Trinity Site

When we heard the Trinity Site Open House was to be on October 3, and we knew we were going to be in New Mexico, we altered our trip plans in order to attend.  We both have long been fascinated with the whole Manhattan Project, and this would be a way to perhaps complete the circle.

The morning started early for Bart, who had to leave Albuquerque by 5:30 to arrive in time.  Luckily we were staying at the Fite Ranch, just 10 miles away, so we didn't have to awaken until 6:00.  By 7:45, Katie, Teri, Don, Bart, Travis and I had assembled at the ranch and we were off.  The line to enter was astoundingly long, but we had taken the back road which put us ahead of many.  As we waited, I realized I had left my ID at the B&B.  Oops.  Fortunately, the guard took pity on me, and since everyone else had an ID, he decided I didn't look like a terrorist and let me in.

A 20-minute drive through the area and we were there.  We first opted to take a tour of the McDonald House, which is where the plutonium core was assembled.  Two hemispheres of plutonium were created from Uranium, and when they were ready, they were taken to the McDonald house.  The house itself is small, yet its story is huge.  After seeing the home, the swimming pool, and the barn, we went back to ground zero.

The Swimming Pool

There we learned what happened after the plutonium arrived on July 13.  The next day, presumably while the men in the house were working on the plutonium, the explosive assembly arrived from Los Alamos, and by that afternoon, all of the components were taken to the tower for final assembly.  By 5:00 p.m., July 14, the bomb was completely installed and ready.

It sat there for nearly 36 hours.  Yikes!  But on July 16, early in the morning, success.  Our family has a special story about that day.  The Tokay mine foreman was eating his breakfast when suddenly he saw a bright light and his plate-glass window in his front room shattered.  He called my grandfather and told him the windows in the mine had blown out, there was a bright light, and he didn't know what had happened.  It was only a few days later they found out what it was.

There isn't a lot to see at the Trinity Site, yet we were there over 2.5 hours.  The military was prepared for a large group of people, giving plenty of opportunities to stop and learn about Trinitite, purchase books about the Manhattan Project, or ask questions.  Signage along the fence line spread people out while providing interesting facts about the Atomic Bomb test.  Once we saw everything, we left - incredulous yet sober over the power and strength of this amazing weapon.