We Walked for Billions of Years

MARCH 31, 2019: Thanks to all of the places and attractions we have visited so far in Albuquerque, I have learned something (quite a bit actually). Things like how the Japanese successfully bombed the United States in the latter stages of World War II via hot air ballon in what was called the Fugo project. Or why the weather pattern in Albuquerque is so great for hot air ballooning due to the phenomena named the Albuquerque Box. Both of these factoids were taken in at the Albuquerque International Balloon Museum. I’m not sure if I have learned so much recently due to not really paying attention in school or that I am looking to learn. Either way, maybe these random factoids will pay off in a trivia game in the future. Hopefully one that has a big jackpot!

I say all that to let you know that I learned a lot at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and most of them involved an “AHA” moment. Luckily, I failed to write this post quickly enough to remember what those “AHA” moments really were. However, I do believe most of them ended with three people (Mom, Dad & Russ) glancing at me with a look on their faces that said, “Really, you just figured that out?!” Okay, history wasn’t really my strong suit, sorry to my history-teacher Aunt; and while I did love science, thanks to my science-teaching dad, sometimes the big idea things just went right over my head. The combination of the two is natural history which I think I must kind of like! Who knew?

The New Mexico Museum of Natural History is located just minutes from Albuquerque’s beautiful Old Town highlighted with century-old abode houses, narrow streets and all the Southwestern flair you could hope for. We were welcomed by Stan the T-Rex in the main foyer or atrium of the museum. We started with the minerals exhibit where we were awed by the beauty of gems and minerals found all around us on our way to the temporary exhibit Drugs: Costs & Consequences. It was an eye-opening exhibit detailing the impact drugs and their production have on all of us. The exhibit was split into two sections allowing us to first explore the problem with powerful displays about drug trafficking, money laundering and the costs of prescription drug abuse. From there we were guided through a section highlighting solutions. It was a well-laid out exhibit and provided us with a glimpse into the global impact drugs have from production to addiction. 

Well, could I pull it off?

We made our way through other visually-appealing exhibits detailing things like the human brain, the solar system and space research before heading to what I would say was the bulk of the museum, the Timetracks: Walk Through Time. We started at the origins of the Earth during the Precambrian and Paleozoic Period, continued to the the Ice Age, before arriving back into current day. This only aged us several billion years and I somehow managed to keep myself from developing a head full of gray hair. Shockingly, we did the million year walk in under an hour which seems like a big deal since it takes Usain Bolt 9.58 seconds to run a measly 100 meters. 

For the spatially-challenged in our group, sorry Mom, but I am grouping you with me on this one, I appreciated that the displays were set up in chronological order. Due to its location, the emphasis throughout the walk-through-time is New Mexico. There were dramatic displays on the state’s geological origins, fossils found locally and information from when New Mexico was where you would want to be for beachfront property. Sorry, New Mexico homeowners, you were too late, by say 75 million years!! So close!

So maybe it is time for me to head back to the Field Museum in Chicago or the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in D.C. to help transform those “AHA” moments into just things I actually know. Please tell me I’m not the only one still learning obvious things as an adult! We have found many of the museums to be really reasonably priced for what they have to offer and New Mexico Museum of Natural History also fits that bill (no pun intended). We opted out of the upgrades for the DynaTheater and Planetarium, but if you wanted to spend more time, those would be options to look into. 

Another thing we appreciated and enjoyed was the Hope Cafe located in the museum. The cafe serves as an employment training site for individuals attempting to leave the streets and escape poverty. Serving up deli-style food, locally roasted coffee and even gluten free treats all while helping support their employees who are working to break the cycle of homelessness. Make it a meal that matters.

While we gave it our best shot, we didn’t even hit all the highlights of Albuquerque with my parents. We always seem to leave something on the table when we spend time somewhere we enjoy, in hopes it will give us reason to return. The bad part about doing such is that our list of places to go to only gets longer, rather than shorter. Kind of like a honey-do list, right ladies??