NEW MEXICO, DAY 4: VALLES CALDERA NATIONAL PRESERVE AND LOS ALAMOS

 June 28, 2021

This post covers two places that at first glance appear to have nothing in common other than that we visited them on the same day: the Valles Caldera National Preserve and Los Alamos. Read through the post and see if you can find the common link.

After our trek through Bandelier National Monument, we headed into the Jemez Mountains to the Valles Caldera National Preserve, which contains one of three supervolcanoes in North America, the other two being Yellowstone and Long Valley (eastern California, the central Sierra Nevada Range). A series of volcanic explosions here a million years ago was 500 times larger than the Mt. St. Helens eruption in 1980. The resulting caldera is 13.7 miles across and is crisscrossed by streams that give it a lush green hue.

This panoramic camera shot just doesn't do the vastness justice. The valley is ginormous.

More shades of green than I knew existed carpet the flat caldera floor, and dramatic clouds provided a nice backdrop for photos.

LOUISIANA: NEW ORLEANS, Part 2 - National World War II Museum and New Orleans Museum of Art

November 6-10, 2019 

I visited two really good museums while I was in New Orleans: The National World War II Museum and the New Orleans Museum of Art.

1. The National World War II Museum

At the end of a long day of conferencing, I grabbed a taxi (Uber was SUPER slow in New Orleans, but a cab was always waiting at the hotel) and headed to what Congress designated in 2003 as America's official National World War II Museum. The museum's website states, "The National WWII Museum tells the story of the American experience in the war that changed the world--why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today--so that all generations will understand the price of freedom and be inspired by what they learn."

Originally called the D-Day Museum, the museum opened (appropriately) on June 6, 2000. It is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution and is worth much more time than I was able to give to it. Since its opening it has had many expansions and added many new exhibits. It is a must-see museum, whether your are a war buff or history aficionado or neither. Just go.

I started in the European theater section, and was reminded that the United States lost far fewer of its service members than its enemies did.

The war was also NOT a popular cause in the early years.