At 9:45 AM, bus will depart for the hour-long drive to Los Alamos.

You'll note how different the Los Alamos landscape is from that of Santa Fe. Your group leader will talk about how New Mexico's landscape has played a big role in the "why" of the nuclear energy development that has gone on in the state.

NM's 'hidden" and "difficult to reach" areas were one of the primary reasons the secrecy of the development of the atomic bomb was maintained. Some sites are still used by the U.S. Government.

From 10:45 AM - 12:45 PM, you'll have a guided bus and walking exploration of Los Alamos and its most significant areas.

Lunch will be from 1:00 - 2:00 pm.

The Los Alamos Historical Museum & Book Shop includes a Guest Cottage, built in 1918 for the Ranch School; it is the oldest continually-inhabited structure in town.

Detroit businessman, Ashley Pond, started the Los Alamos Ranch School in 1917 to help boys become strong young men through a life of rigorous outdoor living and classical education.

The faculty was made up of mostly Ivy League and other elite Eastern college graduates. The curriculum was standard for college prep schools of the time.

This school was integrated with Boy Scouts. Boys in the school belonged to Los Alamos Troop 22, and the Boy Scout uniform was the Los Alamos Ranch School uniform. The school educated more than 600 boys, including Gore Vidal.

When Fuller Lodge housed the Manhattan Project personnel from 1943 to 1947, the cottage continued to serve as an auxiliary guest house.

Now, it is an award-winning, comprehensive historical museum presenting the colorful and varied history of Los Alamos.

You'll see the outside of the Baker House, adjacent to the Historical Museum, that is a private residence. The log home is part of Bathtub Row, homes originally built for the Ranch School, and is marked with an interpretive plaque.

You'll visit Fuller Lodge and its Art Center. The lodge was built in 1928 as the Ranch School's dining room and kitchen, and has a fascinating history. The Art Center, located in the Fuller Lodge building, offers exhibits of works by local and regional artists.

At 3:30 pm, you'll stop at the Bradbury Science Museum, where there are some amazing displays of pre and post atomic-bomb-era collections.

Bus departs for Santa Fe at 5:00 PM.

From 8:00 - 11:00 AM, a scientist from Los Alamos National Lab and will present information about the Manhattan Project and developments since then in different areas of the state.

We'll explore how peace is being waged, ancient, medieval, and modern arms control, and how satellite monitoring of arms control agreements works. You'll also learn how radiation in the world is both naturally occuring and man-created.

Our guest instructor will help put the past together with the future, so you can be better informed about the development of that which can cause mass destruction, and how that same nuclear energy can generate so much good in the world, if it's properly used.

Again, you'll note another huge landscape and geology change as you descend in altitude about 1800 feet between Santa Fe and Albuquerque.

Albuquerque has also been involved in the "space age," and is home to the National Museum oF Nuclear Science and History.

This museum is the nation's only Congressionally-chartered museum of nuclear science and history. Established in 1969 and recently renovated and relocated, it's a great place to learn the story of the Atomic Age, from early research through today's peaceful uses of nuclear technology.

At 1:30 PM, when you arrive at the museum, you can explore how nuclear science continues to influence our world.

You'll have a special tour of the museum with their staff and docents.

Bus departs for Santa Fe at 4:00 pm, arriving there at 5:30 pm.

Hotel checkout time is no later than 12:00 noon.