(Clicking on the pictures will open them larger in a new window.)
December 20, 2017
Even though we were both up and moving before the sun showed up this morning we did not pull out of the park until just before 9:00AM. I think we are ready to not be moving and be stopped for more then two nights. We ended up putting 313 miles behind us today and we are in agreement there will be no need to do that again. We only have about another 312 miles to go and we will be doing these miles in two days. We will definitely enjoy the slower pace.
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| Leaving Tucumcari, NM behind. |
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| Our view out the front windshield as we merged onto I-40 for a short ride to Santa Rosa, NM. Where we turned off onto US-54 then US-60 to Bernardo, NM where we then turned south onto I-25. |
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| Stopped for fuel at the Pilot in Santa Rosa and you guessed it we are blocked in. The guy is in his truck doing????. |
Anyway, Tom had time to eat his Cinnabon while we waited. He then went up and asked him if he was going to be leaving and he said, yes I have to get going. We were beginning to think there was something wrong with his semi because he kept starting it up and shutting down. At least we did not have to unhook the Jeep so Tom could back out of there.
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| On US-54. Yesterday I mentioned this is a nice ride and it isn't a bad ride but what we had forgotten was the wind with nothing to block it. |
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| Plus, we found that the road has really deteriorated since the last time we came this way. Still we would rather take this route then drive through Albuquerque. |
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| We saw one other RV on this route today guess they were skipping the drive through Albuquerque, also. The one really nice thing about this ride is there is very little traffic. |
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| Passing through Vaughn and continuing down the road. |
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| Then through Encino. Managed to get a few half way decent shots of their Christmas Decorations. Not always easy in a moving vehicle. |
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| Saw this train stopped on our right. I always wonder why the engines are not all pointed in the same direction. |
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| A little farther on and we could really see the dust ahead. The bottom picture is just before we go over a bridge the above train will go under. |
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| When we stopped at this rest stop the train pictured above passed us on our left. |
We stopped here when we went through in 2015. That time we got out and walked around today the wind was really howling and I took the above pictures through the windshield. The picture below is on the other side of the picture below it. It gives and explanation of what this spot is.
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| Several bullet holes but you can still read it. |
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| This is a picture of the side of the sign you see from the road. You can now see why there are holes in the explanation. I took the picture on the left in 2015 and the one on the right today. |
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| We spent time here in 2015 visiting the Visitor Center for the Salinas Pueblo Missions. There are three different sites, Missions, to visit several miles apart. We were able to visit two of them and would like to go back and see the third one. |
If you would like to read about what we saw click on this link Salinas Pueblo Missions . There are also more pictures of Mountainair.
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| Continuing on the scenery and road are getting better. |
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| It is hard to tell but we are going down. |
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| Things start to flatten out but we are still going down. |
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| Things have flattened out and in a few miles we can see I-25 in the distance. |
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| Just before we turn onto I-25 we passed by the Kiva RV Park & Horse Motel. This is where we stayed last time. I saw what I am pretty sure were Texas Longhorns. If they are not please do not burst my bubble let me believe that is what they are. In all our time in Texas we only saw Longhorns one other time. |
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| A couple of windmills from today's ride. I have to learn how to use my new camera so I can zoom in on these and get better pictures. |
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| Some of the large wind machines. |
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| This is where we are parked for the night. More information about the area in the following pictures. |
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| I do not know which mountains are which all I know is they are all beautiful. I stood in the parking area and just snapped in all four directions. |
WHAT FILLS THE EYES FILLS THE HEART.
~Irish Proverb
A side note: The new shower head works...yeah!
We had a long but enjoyable day, we hope you did also.
If you would like to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.
Think we are getting the same wind.
ReplyDeleteHope you found a Safe Place for the night.
It's about time.
We did find a safe place for the night, along with a lot of semi's. Once we came down to I-25 the wind did subside somewhat. We are beginning to think New Mexico is just a windy state.
DeleteLove your little collages of pictures! Beautiful drive! Glad your days are going to be shorter and then you can stay put for longer term. Your last collage is really pretty with all those mountains! :)
ReplyDeleteIt was a nice drive and we are looking forward to shorter days. Tomorrow will definitely be one. Glad you like the collages it is actually a program that came installed on my phone.
DeleteYou are making fast time. We did like you did and made a decision at one point to stop pushing so hard. Once we were close, we slowed down. :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I see train engines like that, I think of a marriage. No one can make a decision of which way to go. Ha ha. You had some nice travel routes once Mr. Grif moved his truck out of your way!
Yes, as of tomorrow there should be no more long days. I, actually we both, felt like we wanted to be in a certain place for Christmas. We are not actually going to make what was our original plan but we are very happy with where we will be.
DeleteI like your thoughts on the train engines it made be think of something I am going to add to my blog post tonight...:)
We were certainly glad to see him finally start to move.
You are making good time and nice to slow down now that you are getting some much nicer weather, even it is windy.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is nice to be in nicer weather and have the miles behind us. We can now relax and enjoy the journey the way we like to.
DeleteWhen the train goes west the first engine pulls. The second one does nothing. When going east the other one pulls the train. That way they don't need the round house where they turn the engines around. I think that's right.
ReplyDeleteThat would make sense but then I start thinking again. The only problem, and maybe it is not one except in my mind, is the one facing east would be pushing the train instead of pulling it. So I googled it and it seems it does not matter what way the engine is facing, except for the front one where the operator sits, they work the same in forward or reverse. Though there was answer that said basically what you said...:)
DeleteDo you have a blog?
DeleteNo, I do not have a blog. We are part time RVers and snowbird to FL for three months in the winter.
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