National Atomic Museum

Didn't have to put the date on this one because the post date is the same date I'm talking about. Unfortnately we didn't get to go to Tinker Town, it doesn't open until April first. Went to the National Atomic Museum in Albuquerque. Saw a movie on the Manhattan Project. I've seen other programs about it on TV, but this one was really good with a lot of original pictures. Another thing that was great is that one of the guides was a PHD that had worked on the project.

Peg and me at the entrance to the museum.

Big Boy the plutonium atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima August 6, 1945. At least this bomb had been tested before they dropped it on Hiroshima. It was tested at the Missile Range in White Sands, which is the site you can visit only once a year.

This is Little Boy the U-235 atomic bomb that they dropped on Nagasaki. This bomb was dropped with out ever being tested. They couldn't test it because they used all the U-235 Oak Ridge had produce up to that time to produce this bomb, so they didn't have any for a test. They were that sure that this would work. Fortunately or Not, it did work.

It rained off and on today. Desert?

Rio Rancho 3/23/2007

I just noticed that the date the system puts at the top of each entry is the date I enter the post, but that may not be the date I'm talking about so I have added the date I am referring to in the title.

We left Rockhound State Park at about 8:15. Drove through Deming and took route 26 to Hatch. Hatch is a chili pepper and onion growing area. Peggy bough one of those long strings of chili, called Chili Ristra's. Now it's dropping seeds all over the place. We may have some chili growing in out motorhome before we get back.:-) At Hatch took Interstate 25 to Albuquerque. Got to Albuquerque about 2:00 o'clock. Was really surprised at the traffic for that time of day. It was bumper to bumper but moving on. I guess I'm spoiled by living in Northwest Alabama. Arrived at Ted and Kate's (my nephew) at 2:30. They have a beautiful adobe house with a great view here in Rio Rancho about 15 miles north of Albuquerque. Spent the night listening to the rain. I thought we were in the desert? Planing to go to Tinker Town Saturday.

The red morning glow on the mountain at Rockhound State Park

My nephew's adobe house in Rio Rancho, NM. I didn't include the garage because our motorhome is sitting in the drive way in front of it but you can see a corner of it.

Spring Cayon 3/22/2007

We got up early today to go to Spring Canyon hoping to see some Ibex. We knew the odds were slim but thought we would try any way. We didn't see any Ibex but the area is beautiful. What a great place for a picnic. For those who are wandering Ibex are small goat like animals from Iran. Back in the days when we were friendly with Iran the Shaw sent 70 over here to this part of New Mexico because the climate and terrain was very similar to Iran. There are now about 700 in these Florida Mountains in South Western New Mexico. Spent the rest of the day playing on the computer and enjoying the scenery. Leaving tomorrow for Rio Rancho.

This is the picnic area in Spring Canyon. Spring Canyon is a part of Rockhound State Park but is about 3 miles away.

These are flox that dot the hill side.

This is a view looking up the canyon. We hiked up about half way.

To see all the pictures click on the link in the link section of this site and select the album or albums you would like to see. I will be adding more pictures to the New Mexico album until we leave New Mexico so keep checking. Note you can also click on the link that will show you where we are.

Rock Hunting

Today we went rock hunting. Well Peggy did, I just walked half the way then went back to the car. We really don't know enough about rocks to know what a gem stone looks like in the rough. She brought back a few rocks but nothing unusual. Peggy enjoyed her walk, she walk to the top of the hill and around it to the day area. We had lunch outside on our picnic table.
We decided to go to Deming and check out the book store and naturally the Wal-Mart. Deming is not a very large town so the one book store we found had one book shelve. Peggy bought a lounge chair at Wal-Mart, so she can doze outside.:-) While we were in Wal-Mart it actually rained a little, just enough to settle the dust. We counted seven RVs in the parking lot that were going to spend the night also about a dozen 18 wheelers. On the way in to Deming we passed about six RV parks including the Escapee Park.

Rockhound State Park

We arrived at Rock Hound State Park at about 10 o'clock. Our site was still occupied. Check out time is 2 o'clock. We just parked at a picnic table and walked around the park. They have a path with all the desert plants labeled. We strolled through part of it, but it is very long and fairly hilly so we didn't walk it all today. We hope to do the rest tomorrow. Kate and Terry Klein, who are camped here, came over to visit. We had e-mailed them a couple of times to get some information on this campground. They really like it here and have camped here more than once. The park is on a hill side at the foot of the mountain. It has a great view. At night you can see the lights from Deming, in the day time you can see forever. The weather was great in the low eighties with a nice comfortable breeze. We ate lunch out on the covered picnic table.

Our camp site at Rock Hound State Park in New Mexico

Poppies, some years the whole hill side is covered with these, unfortunately this is not one of the years. The ranger showed me photos of the hill side covered with them. It is quit impressive. This is just a little patch outside the visitor center.