After splitting up in Colorado, Dave and the girls extended their trip with a two-day excursion into hot, dry New Mexico
First stop was Capulin Volcano, a cinder cone that last erupted 56,000 years ago. Geologically, that is a blink of an eye and a reminder that out West the North American tectonic plate still has many holes in it.
It was really hot in the old volcano
The visitor center was open!
and so was the gift shop
Fort Union was a major outpost on the Santa Fe Trail, which linked the American territories to the Spanish road that came up from Mexico.
Out among the adobe ruins it was hot and windy
Even the bunnies seemed wiped out
Pecos NHP focused on Native Americans and the early missionary settlers. As we were walking through the park we saw a coyote being chased by a runaway dog from a nearby home. Now if only we could see a roadrunner...
Nice informational placard
in the men's bathroom!
Bandelier National Monument is the big attraction in the area outside of Santa Fe
For her summer biking, we invested in a water-carrying backpack for Erin
At Bandelier you can explore the cliff dwellings inhabited by Ancestral Pueblo people from 1150 to 1550 CE
Right next Bandelier is Valles Caldera
a beautiful high meadow where the girls found their old friends
prairie dogs
and then, just as we were leaving our hotel in Albuquerque for the airport, there in the parking lot we spotted a roadrunner. Meep meep!
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