Snow! And, What I Am Doing With Find A Grave, NM

Snow! We woke up to several inches of snow! This was April in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Kevin thought the snow wouldn’t stick but it sure did. The temps got down to the low 20s in the night. We realized this is the first snow HOWE (footnote 1) has ever been in! And, we have successfully avoided snow for over 3 years! We stayed home today and read, watched TV, and baked. I made, for the first time, Paula Deen’s Original Gooey Butter Cake. It was as amazing as eating it at her restaurants. So glad she posted the recipe. I also cooked ham and scalloped potatoes for dinner.

Santa Fe Outpost Before Mayflower, New Mexico History Museum, Santa FE, NM 04/25

Another day we got to the historic square just before 10:00 a.m. New Mexico Museum opened at 10:00 a.m. We were surprised to see most all the parking spots were full! “Clean livin’”, as Kevin says, and there was one spot open right in front of the museum. I learned Juan de Onate and 10 Franciscan priests and 500 followers founded a colony and capital in New Mexico in 1598. They wrecked looking for silver and gold. In 1610, the Palace of the Governors was built. This created the most northern outpost of the Spanish Empire. (Jamestown was 1607 and Plymouth was 1620).

3rd Cousin, Discharged “Due To Death From Pneumonia,” Santa Fe National Cemetery, Santa Fe, NM 04/25

Santa Fe National Cemetery. This is another beautifully laid out national cemetery. The white headstones just get our hearts every time. Some of the cemetery have the grave markers laying flat. We understand it is easy for caretakers to mow over thing but we feel at a national cemetery, the headstones should be standing up and proud. We stood and silently said our thanks for their outstanding service. Now, I like to see if we have relatives in the cemeteries around us. For Kevin, I found his 3rd cousin that means they share 2nd great-grandparents. Yelverton O’Bannon, 1816-1865. His papers on familysearch.org say he was in a California military group during the Civil War. Get this…it says on his discharge papers, he was discharged because he died. Yep, good reason to be discharged. Poor guy, died of pneumonia. 

Then we saw the famous PVT Dennis O’Leary. Seeing this story and the tombstone carved out of sandstone just makes one ponder. As I looked up the article later, I found this one So, not sure of the true story but interesting to see. It is the only statue in this cemetery, the cemetery website says. 

Kevin’s Picture: Charla Taking Photos For Find A Grave Requests, Santa Fe National Cemetery, Santa Fe, NM 0/425

I got out Find A Grave app on my iPhone and clicked on photo requests. (You can read about my thought process in last week’s blog post.) It probably seems very silly to some people, but to me, adding these pictures of the headstone for people who have requested them just make me feel like I am helping them connect in a special way. On Find A Grave, you can sign up to fulfill photo requests of headstones. You can also mark it with GPS location so someone can easily follow it and find the headstone. FYI- This cemetery is laying down new grass.

I feel so honored to do this, especially for those who served in the military, their spouse, or minor aged child who died. Find A Grave isn’t just for national cemeteries. We did 1.2 mile walking fulfilling photo and GPS requests. I got a message from the lady who had requested those headstone pictures saying thanks.

A few days later, we headed back to Los Alamos to do some more exploring. The drive continues to put is in awe of the beauty. We went right to Bradbury Science Museum. This is the museum we visited back in 2016. We found a new section that carried deep information about Manhattan Project. The other museum was more about the area and this one more about the Project. Both covered the history in excellent ways, we think. This museum has a lot of hands-on displays that excite the young and old. Very well done. 

We saw replicas of Fat Man and Little Boy. By the way, Fat Man was named for Prime Minister Chamberlain. Little Boy name came after Thin Man, named for Oppenheimer but Thin Man wasn’t able to be made.

Physics & Math Fabric, Atomic City Quilts, Los Alamos, NM 04/25

As we walked back to the truck parked at the museum, I looked up the address of Atomic City Quilts. Turns out it was right across the street! We walked there but didn’t see it. Turns out they have moved around the corner, according to a sign on one of the doors. It is a cute little shop. I immediately saw mathematical fabric. We asked the kind lady if she had fabric with bombs on it and she said no. We got some of the math-fabric. 

Palace Of The Governors, Built in 1610, This Is The Continuous Oldest Public Building Constructed By European Settlers In The USA.

1. “HOWE” is what we named our Alliance Avenue 36-ft 5th wheel. See: Home On WhEels and we pronounce it Howie. We live and travel in it full-time around the country.