

More flood debris

In contrast to the cliff dwellings path, this one had a lot of shade!

The first of four such ladders up to the Alcove House. Samson, at this point, had grown quite cocky with all the attention received by other hikers. He sang his own praises for them! "I'm doing great, guys! Hey, everyone! Look at me--I'm doing awesome!"

{Thora, Dancy, Katie, Tommy, me, Samson}

These narrow trails made me nervous with Sam, but he did everything on his own. Still made my heartrate rise a bit.

{Sam, Katie, Dancy}

And then the stairs.

We made it up!

{Thora, Tommy, Dancy, me, Samson, Shad, Katie}

Hooray for dirt on our hands and faces!

Bum Skiing

The kiva

Shad said this view made the climb worth it to him. I just enjoyed the climb for what it was.

Panoramics

And here we go back down.

Samson did every step just fine, but his cockiness made him get a little careless and not make sure his steps were solid. My blood pressure was really glad when we got down!