Arizona and New Mexico

Arizona and New Mexico (again)

Holbrook - May 2nd

Glen Canyon Dam

After leaving Kanab, we crossed over the Utah - Arizona border at Glen Canyon Dam. Like The Hoover Dam, water levels are at all time lows.

Although the water is low, the views are still impressive.

We came across a lonely Native American playing his flute over the river that once would have belonged to his ancestors.

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

We made an unplanned stop at the Sunset Crater National Monument, which we knew nothing about. It turned out to be an area of volcanic lava and a old crater.

This is the actual Sunset Crater for which the park is named. Hard to see from below, but there really is a volcanic crater up there.

The snow capped mountains in the distance were very scenic

Meteor Crater

Meteor Crater is another tourist stop along the road - this time privately owned, so you have to pay to get in. Several of their "attractions" weren't operating, but at least we did get to see the inside of the crater.

It's 3900 feet across and 560 feet deep and was created when a meteor hit about 50,000 years ago. At one time, it was mined - you can see the old workings in the middle of the crater..

A place to visit once, but once was enough.

The Petrified Forest National Park

After leaving Holbrook, we drove through the Petrified Forest National Park. I had been there before and  had expected a standing "forest' but instead, we found a bunch of petrified wood lying on the ground.

It was rather windy as you can see from Kris' hair!

It can be quite valuable as it is used to make jewelry, but being a National Park, you can't take any away

There was also an area of Painted Desert, which is also quite picturesque. The different colors are quite impressive.

As we left the Park, the road briefly became Old Route 66 and we couldn't resist a photo.

Albuquerque - May 3 & 4

Old Town

Our first stop in Albuquerque was the Old Town where we had lunch and then wandered around for a while.

Cheers !

Typical architecture in Old Town

San Felipe de Neri Church built in the 18th century

Atomic Weapons Museum

Next day, we started by visiting the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, which is really the story of Atomic Weapons in the US. I had been once before, when the museum was located on the nearby air force base, but was closed after 9-11 and the museum now has it's own building.

There are two full scale replicas of the bombs dropped on Japan at the end of WWII

"Thin man" dropped on Hiroshima

"Fat Man" dropped on Nagasaki

And "The Gadget" a prototype of "Fat Man" which was tested in the New Mexico desert at the Trinity site before either bomb was dropped for real.

Outside was a recreation of the tower used to test "The Gadget"  which is hanging from the top of the tower. 

"Breaking Bad" locations

In the afternoon, we went looking for locations from "Breaking Bad" which was filmed in Albuquerque. We found four.

The real car wash. We actually had our car washed here.

The Octopus Car Wash from the TV program.

The chicken restaurant "Los Pollos Hermanos" For real:

And in the TV program:

Saul's office for real:

And in the TV program:

Walt's' house for real (with a new metal roof)

And in the TV program, with Pizza