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blondiebear · 30-05-2008, 12:37 AM

Greetings from Las Vegas New Mexico. Not the famous one in Nevada. Las Vegas is Spanish for the meadows. Elevation 6400 feet, the air is so thick compared to where we were yesterday.

Santa Fe New Mexico is at 6900 feet.

We saw the ruins of an Indian Pueblo that also had a Spanish Church on the same site. Common practice that the Spanish would go into an area and try to convert all of the heathens, teaching how to do thing the European way.

The three "wild" ghost towns we stopped at were only what is called semi-ghost. Some abandoned or dilapidated buildings but in a town that is still active.

Then we went to Fort Union which was built to help the safety of the Santa Fe trail. Many of the buildings are 3/4 melted away. They were made of adobe bricks, which are basically sand, straw and mud mixed together then plopped into rectangular forms to be dried and then used to build. So you can see why a building made of mud would melt away over time. We are in the high desert here, the only trees are at high elevations or along streams. Fort Union was also a major supply center for other forts in New Mexico. Stuff would be delivered via mule trains on the Santa Fe trail, then go out to the smaller forts.

Even though the weather was mild, I wore jeans and a long sleeve T-shirt. Protection from the sun, rocks and thorny plants that are part of the desert. I have not encountered a rattlesnake in decades, but if I did I'd just give it room to get away. Of course Murphy's law says that I will encounter one soon, sigh.

Hope y'all don't mind my science and history lectures? I am such a science and history nerd, and oh yeah a teacher too!

30-05-2008, 12:37 AM	#17
blondiebear Bringing back the lost art of Sewing Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: California Confusion I am currently:	Greetings from Las Vegas New Mexico. Not the famous one in Nevada. Las Vegas is Spanish for the meadows. Elevation 6400 feet, the air is so thick compared to where we were yesterday. Santa Fe New Mexico is at 6900 feet. We saw the ruins of an Indian Pueblo that also had a Spanish Church on the same site. Common practice that the Spanish would go into an area and try to convert all of the heathens, teaching how to do thing the European way. The three "wild" ghost towns we stopped at were only what is called semi-ghost. Some abandoned or dilapidated buildings but in a town that is still active. Then we went to Fort Union which was built to help the safety of the Santa Fe trail. Many of the buildings are 3/4 melted away. They were made of adobe bricks, which are basically sand, straw and mud mixed together then plopped into rectangular forms to be dried and then used to build. So you can see why a building made of mud would melt away over time. We are in the high desert here, the only trees are at high elevations or along streams. Fort Union was also a major supply center for other forts in New Mexico. Stuff would be delivered via mule trains on the Santa Fe trail, then go out to the smaller forts. Even though the weather was mild, I wore jeans and a long sleeve T-shirt. Protection from the sun, rocks and thorny plants that are part of the desert. I have not encountered a rattlesnake in decades, but if I did I'd just give it room to get away. Of course Murphy's law says that I will encounter one soon, sigh. Hope y'all don't mind my science and history lectures? I am such a science and history nerd, and oh yeah a teacher too!
	My husband is my best friend. In forgiving others, we are not exonerating them. They may not deserve exoneration. Rather, in forgiving others we are giving up our anger over the fact that what happened is not what "should" have happened or that our life is not the way it "should" have been.