Road Trip 2026 - Part 3 (Albuquerque to Los Alamos)

 We pulled into Lost Alamos just before dark in the middle of a heavy drizzle and fast-dropping temperatures that kind of surprised us. We were not at all prepared for the combination of rain, wind, and the lower temperature that came with an elevation of over 7,000 feet above sea level, and immediately wished we had not packed our jackets away. A bigger surprise, however, was the little guard post we encountered in the middle of the road as we approached the city.

As it turned out, I was required to hand over my photo ID to a guard who carefully scrutinized me before telling me I was OK to drive forward, but forbidden to turn right for the next mile-and-a-half. I had no idea that level of security, at least from the direction from which we entered the city, still exists in Los Alamos. Then we got an even bigger surprise when we learned that there are basically just three hotels in the immediate area - and that it was going to cost over $300 for one night in what was probably the worst hotel room of our entire 15-day trip. Supply vs. demand, and all that good stuff.

There are two first-class museums in the city that are worth a visit, and  they are close enough to each other that they can be visited in a single day without feeling that you've shortchanged either the museums or yourself. The Los Alamos History Museum includes a self-guided walking tour that gives a feel for what the town was like during the critical days of the Manhattan Project.

This is the home occupied by Robert Oppenheimer during the project. Unfortunately for us, the home is in the midst of some extensive renovation work at the moment, so we were unable to see the interior. I snapped this truncated picture of the old house so that I could hide the portion of the yard and home where most of the work seems to be happening right now. 

Edwin McMillan, the 1951 Nobel laureate in chemistry lived in this house across the way from Oppenheimer from 1942 to 1945 while working on the project. (It is now called the Hans Bethe House after the name of the man who purchased it after the war.) Luckily, as the photos below will indicate, this one is open to the public:

As you can see from the first two photos, the house still very much has a 1950s look to it. The home's bedrooms house museum exhibits including this one highlighting the work of Stanislaw Ulam, a Polish-born mathematician whose work was instrumental on the project (especially the math that made Fat Man's explosive lens possible. I love the fact that his tiny slide rule is here, but just seeing a slide rule again brought back some rather painful memories of my struggles to use a considerably larger one back in high school...don't know how he could even read the scales on one this small.

The Bradbury Science Museum is run by the Los Alamos National Laboratory and is free of charge. It houses numerous interactive exhibits spread over its three galleries, and it covers the Manhattan Project from its beginnings during World War II through the present day. Today, the research focuses on supercomputers, biotechnology, and climate science. There's a lot to take in at this museum, but most people seemed to be most fascinated by the full-scale replicas of Fat Man and Little Boy.

Fat Man

Little Boy

We also enjoyed a look at the Fuller Lodge which is right across from the History Museum, This lodge was built in 1928 and was home to Los Alamos Ranch School (an exclusive boy's school) right up until it was taken over by the Army in 1943 while the Project work was being done. It then housed lots of support staff and became a social center for the scientists and their families. It is now a National Historic Landmark that museum visitors can wander around in a bit on their own.

While we were there, the lodge was temporarily housing a bunch of senior citizens from next door whose own building was undergoing some extensive air conditioning and heating work. The seniors seemed to really love their new digs. 

Back Side of Fuller Lodge

We left Los Alamos in mid-afternoon and headed to Scotts Bluff, Nebraska, along the old Oregon Trail, to see what would turn up there. (Part 4 to follow)