Day 2 - Albuquerque and off to Route 66

Starting in the early morning of day two, we were introduced to the famous New Mexico winds!! After an evening of UNO and some drinks, we all retired to bed and overnight felt the brunt of what we felt was a hurricane. The RV shook and we all thought we'd wake up to debris, but it was quite pleasant. Despite the breezes, the weather was warm and only got warmer. After waking up MUCH earlier than normal (thanks, time change!), we all had breakfast and used some of the best showers an RV park has to offer and headed off to Albuquerque. Our first stop was the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. Absolutely worth the stop and the small entrance fee, we were able to learn about nuclear history, medicine, and technology, as well as see some great aircraft in the field nearby! We did decide to visit during an Asian Pacific Islander Awareness Event (or something of the like), so our visit was punctuated by drum beats and karate sounds, but a great experience overall. Some of the highlighted pics are below! (The first bomb pictured is a replica of the one dropped on Nagasaki called Fat Man.)

From there, we were all ready to eat so after a good amount of Googling, I suggested we check out Sadie's just north of Albuquerque. 

This may have been the best idea of the day. We chowed down on great (and a ton of) New Mexican food (enchiladas, burritos, tacos, and homemade chips and salsa - not to mention great Midori margaritas!) and ended up taking pounds of it home. After this food coma, the "kids" decided to head out to the American International Rattlesnake Museum. For $5, this is a GREAT stopover in Albuquerque. Bob, the museum director, is super excited about what he does and the amount of rattlesnakes (and other animals) and info was great to find out! Here are some snapshots of the museum exhibits:

I ended up purchasing a shirt for a $3 discount which meant I needed to change into my new shirt THERE and be a personal Rattlesnake Museum billboard :) I gladly accepted and we wandered back to the RV to head out on the road! We made our way out on Historic Route 66 out of Albuquerque and saw a number of landmarks along the way - be sure to check for an album of all our pics coming soon! For now, here are a couple highlights:

After seeing many abandoned buildings, trading posts, and Route 66 signage, we headed to Gallup, our last stop for the evening. After parking at our campsite at the USA RV Park, we quickly headed to camping mode and started our charcoal grill for some dinner and s'mores! A great start to our adventure, tomorrow comes the Grand Canyon! Until then, goodnight from New Mexico!