Category: New Mexico

We Are Home

~ Wanderlets ~ Leave a comment

I’m a little slow to post this but my PC had been acting up, making doing much of anything frustrating.  It’s working good again now.  Anyway, we had a good drive back and especially enjoyed the first day of driving because there was a big storm front that we drove in and out of all day.

 

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This trip we took a shortcut and got off the interstate highway in Santa Fe, NM.  The route took us through Taos and San Luis and then we picked up I-25 in Walsenburg.   It’s 35 miles shorter, much less traffic, good roads, and better scenery.  And going over LaVeta Pass is just as easy if not easier than Raton Pass.  Although we didn’t stop, the other bonus is the Indian reservation right after Santa Fe has about 8 casino’s where some advertised overnight parking. The better one looked to be in Espanola.   Fuel is also about 20 cents less a gallon at the Indian stations.

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We were anxious to get home so didn’t stop in Taos.  I had been there before but now realize I didn’t see the actual old downtown so we will definitely go back. It’s an easy drive from here and when the weather is warmer we can explore more.

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This shot, taken from quite a distance as we were driving through town, is of a church way up on a hill overlooking San Luis, which is the oldest town in Colorado.

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Almost at the top of La Veta Pass.  There might have been 3 gentle curves on the ascent and descent if that.

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Almost home – just two miles to go.

 

 

 

Ashes and Flames

~ Wanderlets ~ Leave a comment

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The sky looked like it was on fire as we drove west this evening.   Just spectacular.  I guess people who live in the southwestern part of the U.S. are used to these shows in the sky. 

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Vendors travel to Colorado Springs every year and set up roasters by the side of the road to sell Hatch chili peppers.  These peppers are known to be pretty tasty and my mother always buys a bunch to freeze.  I didn’t realize until today that there is a town in New Mexico called Hatch.  It’s in the southern part of the state and is on the shortcut route to access 1-10 from 1-25.  There are shops like this one all over town.  Kind of surprising that vendors drive 500 miles to Colorado Springs just to sell peppers.

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There must have been a hard rain recently as it’s unusual to see water in Arizona.

 

IMG_7474One of the reasons Steve does most of the driving is because I like taking pictures out of the window while we’re going down the road.

Anyway, we are parked for the night at a Flying J Truck Stop in Eloy, Arizona.  We tried to stay at Camping World in Tucson but they don’t allow overnight parking and even have a guarded gate.  And hooray we won’t need our heater tonight.  This morning it was 46 inside Tulip when we woke up even though we had the heater on low all night.  The windshield was covered in ice – on the inside!

Last Night of Cold?

~ Wanderlets ~ 5 Comments

Leaving Colorado today, the drive couldn’t have been better.  Blue sky and no wind all the way to Albuquerque and the sunset was a beautiful red.  We don’t get to see nice sunsets in Manitou Springs because this time of year the sun plops down behind the mountain across from us around 2:30 in the afternoon.  We are spending the night at the San Felipe Casino just north of the city.  They have an RV park next to the parking lot and it’s free as long as we don’t need electricity which we don’t.  It’s quiet and there are at least 10 other RV’s here.  It’s in the 20’s tonight so we have our catalytic heater going.  We should be enjoying warmer weather later tomorrow.

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  As expected Molly Dog was in my lap panting the entire day. And her breath is worse than bad. We called our vet’s office last week to get her teeth cleaned and they wanted between $500-$800.  I had the desk person repeat that several times because I thought my hearing was bad. We will check with some vets in Yuma.