Cole - Flat Stanley Visits New Mexico!

Hello,

We are Cole Smith's Nana and Papa from New Mexico.  New Mexico is a state located in the Southwestern portion of the United States.  We live in what is called a "high desert region."  High Desert, because it is usually very warm and dry here.  Needless to say it doesn't rain here very much.  We live approximately 5000 feet above sea level.  That is almost as high as Mt. Washington that is located near you. Flat Stanley was sent to us by Cole and we are enclosing a few items to give you a little bit of information about New Mexico.

We had a wonderful time visiting with Flat Stanley.  We have included some pictures of Flat Stanley here in New Mexico.  The first one is of him at "The PIT."  This is the arena where the University of New Mexico Lobo Basketball team plays.  This particular night the Lobos played the #6 team in the nation and there were over 15,000 fans.  The PIT can be one of the loudest places when the fans begin cheering.  The game was featured on National TV and the Lobos won!!!  Flat Stanely was very excited and cheered along with the rest of us.  In the picture you will see the Lobo picture in the middle of the basketball court.  Do you know what Lobo stands for in Spanish?  It stands for wolf, so there is a lot of "howling" when the Lobo's play.

There is also a picture of Flat Stanley in our backyard.  Next door we have two horses that we like to visit and feed them grass.  We are sure Cole remembers them from his visit with us last summer.  Flat Stanley really liked the horses.

Also we some pictures of Tent Rocks Park in New Mexico.  They call it that because the rocks look like tents.  You can look up and see the sky while you are surrounded by rocks.

There are several post cards enclosed.  Flat Stanley saw a few of these places.

1. A pictures of Albuquerque, the biggest city in New Mexico.
2. The Sandia Mountains that border the eastern portion of Albuquerque.  The highest peak here is almost 11,000 feet above sea level.  You can go up to the crest either on the tram from the west side of the mountains or you can drive around to the east side and ride up to the crest in your car.  You get a beautiful view of the city from here and at night the light twinkle because of the high altitude.  
3. A picture of a kiva.  These were used by the Native Americans many years ago and were a place of importance in their culture.
4. Taos Pueblo where Native Americans still live as their ancestors did over 1,000 years ago, long before Christopher Columbus discovered America.
5. Camel Rock.  Can you see the shape of a camel in the rocks?  This is also located on Native American land.
6. Ship Rock.  Do you think it looks like a ship?  It is located in the northwest corner of New Mexico.  This is a volcanic rock 1,400 feet high.  It is located on Navajo land.
7. Carlsbad Caverns.  Cole went here last summer with his Mom, Dad, brother and his Nana and Papa.  It is an underground cave, one of the largest in the world.  There are many wonderful shapes formed by stalactites and stalagmites.  Do you know the difference between them?
8. The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, one of the largest in the world.  The balloons are all special shapes and sizes.  We especially like the Darth Vader Balloon.
9. Last but not least the San Felipe de Neri Church located in Old Town.  Cole was here too and we all went inside.  In was built in 1793.  This is the oldest part of the city where the Spanish settlers came and built their homes many, many years ago.

We have also included something from the University of New Mexico where Cole's Nana works.  It is a flag of the mascot for UNM, the Lobo.  The main campus of the university is located in Albuquerque and over 30,000 students attend UNM.  Cole's Nana and Papa love to go to the football and basketball games and see the Lobos play.  Flat Stanley likes them too.

We hope you enjoy learning a little about New Mexico.  It is called the "Land of Enchantment" for many reasons.  There are beautiful deserts, mesas (a flat topped mountain with steep cliffs), mountains and beautiful forests, historic ruins from the Spanish settlers and Native Americans who first settled New Mexico and much, much more.

Thank you for sending Flat Stanley.  We enjoyed our visit with him and will now pass him on to someone else to send you more items from a different state.

Eileen and Orlando Sanchez

(Cole Smith's Nana and Papa)

The University of New Mexico "PIT".  The mascot "The LOBO" is in the middle of the court.  The game was due to begin in about 1/2 hour and the stands were starting to fill up.  Flat Stanley really enjoyed the game.  He was "howling" as loud as any fan!!!

Flat Stanley enjoyed a sunny day in the backyard of Nana and Papa's house.  The horses were out back today and he enjoyed seeing them.

This is Valles Caldera National Preserve in the Jemez Mountains.  While standing here you are actually inside a volcano.  This area was formed by a volcano many years ago.  A caldera is a cauldron-like feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption.  As you can see the land is surrounded by mountains, this is because the land sank from the explosion of the volcano.  This is a picture of the lava dome that sits inside the caladera.

This is a picture of Tent Rocks.  Do you think they look like Tents?

This is inside one of the rock formations.  You are surrounded by rocks but can see the clear blue sky.  Do you like to rock climb?