We got an early start this morning because we wanted to get out to Petroglyph National Monument before it got too hot. The park is jointly managed by the city and the National Park Service, and has multiple entry points. We chose to do the shorter trails, a short way back down the road. The climb is moderately challenging, with paved walking paths and some rock steps, but the impressive number of petroglyphs makes it worth it. We spent about an hour hiking around, taking pictures, and covered all three trails at that location. It was a good thing we started early, because by the end it was starting to get warm.

After a quick stop at a Sonic for some cherry limeades, we drove over to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History to do some science type stuff. It’s a small, relatively new, museum, but has some great exhibits covering everything from the early research to the Manhattan Project, through to the Cold War and current events. We got to tie it back to last year’s trip out to Oak Ridge, which Reese remembered quite well. We did a little shopping at the gift shop and then headed to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center for lunch and some more museum time.

The museum and exhibits were very well done, with lots of information about the different tribes, covering their history from before western contact through to today. They had a very good presentation about the various ways the Spanish and American governments mistreated them over time. Please go, take the time to read, listen, and learn. Many wrongs were done to these people, and it’s important that we learn from those episodes to keep them from happening again.

Once we were done there, we drove up to Kelly’s Brew Pub for dinner. It was a pretty good meal, but we were craving some dessert, so we decided to walk down the street to a frozen yogurt place. Until we saw the weather outside. The rain that has been following us all week finally caught up to us. We beat a hasty retreat to the car, arriving just in time to get hit by the first few drops of what turned out to be a few hours of severe storms. The wind had kicked up, to the point where trees were losing limbs, and the rain and street flooding made the drive back to the hotel quite the adventure. We did make it back in one piece, though slightly damp by the end of it.