Los Alamos

Los Alamos! The last part of the jigsaw for the first atomic bomb. The Ranch Schoolhouse in Los Alamos is the last destination in the trail. It was here that the USA set up a 'hothouse' of American, British and European physicists to design and make a usable weapon. The Manhatton Project was directed from, and Uranium and Plutonium were made at, Oak Ridge,TN. The bomb was assembled and tested at Trinity Site, 20o miles to the south. But here in Los Alamos were the theoroticians, mathematians and designers who fashioned the bomb from a theory to reality.
Los Alamos itself was an almost deserted mesa (flat plateau) over 7,000ft up in the mountains near Santa Fe. There was only a dirt road up to it. A mall number of native americans and a private outdoors school were the only inhabitants. This was considered to be the place to build the second secret town (Oak Ridge being the first). Within months the flat mesa becasme home to 10,000 people, scientists, builders, security, machinists, logistics, teachers and families.
Los Alamos was so secret that its existence was not even known about in detail by the locals. In Santa Fe (25 miles away) it was known just as 'The Hill' by anyone who worked for them. Every piece of mail had to go through a single Post Office box with the address P.O. Box 1663, Santa Fe. Birth certificates, marriage, certs and driving licences were issued to that address - driving licences did not have names, merely numbers. (see History of Los Alamos)
On Sunday we drove up to Los Alamos. This is a most spectacular drive amongst lava flows, cliffs, buttes and on up the side of the mesa. There are stopping places which enabled us to get out and be amazed at the breathtaking views (which of course mere photos cannot begin to describe) of the mesas, the valleys, the Rio Grande Rift Valley and the mountains beyond. We could easily see the Ski Valley Mountains behind Taos, more than 70 miles away (I checked on the map). We drove on into the town, which was very quiet. Stopped at the visitor center and laid our plans. There is a simple walking tour which we took, stopping first to have a cuppa at Ruby's Bagels, (alright - I had an apricot croissant as well). The tour took us to the Fuller Lodge, the only part of the original Ranch School still standing, past the Ashley Pond, punningly named after Ashley Pond II, one of the directors of the original Ranch School. We could also see the house where J Robert Oppeheimer lived for the duration. Unfortunately the original laboratories and school had all been demolished in the 60,s. We had our lunch in the garden infront of the Fuller Lodge, very pretty, with lots of blossom (yes our move north and upwards means that we are still in early spring, we even saw daffodils in bloom). From there we went to the local Bradbury Museum. The whole community is dominated by the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which does a lot of basic research for the government, but those areas are still not open to the public.
By the time we had done all this we were both ready to come back, once again enjoying the views as we came back down the mountain.