Travel Day One

 Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Not sure what to expect with the predicted wind of 25 to 35 mph with gust so 55 mph ahead of us on our route we were up before the sun. As we started our day the hope was to make our planned destination which was Pajarito Rest Area just past Santa Rosa on I-40. The wind was calm as we took off this morning. 

Today's pictures are of the scenery as we made our way north on I-25 then east on I-40.

We sat for a few minutes with our coffee as the sun gave us
a beautiful show of color as it made its way up
behind the mountains and clouds.

Hooked up and ready to go

one last picture and we are off.

First stop the dump station and while Tom had his fun

I took these pictures.

Making our way our to  I-25

I spotted this sign this one tells it like it is.

We merged on to I-25 and immediately went down and up.

There are several sections of I-25 in New Mexico that you dip
 down, it is wide open and there is a warning for high winds. 

The wind sock was blowing but not as bad as
we thought it would be this morning.

Nogal Canyon the windsock was blowing towards the north.

Exiting off in Socorro 
I could see all the beautiful green in the distance.
This was a quick stop to pickup a curbside order at Walmart.

I immediately wondered why an "M" on a hill in Socorro why
not an "S" these are the sort of things I need an answer for...lol

I found my answer: The “M” on Socorro Peak has served as a lasting symbol of New Mexico Tech, and the community of Socorro, for nearly 100 years. Without the “M,” our beloved mountain would seem naked. Who first put the “M” upon Socorro Peak? When and how did they do it? One might even wonder why?  (If you are interested, like I was, the article can be found here. It is an article written by, Robert Eveleth originally published in El Defensor Chieftain newspaper, Saturday, July 3, 2010.)

Stopping for Diesel in Belen, NM

Why the above picture you may ask. The answer, back in November of 2015 we visited Belen, NM and some friends who had a place here. At the time there was a controversy going on about a permanent Nativity Scene that was set up here. I blogged about it here. I took this picture to remind myself to look up what happened and is the Nativity Scene still there. Unfortunately, for me and my curiosity I could not find any answers online. Maybe next time we are in this area we will have the opportunity to take a ride and check it out. 

Albuquerque 

Merging on to I-40 and we are heading East.

After not seeing that many semi's on I-25 once we were on
I-40 the numbers dramatically increased.

Going through a construction area the line of semi's coming
towards us was endless with a few cars and RV's thrown in.

Not the picture I wanted the darn camera would not click as
we went over I-40. Anyway, we have turned off of I-40, 
goodbye Interstates for a few days.

We stopped for the night at the Arrowhead RV Park in Logan, NM it is a Passport America Park so the price was right. Nothing fancy and we have stayed in worse parks. It is just off of US-54 so very convenient for the route we are on. It is just fine for one night. We had hoped to stay at a Rest Area 61 miles back but when we pulled in it was full. 

It was a long day Tom drove us 345 miles and that was a few more miles then we planned. We made the choice to go through Albuquerque, after checking the weather and the wind predictions we decided this was the best route for today only adding about an extra 22 miles. We would usually take a cut across turning on to US-60 that takes us through Mountair and Vaughn to I-40 avoiding the Albuquerque traffic.  The good news was the wind was not as bad as we expected and really did not pick up until about an hour before we pulled into this site. It was another uneventful travel day.

As I write this morning there is not wind/ Fingers crossed it stays that way. We are off on another day's adventure.

A Short Update:

Well so far today's adventure is not going quite as planned. I was going to review and publish this when we stopped for lunch but I now have time to do so before we leave Logan, NM. By way of explanation: We had seen an All Sups just before we reached the RV Park yesterday and diesel was $3.89 a gallon so we back tracked this morning to top off the Stinger "B". Leaving the station we were pretty sure the mud flap had dragged and hung up so we stopped just down the road to take care of that. Tom needed to get a screwdriver out of one of the compartments to get it down and once that was done he put it back. No big deal it has happened before just a small delay, so far. Then he went to shut and lock the compartment and the door latch would not lock. Fortunately, he had an extra one and as I write this he is replacing it.  The good news still no wind and the sun is out and we have beautiful blue skies above there is always a positive to offset the negative. Of course, I am sitting inside the Stinger "B" not outside changing a latch. Living in a motorhome and traveling is always an adventure. 

We are glad you stopped by!

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.