Today, we got our exercise in.

Today, we got our exercise in.

We started the morning heading through the Jemez Mountains (in the car). There were so many scenic stops where we could walk around and take pictures. I got a bunch despite being the driver today. I even got one of a little waterfall!

Then we made it to the Valles Caldera National Preserve. The Caldera is where a volcano erupted and the land sank, so it's a flat area on top of a mountain. Shaun and I had gone before and saw the prairie dogs that live there, but this is the first time we saw the elk! There was a whole herd and it was amazing! They were super far away, but one of the rangers let us see them through his binoculars. When we go again, we'll definitely take binoculars and try to get a photograph through them!

After that, we drove towards the Bandelier National Monument. On our way there, we went through Los Alamos. That was interesting. There was a security check and they said "Don't turn right for the next mile and a half." It was government property and I guess we'd have gotten in trouble if we'd gone onto it. We saw a lot of signs that said "Tech" with a number. Didn't know what exactly those meant. We also saw Oppenheimer Drive. That was pretty neat.

We finally made it to the museum and monument and it was really interesting. The museum was small, but gave a good background on what we'd be seeing. The weather was warm; we're having a little heat wave. It was in the 90s today despite the 6066 foot elevation, but you gotta love the New Mexico breezes!

We hiked the monument loop and took a ton of pictures. It was really interesting to see how people made homes and towns there.

I know I say this all the time, but I love New Mexico and I love living in the desert. It's so beautiful and interesting here. The drive was scenic all day. There were decorative overpasses and walls when we started to head home through Santa Fe. It was just lovely all around, although I will admit we almost turned back halfway through the Bandelier loop. It was so hot with very little shade walking/climbing up the face of that mountain. The end half of the loop was through nice, shaded forest, though, so we're glad we stuck it out.

Here are a few photos. 😊

Just beautiful desert-scape through the Jemez Mountains

A little waterfall under that weird rock formation

Elk on the Caldera. They're the brown line just below the green patch.

One of the cave homes at Bandelier

A squirrel on top of some giant rock formations

Interesting cliff side at Bandelier