Wednesday, August 23, 2006

The Home Stretch

This is my last travel log and it is actually being done after we have returned to our home in New Jersey and I’ve entered an incredibly packed schedule with very little time to do things. Not that I’m complaining, because I do thank G-d that I am busy.

After we left the Grand Canyon we drove east toward New Mexico through our last stop in Arizona at the Petrified Forest National Park.  It is the most incredible collection of petrified wood, but also its beautiful blue mesas and painted desert landscapes were breath taking.  From there we went to state I’ve never been to, New Mexico, which lived up to its reputation of glorious desert canyon landscapes where ever one traveled.

We first went to Albuquerque and visited the Old Town which really made it feel like you were in Old Mexico. After we went to Santa Fe with its beautiful adobe houses- what an incredible city it is. I did not realize it was the oldest capitol city in the United States dating back when the conquistador times.  The oldest church which is an old adobe structure, the palace of the governors, the plaza square, and the list goes on and on.

The next morning we woke up early in the morning and did something I wanted to do my entire life, visit Los Alamos, where the world’s first atomic bomb was built. There were many reasons why I wanted to visit, obviously the use of the atomic bomb in Japan was one of the most important stories of the 20th century, but more important I just read an incredible book that won a Pulitzer prize last year, “American Prometheus”, which is about the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer with much about his time in Los Alamos.  While there we visited the exact place where the first atomic bomb was assembles we saw the home of were J.
Robert Oppenheimer lived from 1943 to 1945.  We visited the Bradbury Museum, which is run by The National Laboratory, the successor to the Manhattan Project, which built America’s entire nuclear arsenal.  I found it interesting to be in a museum that has not apologized for America’s need for nuclear bombs and missiles. Of course they emphasize it is much more that just the nuclear site, but they don’t shy away from how the principle reason of The National Laboratory is to build nuclear weapons.

Form there we traveled until Shabbos came in to the great Sand Dunes National Park.   We walked in the tallest dunes in North America on the Sabbath, our day of family, friendship, and prayer (never any driving) so we had a lot of walking to do.  I gave up half way to the top but my son, Mendy, and my daughter, Shania, made it all the way to the top where they saw an endless landscape of dunes.

After that the Sabbath was over we drove to Denver Colorado to catch our flight home.  First we stopped in Colorado Springs where we saw beautiful rock formations in the Valley of the G-ds and after that I fulfilled another life long dream of visiting the Air Force Academy which has the most beautiful campus.  I was amazing to watch the cadets walk around dressed in their matching white shirts and dark pants. I’m a great believer in and have the highest respect for the military.  I have already visited West Point Academy, the army’s cadet school, and the Naval School of Annapolis, so I have always wanted to go to the Air Force campus which was the prettiest of them all. The cadets speak to you and answered all the questions by calling me sir.

 From there we traveled on to Denver where we finally were able to eat kosher food at a kosher restaurant and flew the whole night on jet blue to come home.  This summer’s journey was truly an unforgettable opportunity and I am so glad I was able to share the beauties of America’s natural landscape and the wonders of the extremely rich history with my family and of course with you.  G-d Bless.