Headed for the Nevada Test Site

We just spent a week of camping, walking, resting, reconnecting and rejoicing in the majestic San Pedro Mountains with the Rainbow Family, during which time we were cut off from phone and computer contact (glad to be back!). We made some great contacts with folks we'll be visiting in California, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Washington, Idaho and Montana over the next months . We'd love to tell you more about the Gathering but you'd never believe us--you'll just have to see one for yourself (next year in Main Meadow!).

On the way down from 9300 feet we passed through Los Alamos: Birthplace of the Atomic Bomb, and still home to Los Alamos National Laboratory(LANL) - owned by your US Department of Energy. Vestiges of top secret security remain throughout the city, especially at the massive atomic "campus" (read: weapons research and production facility) across the Rio Grande gorge. Street names like Oppenheimer, Trinity, and Bikini Atoll are constant reminders of the nuclear history there. Unfortunately, we arrived too late at The Black Hole - a salvage yard for materials from the lab started by a former LANL scientist - to acquire our much needed geiger counter, so we may have to return to this curious, haunting town on the mesas.

Now we're in beautiful Santa Fe, New Mexico, with Jay Coughlin, who heads Nuclear Watch New Mexico (http://nukewatch.org) and is one of the most knowledgeable activists around--both on nuclear issues and about his incredible home state. Good thing we'll be back in New Mexico next month for the Think Outside the Bomb conference in Albuquerque (August 13-16), because as both the birthplace of the bomb and the Land of Enchantment, New Mexico has much to teach.

Next stop: Las Vegas, Nevada, where we expect to link up with Code Pink allies, and then on to the Nevada Test Site this weekend for a big rally with many seasoned nuclear activists at the Nevada Desert Experience.