We started our day at the newest national park in the country-The Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Los Alamos. As they are still in the process of acquiring some of the original properties and working out details of access to these sites on the grounds of the still active and top secret Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratories. There was little of the original site to be seen other than the Fuller Lodge, the original site of the Los Alamos Ranch School which is now a historical museum. We had a great talk with the Park Ranger at the Visitor station and saw a very comprehensive movie. Then it was on to the Bradbury Science Museum where there was a great overview of the history of developing the Atom Bomb, and the present studies ongoing at the LANL to continue nuclear deterrence. We then drove through the extensive grounds of the Nuclear Lab on the Pajarito Mesa on our way to Bandolier National Monument. Bandolier contains multiple cliff dwellings of the Anasazi Native Americans. They date back at least 900 years but possibly longer. The caves could be carved out of the rock due to the fact that the Mesa was formed by compressed volcanic ash from a nearby ancient volcano. The society that developed there grew to thousands of inhabitants with advanced techniques of building and farming. Petroglyphs were seen carved into the stone high on the cliffs. A drive home, happy hour and a soak in the hot tub before a great dinner.
