Farewell to Texas, hello to New Mexico

Took a day trip up to White Sands National Monument.  On the way we spotted this water tank so had to stop for a closer look.  People kept stopping on the side of the road to look at the mural so the guy who owned the property built a small museum to give people somewhere to park and a bit more to look at.  He loves all things space so that’s what’s in his museum.  We were given a tour of the museum then wandered around for a while.  Our quick 5 minute stop turned into an hour plus lunch.

 

Space mural water tank

Jean with an actual shuttle tile - we couldn't believe how light it was - like a piece of polystyrene

The landscape around this part of New Mexico is interesting.  Mountains ring an enormous flat valley.  The atomic bomb was tested here and they still test missiles.  There is even a Nike missile at a rest area on the way down to the valley just to remind you what’s all around you.  Finally got to White Sands National Monument.  There is a loop track you can drive around which reminded me of The Pinnacles in Western Australia (without the pinnacles).  Had a bit of a play in the sand then headed to the mountains on the far side of the valley.

 

I'm sure this missile is placed to remind you that you are entering a missile test range

White Sands National Monument

So now you can tell who is who

Found a place called The Old Apple Barn in the hills.  What a gem of a store.  They are renowned for homemade pies, fudge and flavoured nuts.  There are also a multitude of souvenirs and knickknacks – I wanted to buy at least half the store.  One of the owners, Beverly, had just returned from a trip to New Zealand so we spent ages chatting and it was almost dark by the time we left.  Consequently, we didn’t make it any further into the hills. 

Old Apple Barn on the outside, chokka block with all kinds of goodies on the inside

Decided to check out the aliens at Roswell.  Didn’t find any living aliens (they are well integrated into society) but found plenty of statues around the town.  We decided to pass on visiting Area 51 as we’ve heard what they do to visitors to USA here (don’t want to take any chances) so spent some of our time at the International UFO Museum checking out all the information about Area 51 instead.  There is a photo board with all the old photos of UFO’s.  Some now come under the category of IFO’s as the images have been identified however there are still a lot under the UFO category.  The truth is out there Scully.

 

One of the many aliens to be found around Roswell

Some of the street lamps have had alien eyes put on them ... and the lamps glow green

Watch them for long enough and they move

A bit of humour at the International UFO Museum

Moving right along we made our way to the panhandle of Texas.  Had an overnight stop in Lubbock where we checked out the Buddy Holly Museum.  Learned some things about Buddy that we didn’t previously know – his music career had been a success for a mere 18 months and in that time he had 25 hits.  He married after knowing his wife less than two months and was only 22 when he died.  English bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones used Buddy Holly and the Crickets as their inspiration.

Sue needs to get her specs resized

We stopped in Nazareth on our way up to Amarillo, ostensibly to say hello to the family of Jean’s boss, Bob and his wife, Marcia.  We ended up staying two nights.  We lamented the fact that there was no bar in town for us to meet the locals in so Bob’s mum, Rita, invited us to stay and go to the Super Bowl party which was the following night.  We started the day off with a lovely lunch with some of the family then Rita’s daughter-in-law, Patti, took us out to Palo Duro Canyon state park for a looksee.  Palo Duro is the second largest canyon in the US after the Grand Canyon.

 

We didn't linger up top for too long - the wind was bitingly cold

Some of the interesting rock formations at Palo Duro

Patti spotted what looked like a porcupine in a tree - we got out for a closer look and, sure enough, there's a porcupine in a tree

Had a great night at the Super Bowl party.  Met so many people – I think the entire population of Nazareth passed through the hall.  The local volunteer fire brigade did a great job of organising the event.  Had to crack up though.  Every time I looked around, there were fewer than 5 people watching the game at any one time.  Clearly it’s more about the people and the fundraiser than the sport but it means I still don’t know squat about the rules of the game. 

Check out the size of this grill - shouldn't have been surprised though, we are in Texas after all

Jean & Sue with Rita - one of these beers is a prop, can you guess which one?

 

Patti & her brother - she was a great tour guide and makes a delicious salsa

 

Elaine introduced us to some of the locals and Jimmy kept us well supplied with beers

 

Can't remember what was so funny but we had a great time meeting the locals - here we are with Tyson, Dale & Dan

Stopped at the famous Cadillac Ranch just outside Amarillo.  Despite the large dumpster at the entrance to the field, there are hundreds of spray cans strewn around the cars.  While they are quite the eyesore, a quick inspection showed us they weren’t all empty.  This of course enabled us to add our names to the hundreds already there.  No doubt our graffiti has already been painted over, more than likely due to the fact that we left our cans right by the car we painted on.  Just goes to show how fleeting fame is.

 

This field gets incredibly muddy after rain - we got a good day, just an extremely cold wind

This one didn't stand out so much ...

... so we went bigger and bolder

The cars are just a riot of colour

We had one further stop on our long haul to Albuquerque and that was at the tiny town of Adrian.  Adrian is famous for being the exact halfway point on the old Route 66 between Chicago and Los Angeles.  It’s been set up quite well for tourists following the Mother Road and for people like us who are on again, off again, bonus-when-we-hit it-type travellers.

 

Sign on the road says it all really

The eight states the old Route 66 passed through (for those that can count to nine, the middle one is just a Route 66 shield)

Compulsory stopover on Route 66

We’re staying just north of Albuquerque which was handy for our day trip to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.  In an otherwise flat landscape the river has gouged out a deep canyon that has been bridged just outside Taos.  At its highest point the bridge is 565 feet about the Rio Grande.  Because of its height, accessibility and low guard rail there are a number of suicides off this bridge.  There are 4 viewing platforms and each one had a Crisis Hotline installed which gives you a sombre feel to go with the grandeur.

 

Taos plateau

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge - 7th highest in the US

View from Rio Grande Gorge Bridge - 565 feet straight down and only a chest high guard rail

Taos

From Taos there is a scenic road that loops around Wheeler Peak.  As it was such a beautiful day we decided to drive it.  There’s been a lot of snow the past couple of weeks which made for some beautiful vistas.  Loved driving through Taos too with all its adobe buildings.  Santa Fe has its share of old Mexican-style buildings.  San Miguel is purported to be the oldest church in the US and across the road is the oldest house in the US. 

 

Let the scenic drive begin

There were pockets of snow everywhere

Oldest house in the US, circa 1646

Oldest church in the US, circa 1610

We were quite late getting back to the campground so called into the brewery next door to dine.  The close proximity to a brewery had no bearing on us staying at Bernalillo rather than any of the 20 other campgrounds in the Albuquerque area … and of course you just know I’m not telling the truth.  The food was tasty and the ales were even tastier.

We couldn't decide which beer to have so we tried 'em all

... which of course led to some beer recycling down the hallway