This year, the film “Oppenheimer” swept the Academy Awards, as it should have. However, the Manhattan Project was not all about one guy, and the film completely ignores the effects of dropping nuclear weapons on Japan – something I couldn’t do when I visited Hiroshima in 1986.

Nonetheless, Oppenheimer is an important name worthy of study, but what about J. Robert’s little brother, Frank? In the long run, he may be the one more worth considering as the founder of the Exploratorium in San Francisco. In the educational pantheon, he is a mensch among the mightiest.

If you haven’t been to the Exploratorium, you must go. If you have – as I had when it was in its original location at the Palace of Fine Arts – you must go back. You need to have time, and it really helps to bring along some kids, or friends who are deeply in touch with their inner child. Read the story, the history of this magical place.

Frank Oppenheimer was way ahead of his time, a true leader in the field of education, fun, curiosity, & art! In fact, his shining example as a world class science teacher perhaps helps his poor older brother’s self-proclaimed reputation as a “destroyer of worlds.” Are we not all brothers & sisters after all?

So, when I had the chance to go to a UCSC event about AI at the Commonwealth Club in SF, I went early so I could go play a bit at the Exploratorium. Here’s just a snippet of that lil’ escapade…

This batch is an interlude of surroundings there at the Embarcadero: Pier 15 (new site of the Exploratorium, the old clock tower, the city & the bay…

Rather than explaining what each picture depicts scientifically, I’m just going for cool art photography, but you get extra points & love if you can identify the various concepts to be explored…!

As mentioned, later that day I did go to a UCSC event for alumni, parents, and others at the Commonwealth Club, just a walk away from the Pier 15. (The topic, Artificial Intelligence, almost seems antithetical to the purpose, mission, and vision of the Exploratorium?)

Thanks again for coming along…

This post focuses on Mesa Verde (humans) and the Grand Canyon (nature), and more!

As kids, our parents had taken us to both on our many summer vacations around the western United States. However, I’d recommend that all kids – now old folks like me – go back and view both with new/old eyes. It is the rare child who understands the vastness of time and space represented in both these national treasures.

I did not remember that Mesa Verde had so many ancient dwellings. “Cliff Palace” is the poster child, and rightly so, but it is just one of many structures under multiple massive rock overhangs in the huge neighborhood of Mesa Verde. While the interpretive signage is excellent, it takes a leap of the imagination to consider life way back then. Humanity finding its place in the world…

And I did not, as a kid, come close to fathoming the immensity of the Grand Canyon. Its breathtaking enormity and raw beauty also require a leap of the imagination. To see the art of time painstakingly painted with water on the canvas of earth is to grok, incompletely, the millions of years it took to create. It may be the single most spectacular sight in the USA – and there are many…?

So…

After leaving Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, I drove to Cortez Colorado to spend the night. Mesa Verde National Park is almost adjacent, so the next morning I drove in. This first batch include the 360 degree view from Park Point driving in, and my first stop at the Cliff Palace, the largest of the several ancient dwelling sites in Mesa Verde. Unfortunately, the park ranger tours for a more close up experience had not started yet for the season…

This next batch shows some of the other dwelling sites, which would have required a quite skilled climbing culture in the canyons. It also shows some of the pit houses that existed even before the cliff dwellings were built…

More cliff dwellings and pit houses, and views of the Cliff Palace from the opposite side of the canyon…

Next up, here’s the Cliff Palace through the telescope, etc. from the other side of the canyon…

Of course, I also went to the museum and saw some of the artifacts they have on display. Likely, this is just a fraction of what might have been available to view had looters not absconded with many larger and more valuable items. As those who have acquired these treasures die, or they are discovered by new generations, one hopes they may be returned to where they came from.

Additionally, a cool painting, a couple hiking down in the canyon, the museum from the outside, a different but also large dwelling complex, and a random rock in the desert on the way to my next destination…

The Chaco Canyon and Bandelier National Monuments sections of the previous post relate to Mesa Verde. There is much speculation about the migrations of peoples between (from/to) these and other sites, and there have been changing interpretations of these peoples (Pueblo is preferred over Anasazi), and what happened to the various groups – and why.

These places are not unlike the Mayan ruins I have visited in Mexico and Guatemala in that the native, indigenous peoples had left these sites before European explorers arrived. Sadly, that was not the case for the Aztec and the Inca, and in all cases the full and true stories of these noble people have been erased by religion, looting, and the destruction of cultural artifacts. Happily, our National Park system has done an outstanding job of preserving and explaining what we have and what we know.

The “human” part of this post continues as I then went to the “Four Corners” where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet – a completely arbitrary point in middle of a desert now administered by the Navajo Nation. I enjoyed watching my fellow tourists, from hither and yon, take their pix at this very random place. There were a few more geological photographables along the way to my next destination…

Teec Nos Pos, Arizona. Ron & I passed by this same spot in the summer of 1982, 42 years ago!

Amazingly, I have this photo of my 21 year old self meditating on the side of the road…

Eventually, I arrived at the east end of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and took my first look at the Desert View, distinguished by the tower built to take in the glorious vista. I went to the next view point to take in the sunset, then motored on to the Village where I visited the store, noted that the campground was full, and snuck into the employee parking lot where I spent a comfortable night…

The next morning, I relocated to the Visitors Center and walked to perhaps the most prominent vista site for some early glimpses of what proved to be a long day experiencing the Grand Canyon…

More GC from various vistas, the Village from a distance, and ending with some museum stuff…

More vistas, Powell memorial, cloud & shadow, signage, and ravens…

It’s a huge place, there needs to be a huge number of pix just to get a small idea of bigness. Yes? This batch also features the Hermit’s Rest at the end of South Rim trail (and the beginning of a crazy-long hike).

Back in the Village, I went to the El Tovar Hotel, the Verkamp’s Visitor Center, and then headed home…

Once back on the road, this horse was headin’ for the barn. I drove non-stop past Barstow, got in a coupla winks at a roadside rest, then motored on home to La Honda – stopping at the Romero Visitors Center at the San Luis Reservoir Dam to take in the excellent videos they have on display. On the 152? Check it out, an underutilized treasure of water system interpretation. Finally made it home and there was our neighbor Steve. I love driving, but I love being home more…

Thanks again for coming along. Time to stay home, do some spring cleaning, and enjoy lil’ ol’ La Honda!

Bye for now…

After experiencing the 2024 solar eclipse (and a burger at Ringo’s), I hightailed it out of Kerrville – and Texas – making it to Carlsburg New Mexico by nightfall (where I slummed it in a neighborhood). Next day I motored on to Roswell, and of course had to visit the International UFO Museum…

From Roswell to Albuquerque, not feelin’ it, so on to Santa Fe. Another Alan, the proprietor at the charming Guadalupe Inn, talked me into two nights there, and I was not disappointed. I crashed a poshy book signing, chatted with a Turkish merchant, strolled the old town, went to a ‘ceramics pub,” browsed a fraction of the huge art scene, and had an upscale chile rellano for dinner…

The next day I biked around town and took in some of the classic sites, including the Spanish churches (one with a mysterious spiral staircase), the extreme antiquities (oldest house in America, etc.), more of the art scene, and not a few of the tourist attractions…

Here’re a couple of video clips – some wind art and a ride down Canyon Road, famous for the many art galleries…

Just a few of the things that caught my eye on Canyon Road…

On a tip, I went to the Capitol building and took in some of the art there. This batch includes more of Santa Fe and ends with the Guadalupe Inn (serendipity strikes again!)…

Based on yet another great recommendation from Alan at the Inn, after leaving Santa Fe I went to Bandelier National Monument, an ancient Native American pueblo site in Frijoles Canyon. It features an array of cliff dwellings, petroglyphs, and some ruins. Once again I was impressed by our National Park System (and bought my lifetime senior park pass there!)…

This batch features some of the petroglyphs and only a sampling of the extensive and relevant interpretive signage (not to mention the creek that runs through it)…

An eclectic, randomized batch: I motored on to Taos, taking “the high road” but avoiding Los Alamos. I stayed at the somewhat famous Hotel La Fonda, right on the zocalo. Interestingly, it featured some paintings somewhat hidden away in a conference room by the author D. H. Lawrence. Like his novels, they were rather lurid (I guess?). There were some other pictures, including a one of a kind photo of Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider had been filmed nearby). Combo plate…!

Leaving Taos the next day, I tried to go to the Taos Pueblo, but it was closed. So I went to the Rio Grande Gorge bridge. (It didn’t occur to me to jump until I saw the Crisis Hotline phone.) Then, I drove to Chaco Canyon, one of my bucket list destinations, and one not easy to get to. In addition to the hours on the road, the last stretch is a dirt road way out on the plains. Note the wild horses!

Here’s a clip of the last bit before the National Monument Visitor’s Center (again excellent)…

I’d heard about Chaco Canyon at the time of the Harmonic Convergence, and have always wanted to visit. It was an outstanding experience, and amazing to think of this vast complex being at it’s height a thousand years ago. It predates the amazing Mayan and Incan ruins I’ve visited.

The area is rather vast, and was likely looted of artifacts, but is still one of the amaziing places on earth – and a UNESCO World Heritage Site…!

I like to add some pix of the signage and I trust you’ll take the time…? Perhaps a better way to give meaning to my pix…?

I was even able to take a little bike ride which added more to the experience as I went further than I would have on foot. Finally, I left Chaco, drove back out on the dirt road, and powered up to Colorado for another ancient Native American experience at Mesa Verde. But that’ll be part of my next post, having left New Mexico – and the much older world that was here before…

Wow! You made it…

“Gracias amigos”

I write from Kerrville Texas on the morning of April 8th, three hours+ before the total eclipse that I spent three days driving to experience. Now, I continue writing two days later from Santa Fe New Mexico, finally putting this post together.

Just to assuage curiosity, let me start with one of my only eclipse glimpses when the clouds parted slightly and briefly. (Better images are available elsewhere.)

For some background, here are some links I found useful. One is about the Kerrville Eclipse Festival… https://www.kerrvilletexascvb.com/events/2024/kerrville-eclipse-festival

Even better, here’s an overview of the April 8th 2024 event: https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com

On the morning of April 5th, I left La Honda, with Mary Lynn’s approval, for the three day drive to Texas. Here are some pix from the road…

Finally arriving in Kerrville the night before, I found it to be kind of a charming town next to the Guadalupe River. Here’s their famous Schreiner Mansion…

Near there, I wondered into a public art gallery and a rather dense antique consignment store…

Next, I went to a local art gallery and enjoyed meeting the proprietor, Mike, and an artist named Luis. Interesting assortment…

On the day of the eclipse, I rode my bike down to the Folk Fairgrounds where the Eclipse Festival was taking place. (BTW, speaking of looking at the sun, the Texas wildflowers might have been as spectacular?)

Judging the cloud cover might be less further north, I rode along the Guadalupe River for a while, then jumped to a highway looking for a gap in the clouds. This batch starts with the partial eclipse, before totality, seen through the special eclipse glasses; then some of the struggles with clouds and finally my brief glimpses of the total eclipse…

Next up, here are four of my video clips (all quite short). First, along the road, then using the glasses, then the darkness of totality, and finally the brief glimpse through a break in the clouds…!

Well y’all, I’ll finish this post with a time lapse of my ride along the river path. One of the best parts of lil’ ol’ Kerrville…

Oh, yeah, here are some of those better pictures of the solar eclipse phenomenon…