Back To On The Grid Travels

On Monday I wrote a posting on Chimayo Pilgrimage. For two centuries, Hispanic and Native American pilgrims have made spiritual journeys to Chimayo, one of the most popular Catholic shrines in the Americas. As we drove to Los Alamos we passed by many pilgrims on the road hoping to reach Chimayo El Santuario today Good Friday. It was already 11:00 AM and they still had a great distance to cover. My bathroom question was answered when we spotted many porta potties along  the route. My other question is how does this huge crowd gathered at Chimayo get back to where they started from. None of these people carried camping equipment and the town of Chimayo is quite small for overnight accommodations.      

 The vista views around Los Alamos are stark and breathtaking. 

Los Alamos National Laboratory is one of two laboratories in the United States where classified work towards the design of nuclear weapons is undertaken.The core mission of the laboratory is national security. This laboratory was founded during World War II as a secret, centralized facility to coordinate the scientific research of the Manhattan Project, which developed the first nuclear weapons. .Tourists are not allowed at this laboratory but nearby is the Bradbury Science Museum. Displayed here are more than 40 interactive exhibits about the history of Los Alamos Laboratory and its ongoing science and research. 
After information overload I was ready for the wide open spaces. 

Bandelier National Monument Park nearby is a self-guided tour on mostly paved trails following red canyon walls. We enjoyed exploring the pueblo ruins by climbing ladders into the dwellings. 

Here you  can imagine what life might have been 10, 000 years ago. A peek inside the very tiny dwelling makes one wonder how more than one person could even live inside. 

I was fine with this climb but I drew the line with this 40 foot ladder climb.  

 Check out this photo of some very adventurous people. And not one of them was me!

Easter Deviled Eggs

Cook's notes:

This is a fun way to include deviled eggs on your Easter menu. I just used regular old food coloring from the grocery store baking aisle. I did however select to use the neon variety. 

Directions:

• You just remove the shell from your hard boiled egg, cut each egg in half, and remove the yolk and reserve for later. Then you dye the whites of the eggs just like you would when you dye an egg with it’s shell on.
• Depending on how many colors you’d like, take out glasses, and pour 3 drops of food coloring, 1 Tbsp vinegar, 1 tsp cider vinegar, and 1/2 c. room temperature water in each.

• Place eggs in glasses.
• Some colors take longer than others to achieve the level of darkness that you want. I used pink, purple, and turquoise. The turquoise took the least amount of time to get the intensity that I wanted. Both the pink and purple took some time.

• Pat eggs dry on a paper towel. Fill colored whites with yolk mixture.