November 11, 2006
Bandelier National Monument
Santa Fe, NM
Sure glad we decided not to camp last night – it got down to the low 20's! It would have been a chilly night. The hotel offered a full breakfast including the regional special, Menudo, (a tripe soup with hominy, raw onions, sliced cabbage and cilantro served with a warm tortilla). Of course I gave it a try and totally enjoyed it.
We started our day at the farmers market, a great place to see the local fair. Lots of dried chilly on a long string, baked goods, organic vegetables and an art show using recycled objects. It was a blend of tourists and locals. The tourists were focusing on the dried pepper arrangements and crafts while the locals were congregated around organic vegetable and pastry vendors.
Of all the people at the market, two individuals really stuck me when I passed their stand. A man and woman, who looked to be mid 40's but were most likely mid 30's - selling organic root vegetables – their faces reddened by the intense NM sun, their hands rough and dry from perhaps growing and harvesting their root vegetables. I immediately envisioned them on a poor producing plot of land with no running water or electricity – a real throw back to the 60's movement. It felt like they were living close to the edge and I wondered how much was hanging in the balance should they not be able to sell all their fresh produce that day.
We'd selected a circular route for the day taking us to a Pueblo, Bandelier National Monument, Los Alamos, Jemez Springs and the Tent Rocks National Monument. With great expectation we pulled into a Pueblo that was given a great write up in the various books….however when we got there…..it was $12/car to enter and another $10 to take photos. What we found was a very small village with several dogs who liked to think of themselves as tough studs, but when I spoke to them they melted into very pleasant canines. There was a very talented potter in the Pueblo who worked in black medium, and best of all, a magnificent tree dominating the central plaza area. Strangely at about 11am on a Saturday, there was no visible life – no one walking around, no signs of life, but we saw cars coming and going so we were sure people must live there. We left with an odd feeling – we had a map with very clear instructions as to where we could walk and what was off limits - what did they want us to see or feel?
Our next stop was Bandelier National Monument. Generally I'm not interested in listening to Park Interpreters – and definitely not for 90 minutes. But what an absolute gem we found in our Interpreter Len, a retired Biology teacher of 37 years. He loved teaching, the park's history and sharing his knowledge with our group. We learned so much – saw pictographs, learned about a group of people who lived in the cliff dwellings for over 300 years and then just disappeared. Ruins offered a good speculation. How odd to think of people living here as early as 1100! Len told the story so it all came alive – we shared his enthusiasm. The caves were made when a huge volcano erupted 3 million years ago and instead of spewing lava, spewed ash (similar to Mt St Helens). Over time this ash hardened into a soft stone, as water ran over it air pockets formed the caves. The people who lived here moved from hunters and gathers to an agrarian society.
By the time we finished the tour, the sun slid behind a cloud and the temperature felt like it dropped 20 degrees. We heard about a Native American festival tomorrow – our kind of place! Instead of going all the way back to Santa Fe, we decided to stay in the mountains so we'll have faster access to the festival. We found a hotel in Los Alamos ---- congers us memories of Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb. It's still a renowned research center. Research facilities dot the mountains around town. It's situated at an elevation of 7,700 feet with great vies of the mountains. It's a prosperous town.
