New Mexico Bucket List – E ~ Blogging Through the Alphabet

When we visit Albuquerque, NM, we love to go to Explora! This is a hands-on science museum for children that is also awesome for adults. There are tons of things to do and you can easily spend all day long exploring the options and activities.

The water section is one that always draws the girls. Figuring out how locks work, how air in water pipes affects water flow, what water falls do, and discovering how quickly different pipes and buckets fill when water is directed different ways are just a few of the water activities. There is also a giant bubble area that we tend to spend quite a bit of time at.

Another section has brain teaser puzzles and logic challenges. These are often pictures or wooden puzzles to work with. The last time we were there, they had added an electronic puzzle or two.

There is an electrical area where the kids can work with circuitry. Magnetic circuits, wired one way circuits, and more are set ups that the kids can use and change and figure out. This is one place where Miss E spent a lot of time on our last visit.

Ever ridden a bicycle high above the ground on a single wire? You can do that at Explora! They have a bicycle that can be ridden. They hook you up so that you have no way of falling and the everything is super safe. It is still a strange sensation to be riding high above the people exploring the areas a story below you. Very neat, though.

One of the favorite places of the girls is the sand table. It is set up with a light feature that shows the elevation changes. So, as you are playing and scooping the sand from one place to another, the marks change to show the changes in height. Just like on a topographical map, lines close together show sharper inclines and father apart show more gradual changes. The girls will play at this particular table until we tell we have to leave.

And spinning illusions are fun, too!

There are plenty of other exploration areas at Explora! These are just a few highlights on our tour of New Mexico.

Enchanted Circle is a group of communities in the mountains of northern New Mexico. They are connected by a beautiful drive through the forests. This circle is about 85 miles and takes around 3 hour without stops in the lovely communities. It circles the state’s highest peak – Wheeler Peak at 13,161 feet. The communities of Taos, Eagle Nest, Red River, Angel Fire, Taos Ski Valley, and Questa are all a part of the circle.

Each of the communities has something special to stop for. From a visit to the DH Lawrence Memorial to a fish hatchery, from a Vietnam Veterans memorial to hiking or skiing, there is something for everyone on this circle. Taos is well known for both the native culture and the artist culture. The ski areas often have their lifts open in the summer to be able to visit the highest parts of the mountain and hike down (or ride the lift down, too). Go skiing in winter. Find festivals and activities throughout the year to take time for during your visit. You can plan to make the trip in a single day or take several and really explore the area.

photo credit NPS

El Morro National Monument can be found in the northwest quadrant of the state, closing in on the Arizona state line. El Morro is a place where travelers have stopped for hundreds of year. It was a reliable water spot so people have left their marks here in the sandstone of the area. There are over 2,000 inscriptions, petroglyps, and carvings to be found. There are hiking trails to be explored that take you to see the pool, which holds water year round, or up to the top of the mesa and the pueblo site that has been partially excavated and reconstructed.

El Morro was an ancestral puebloan home, as is evidenced by the ruins found on the top of the sandstone cliffs. There was a large pueblo that contained well over 800 rooms and housed between 1,000 and 1,500 people. They farmed on the plains surrounding the mesa, growing corn and beans with irrigated fields.

photo credit NPS

The Spaniards also used this oasis during their times of exploration and settlement. After the Spaniards were pushed out of the area by the native peoples, the settlers from America began to come into the area. Many used this as a stop in their westward caravans. Year round, El Morro National Monument is beautiful and has vistas worth seeing.

Blessings,
Lori, At Home.

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Inlinkz Link Party

Each week we will be linking up with the hosts of Blogging Through the Alphabet. Please visit some of these other blogs to get things like book lists, vegan recipes, and wonderful places to visit, just to name the topics I can think of off the top of my head.

• Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool
• Christine @ Life’s Special Necessities 
• Kimberly @ Vintage Blue Suitcase
• Dawn @ Schoolin’ Swag
• Wendy @ Life On Chickadee Lane
• Yvonne @ The Life We Build
• Jennifer @ A Peace Of Mind
• Kristen @ A Mom’s Quest To Teach
• Kirsten @ DoodleMom Homeschool

You can also join us and link up your own Blogging Through The Alphabet Post!! Just be sure to follow these simple rules–

* Each post must be family friendly. If it is not, we have the right to remove it.
* When linking up to this post, you give us permission to share your post and/or a photo from your post in future posts and social media shares.
* Place the Blog Button from the site onto the post you are linking up.
* Use the hashtag #abcblogging when promoting your post. This will help us find you and help us promote you as well.
* If you have time, check out a few of the other posts and share the love.
* The most important rule is to make sure you are having fun! This is not something we want you to be stressed out over. We want to see all the fun ideas that everyone comes up with for the letters!

Tagged: ABC blogging, field trips, New Mexico, travel/trips