Americana Grab-bag.

For the Fourth of July celebration I did manage to spot a mobility scooter and later some gaudy Stars 'n Stripes shirts, but never both on the same person. As a consolation prize we spotted a truck with a Confederate Flag on the back and "NOBAMA" painted on the side:

The unique thing about the fireworks was just that we were allowed to watch from very close to where they were being launched, which made for an nervous experience of them exploding right over our heads. However, the show was stolen when we returned to Mesa Verde: at high altitude and in dry desert air the stars were amazing and we were even able to make out the band of the Milky Way, which we've only managed to do previously in the southern hemisphere where it is brighter.

The next morning we moved on to New Mexico where our science focus changed again, this time from archaeology to physics. We took an indirect route to Albuquerque so we could swing by Los Alamos, where the Manhattan Project was centred. The science museum there was somewhat sparse though. Also, some of the displays were a tiny but dated: one movie talked about how Los Alamos at it's height was unique in that there were no "invalids".

What was more interesting was the locality of the town for historical reasons, perched high atop a desert mesa and still primarily only accessible via a few winding roads up the canyon wall. It was not difficult to understand why the US military chose this spot.

The route from there to 'Querque went through Santa Fe so we pulled off the interstate to say we had seen it. We didn't even get out of the car, though, and instead just did a drive-thru visit to the (quasi)-famous Santa Fe plaza and cathedral.

Again, the more interesting thing here was not the main attraction. Instead it was that the entire city consists of Adobe-style buildings. Odd to see such a distinct architecture throughout a North American city.

Nothing to exciting today; it was mostly just a travel day.

(July 5, 2013)