Spring Break 2011

This year for spring break we took a 3-part trip: 1) to Albuquerque to see part of Mike's family and our new nephews, 2) then to Santa Fe and Taos, and 3) then to Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado.

We met Mike's family in Albuquerque, where his brother and sister-in-law live. Bob and Emily have two of the cutest little baby boys EVER, and we got to spend time with them, along with Mike's parents (who live in Fairbanks, Alaska) and grandparents (who live in St. George, Utah). We had a great time.

Here's Mike's brother, Bob, with both of the boys. Isaac, on the left, was born in February. Dean, on the right, was born in October. Bob and Emily got to adopt Dean soon after he was born, and he got a little brother just a few months later! Dean stares at Isaac like this when he's screaming. Dean seems to find his brother sort of confusing.

Here's Dean modeling the hoodie that Aunt Melissa knitted for him. He is the happiest baby! He smiles at everyone and everything. I find him irresistible.

And here's Dean modeling a soccer uniform from his Aunt Rachel in England
Isaac, I'm sorry I don't have more pictures of you. Your big brother is just more photogenic right now, but I'm sure you'll catch up soon!

Part two of our trip included a visit to Pecos National Historical Park, just outside of Santa Fe. (Note: This park has nothing to do with Pecos Bill.) The Park preserves several layers of history: the Pecos Pueblo, Spanish mission, and sites of a Civil War battle. Who knew that there was a Civil War battle in New Mexico? The ruins of the pueblo and the Spanish mission are fascinating. Around 2,000 American Indians lived in the pueblo, in apartment-like homes. It was a self-contained town. The first church that the Spanish conquistadors built on the site was burned down by the Indians, but the church was rebuilt.

Pueblo and church ruins
Landscape around the ruins: cacti, pinon, and the Sangre de Cristo mountains in the distance
Ladder to an intact kiva -- a sacred ceremonial space in the pueblo
Ruins of a kiva
Mike standing in the church. Notice the beams sticking out of the adobe.

After Pecos, we spent some time in Taos. We really wanted to go to the Taos Pueblo, which is a living and lived-in pueblo, unlike the ruins of Pecos, but the Pueblo was closed to visitors for the day. We dropped by the public library, spent some time in a bookstore (yes, we're book nerds), and then went to the Mabel Dodge Luhan house. Mabel Dodge ran a kind of salon for artists and thinkers. Friends who stayed at her home include D.H. Lawrence, Georgia O'Keefe, Ansel Adams, and Carl Jung. It's an interesting place with a great counter-cultural history. Mike wanted to visit the house because of a book he studied in grad school, Utopian Vistas.

The Mabel Dodge Luhan house
Mountains outside Taos
And the Taos Public Library

We spent the last part of our trip in southern Colorado. We visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, which is a national park I had not heard of before. It's sort of unreal -- a huge sand basin at the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountains (left by an ancient lake) has created the tallest sand dunes in North America.

The long view, approaching the dunes
We did a little bit of climbing in the dunes -- walking in sand like that is hard work!

Here's a Boy Scout troop climbing up into the dunes -- I thought it was a nice photo to get some perspective on how huge this pile of sand really is.
And in case you thought this landscape looked desolate and empty, here are some deer we saw on the way in to the park.