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I’d never been to a city that requires drivers to pass through a security check and show their driver’s license but now I have….outside Los Alamos. Not surprising given its the home of the atomic bomb and today, a national research lab focused on national security and “nuclear stockpile stewardship.” The guy at the security check post told not to turn right as we drove into town because that could be a possible security breach. Okey doke. Los Alamos seemed utterly ordinary after that, at least on the surface, as we drove through.

We preferred to spend our time elsewhere, taking a very scenic drive to Los Alamos from ABQ, stopping several times. In Jemez Springs, we visited the local historic site: the ruins of a Spanish mission church dating to 1621-22 adorning a rugged canyon. Beyond the thick stone walls of the San José de los Jémez church are rudimentary benches underneath a wide open sky, the roof presumably long gone. We followed a short interpretive trail though the ruins of a 700-year-old village established by ancestors of today’s nearby pueblo, at around the same time as Plymouth Rock. We also admired the area’s red rock formations. Next trip to do: self-guided tours of Gisewa Pueblo and San Jose Mission; visit natural hot springs.

The village includes a cluster of shops that might be fun to explore and hiking trails.

We also drove though the Valles Caldera National Preserves, a flat 14-mile wide prairie-like expanse with dramatic patches of dark and light as clouds moved slowly in a bright blue sky. It was created by a volcanic eruption 1.2 million years ago. Hiking, biking, wildlife-gazing, fishing and cross-country skiing are available to those who venture out of their cars. We couldn’t tell if our borrowed car was being photographed to charge us $25 to drive into the preserves or if our national park pass would work! But guessing we (or the person we borrowed the car from) was charged.

In Santa Fe, we wandered around the historic plaza and the railyard district, visiting pricey shops and eating excellent New Mexican food at the famous Cafe Pasquale’s. (Huevos, tacos, lemon meringue tart). Much as I appreciate the beauty and sophistication of Santa Fe, I find it more one-note and less interesting to explore than Albuquerque, one of those underdog cities I’m drawn to maybe because I grew up outside Detroit andlearned to appreciate unlikely places where I’ve lived (Wichita, Des Moines…)