Friday, June 12, 2009

NM: Visit from Mom and Dad to NM

June 12 - 15, 2009

Mother and father came for a visit to Santa Fe. Mom has never been to New Mexico and dad was 50 years ago with boyscouts. After I picked them up at the Albuquerque airport, we went to the Sandia Tram. The sandia tram is the worlds longest aerial tram which travels 2.7 miles up to the Sandia peak which is over 10,000 feet in the air. From the top you get over an 11,000 panoramic view of the land of enchantment (New Mexico). This first picture is a view on the way up the tram looking west.

Mom and I at 10,000 feet!

Dad and I at 10,000 feet!

We took the rest of the day easy and headed back to Santa Fe. On Saturday we went to Bandalier National Monument in Los Alamos, New Mexico. This picture is of dad going up the ladder into a cave dwelling.



After Los Alamos, we drove to Taos, NM. On the way we stopped at the earthships. Below is a picture of the sample earthship. You can see the glass bottles and aluminum cans that were used as a building source. Along with recycled materials, most earth ships grow there own fruits and vegetables, use sustainable energy sources such as wind and solar and reuse water.



On the way into Taos, we crossed the very famous Rio Grande Gorge bridge. The bridge is the fifth highest bridge in the US and goes over the Rio Grande Gorge which was filmed in many movies including Natural Born Killers and the recent Transformers movie. Below is a picture of the gorge and the rio grande river.



Mom and dad decided not to go over the bridge due to the extreme WIND! This is a picture of myself with my back to the wind...



And a picture with my front to the wind.



On Sunday, we went to the Georgia O'Keefe museum and museum of fine arts in Santa Fe, both very interesting. For dinner we went to a steak house-- not exactly what Santa Fe is famous for. While eating, we noticed the rain, the sun and dark clouds which produce what New Mexico is famous for.... RAINBOWS!



And another picture of a rainbow from outside of my apartment. Sadly there was no pot of gold at the end of this rainbow.


Thanks mom and dad for the visit!