Random information – we think we found the cheapest gas so far on this trip in Bernalillo, New Mexico for $3.11 a gallon. Scott is his father’s son and has managed to go down a few one way streets the wrong way while on this trip. My favorite wrong way moment was at a McDonald’s. The locals just backed up and tried to get out of his way. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles anyone? “You’re going the wrong way!!!”
I was so proud of Scott. While he isn’t always into museums he came up with the idea of stopping at the Explora Museum in Albuquerque. We only intended to spend a few hours; however, the kids were thoroughly enjoying themselves, and for that matter, so were we. We had Internet access too, so we both indulged in collecting information and chatting with friends for a bit. We were amazed how long the kids would stay at one activity.
The first order of business was the aerial bike ride. Scott first did this in St. Louis with Ed and Kayla a few years back. There are signs that state that you should keep the bike upright, but Scott put on quite a show for the museum visitors a story below.
Cody loves building. He asked me to build with him, but what he really wanted was for me to hand him blocks and watch him build. We wanted to see how high we could go. He went super high!
I went with Brooke for more than thirty minutes while Scott worked with Cody. Cody worked on balancing activities while Brooke and I worked with a motion camera. We must have run back and forth in front of this thing at least thirty times. You were supposed to make the patterns on the sides of the screen. We did one. It was easier said than done! The picture on the right was one of Brooke’s favorite mindless entertainment activities. It was a magnifying camera that Brooke used to look at rocks and fabric, mostly her shirt and finally we digressed to this inside of her mouth. Yuck! It reminded me of the Blue Man Group when they chose Scott out of everyone in the audience to shove a camera into his mouth. Better him than me. I tried to distract Brooke as quickly as I could when she started in with the mouth movie.
The first picture is of a flying simulation of sorts. It was challenging, but Brooke was very excited to finally get it. We went out to the van for lunch and had a picnic in the park across the street from the museum. The park had multiple exercise stations. The kids would have kept exploring the exercise stations, but Scott and I were hungry. The kids snacked better than we did before we went into the museum.
It is hard to tell, but Scott is sporting his new rear-view mirror for biking on his sunglasses while we were picnicking in the park. We had a fellow paddler come and mention his awe of our van setup while we were eating. He also mentioned his worry for the security of the things on the van. When Scott and I traveled the country in from 97’ to 98’ we had the entire roof rack complete with a full clam shell and two bikes ripped right off the van. Everything was cabled together, so instead of wasting time unraveling everything someone just took the entire Yakima rack. Consequently Scott has been more of the attitude that if someone wants something badly enough they will find a way to get it. However, after the friendly advice and chat about paddling Scott did string a cable though everything. Cody was jumping at a chance to get back into the museum. We headed back to the water table and spent a REALLY long time diverting water and creating dams. They were very serious about their work. When I noticed Brooke taking over the entire table for too long I pulled her over to another water exhibit that incorporated air pressure. It took her quite some time to discover how to make it work, but she was very official and excited to explain her discoveries and the connection with transporting water in cities with air pressure.
These were two more exhibits that included water and building. We easily could have spent an entire day just playing with water.
This was the largest elevator any of us have ever been in. I’m pretty sure it was bigger than both the kids’ rooms. Brooke was putting on a dance performance while we waited to go between floors. The photo on the right is from the Chain Reaction Room. Brooke experimented with motion and chain reactions. Cody just liked dropping balls and chasing them.
The large fountain in the center of the museum. Brooke’s reaction in the middle photo is because they were hiding in a little nook with a curtain. I broke in and I was able to get a picture. Different colored lighting caused different pictures to appear on the walls. One of Cody’s favorites was the tube of air and flinging balls everywhere by moving the tube demonstrating or rather not demonstrating the Bernoulli Effect.
This is such an easy thing to do at home. Dozens of Dixie cups, some washers, brads, scissors and a blow dryer on cool. Brooke experimented with what design flew the highest and twirled the most. More or less weight? More or less rotors? What about how long the rotors are? I was very proud of Brooke. She wanted to bring every Dixie cup flyer into the van. I assured her I have enough pictures of the experimenting to wallpaper her entire room. She threw the flyers away. Cody found the train table not long before we left. He could have spent hours in this little nook. Back to the water table…
This water station let kids experiment with locks and dams. Brooke’s smile says, “Can’t I just play and not smile every five minutes?” The picture in the middle really should take center stage of the entire post. The kids spent a cumulative of over an hour, no exaggeration, just watching and trying to control the pathway of the balls. If ever in Albuquerque with children the Explora! museum is a must.
Tonight’s fine accommodations: Bluewater Campground. It took about an hour and a half to drive here from the museum in Albuquerque. I saw a woman “walking” her dog while driving her truck. The RVs were all gathered around the water. We probably would have taken a ride on the canoe in the morning, but we were on a mission to get to Flagstaff for the fireworks. The picture on the right was taken under duress. Cody doesn’t always like to pose for me, so I told him he could have his shovel if he gave me a picture. Next time I’ll have to negotiate a smile too. Scott claims he walked next to a cow on his way to the outhouse. We thought he had been driving too long, but Brooke and I did eventually find hoof prints and other evidence on the ground.
