At the end of October, Travis had a business trip to the booming metropolis of Las Vegas, New Mexico and asked if we would like to come along. He has a project at an old military outpost/depot on the Sante Fe Trail called Fort Union which is about 20 minutes north of Las Vegas. He had been there once before and since we really didn't have anything going on we decided it was a great opportunity to see some different country on his work's dime. It is only a 5 hour drive so that really wasn't all that bad. The kids were so excited to go on an "adventure".
On Thursday Travis had meetings in the morning with some of the people from Fort Union so the kids and I were able to wonder around Las Vegas for a couple of hours. I wish we had more time! Las Vegas was a major hub in the railroad boom and there were many HUGE and gorgeous houses in "old town Las Vegas." Talking to the visitor's center guide she said at the peak of activity there were up to 100 trains going through Las Vegas on a given day. Now there are only 2 but they maintain the old railway depot and it was a lot of fun to look at all the pictures of the old trains in the lobby. The guide also said that there were 100 buildings that were on the registry of historic buildings. It was a lot of fun to just walk around. Jace kept asking if the houses that we were walking by were Cinderella's castle.
After we picked up Travis from his meeting we headed to Montezuma. It is a tiny town just outside of Las Vegas. There is a University there that hosts one of the World's Colleges at a place the locals call Montezuma's Castle. Apparently this is a school for foreign high school-age students. They come and learn about all sorts of things from conflict resolution to math and biology. Montezuma's Castle started out as a swank place where the railroad tycoons could stay, but over the years it turned into a Jesuit monastery and then was finally bought by the people who run the World's Colleges. The security was so tight at this place. They only allow tours a couple of times a year so we could only get as far as the soccer fields (and the security guard watched us the entire time).
Just outside the college there are some hot springs which are very HOT. Over the years people have built a series of pools going from the hottest (118 degrees, but in the summer up in the 120s!) the kiddie pool (around 108 degrees). If we had known about them earlier we definitely would've gone there. The water was so crystal clear and it was hard keeping the boys out of it.
We then went to see Fort Union on our way back up to Denver. At one time the Fort was a major crossing for the Sante Fe trail and it is crazy that you can still see the ruts in the ground where the wagons once went. Over the years with the elements and the locals taking whatever they could, the Fort has deteriorated. It was really awesome to walk around and get a feeling what it would've been like to have lived during that time. I am thankful for my modern conveniences and my comfortable lifestyle. I really don't think I would've lasted as a pioneer.
All in all it was a great trip and I think that everyone had a great time. Thanks for including us Trav!
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