Thursday, May 20, 2010

Leaving New Mexico

Well, today we looked back in our trip log and discovered that we arrived in New Mexico on April 21st.  Guess May 20th is an appropriate date to leave.  We’ve talked for years about spending a month in each of the 50 states and, after 2 1/2 years of full-timing, we finally did just that!  We have had a wonderful time exploring New Mexico: museums, art galleries, local, state & national parks/monuments, cultural centers, casinos, zoos & gardens.  We’ve seen stalactites, dinosaur skeletons, cliff dwellings, petroglyphs, rattlesnakes, huge kites and played in giant white sand dunes.

We rounded everything up this morning and hit the road by 9:45.  There was an accident in Albuquerque on I-40 so it took us an extra 1/2 hour to get to the Flying J to fill the fuel tank.  And, of course, that always takes at least 1/2 hour….  Then it was on to Camping World to pick up a Mountain Directory for the western U.S.  And, finally, Westward Ho!

Just out of Albuquerque the terrain started getting more interesting.

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We even found a train to race…

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…but it won.

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Even more interesting rock formations.

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Just after we turned north on Hwy. 491 in Gallup, it was my turn to drive.

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And John’s turn to take pictures…

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Did I mention that Hwy. 491 was pretty bumpy?  Here’s the top of the picture above.

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We were appalled at the Indian housing in Shiprock.  There were at least 50 or more of these – depressing…

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More bumpy road.

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Colorado mountains!  Oops – there’s still snow on them…

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John started to wonder about the campground I had picked out after about the third mile on a pretty narrow county road just outside of Mancos CO, but the end result was well worth it!  Lovely, peaceful place.  I think we’re going to like this home!

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