I did not get to blog this last night (there may have been martinis involved with my delay).  Yesterday was a short ride day since my destination was Los Alamos to visit my Aunt Winnie and Uncle David.  I decided to take the long way of course, with a stop at one of my favorite places, Bandalier National Park.  

Bandalier is over 10,000 years old and located in the Frijoles Canyon.  The people who settled here are known as the Ancestral Pueblo people.  They made their homes in the Pajarito Plateau, formed by two violent eruptions of the Jemez Volcano over two million years ago (see?  I was listining to the guide).

These were called kivas.  It was ususally where they would hold ceremonies in the community.  It sometimes was a place of teaching, religious ceremonies or important decision-making.

The rest of the photos here are the cliff dwellings and the ceremonial caves.

Stone walls surrounding the Tyuonyi Plaza

 The hike around the cliff dwellings is only about an hour or so.  I highly recommend going to see this place if you’re in the area, it’s pretty amazing.  One note, they had bad flooding here and you can no longer park so you have to take a shuttle bus up.  It’s only a 15 minute ride and very well worth it.

I arrived at my uncle’s house around lunch time so we ate, and then went on a beautiful five mile hike in the canyon behind their home.  We checked out a few more caves, then had a lovely meal out on the grill.  The evening ended with my uncle’s most famous gin martinis.

Today I’m leaving Los Alamos and heading to my final destination of Taos!  It’s a short, but beautiful ride, more to come soon.

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