Gettin' Outta Town

I had actually planned my summer vacation long before the fires started. But I'll be honest,  soon after the Las Conchas fire started & blazed out of control- threatening Los Alamos National Lab & quickly surpassing the largest wildfire ever recorded on NM record... I was anxious to leave & felt like I was just counting the days until I was finished with work. The skies always seemed hazy, sometimes with large plumes of smoke & sometimes eery sunrises like this one. All the surrounding forests were closed (rightly so!) and on June 30th, even our local trails in town were shut down. Though some people were not worried, I was on constant edge.... not just about the rapid spread of the fire, but of reports of danger from above ground stores of plutonium at the lab & what would occur should they ignite. (Not to mention pesky nuclear waste that "may have been disposed of in the -now burning-canyons surrounding LANL".) *Gulp*

Sunrise through smoke filled skies,  July 2nd 2011

So, needless to say, I was happy to get on the road today. (Having traveled for many years before settling in Santa Fe... I tend to get anxious if I am in one place too long anyhow... and it had been 6 months in the same place!) Below is the view as I left town~ 

Smoke from the Las Conchas fire looking toward Cochiti from I-25. You can hardly see the mountains & mesas~ click to enlarge.

The most recent reports from the inciweb state the Las Conchas Fire has now burned 127,821 acres & is 27 % contained. The Pacheco fire is now on monitor status @ 55% containment after having burned 10,250 acres. They have set up numbers to call for smoke concerns, as well as mental health concerns. I must not have been they only one anxious over these fires! In fact, this tells me that there were a considerable number of people that shared these concerns. At any rate, I am glad to get away for a bit... and will have some road trip pics to share soon. Hope you are all well...