This is really yesterday's post... just ran out of time last night to prep photos etc., but, the story is the same no matter what day I finally get it out there....
We stayed Tuesday night at the Wal-Mart parking area in Lubbock, Tx... started our drive early Wednesday heading to Clovis, NM...
Farming Country... Grains... Mostly Corn.... lots of potatoes
Grain Elevators...
I had no idea that the Panhandle of Texas was an agricultural region.
It's flat...
You think you might drop off the edge of the world just a few miles ahead...
But no...
More crops...
Even bigger grain elevators....
Finally we leave Texas...
Check out that "Welcome to New Mexico" sign...
Look! Red and Green Chilies!!!!
WoooHooo! Are we ever ready to indulge in those!
Outside of Clovis we saw lots of Railroad Maintenance crews...
Mile after mile of this type of equipment...
Mile after mile of railroad track.
Then... we began seeing trains... lots of trains... lots of trains stopped on the tracks, waiting for a sideling so they could pass by the working crews...
Burlington Northern & Santa Fe
I love the orange and black colors of their engines.
They all had long lines of cars behind them...
Those Container trailers that will be picked up somewhere up the road
I'll bet we saw no less than 2 dozen trains (probably a lot more) along Rt 60 between Clovis and I 25 (Bernardo). Some stopped ... some moving along, probably to be stopped somewhere just up the line.
Our road continued on...
Straight as an arrow.... Very little traffic....
Very little traffic and very little wildlife...
Only a small herd of Pronghorn out in the distance....
The landscape changed from scrub land...
Lots of Cholla and more grassland....
Finally we're seeing familiar landmarks... Los Pinos... then the Ladrones...
Now we're seeing creosote... we're into a different biome.
We start our drop down into the Rio Grande Valley
I start to smile.... this has been our home off and on over the years....
Look! It's Black Butte!
There's a cache at the very top... hidden under a rock. There's a fire-ring real close where folks have camped. Yes... so familiar... I'm loving every mile we get closer.
We turn off Rt 60, on to I 25... head south a few miles...
We reach our goal for the day...
We have volunteered here several times... I'd have to look up just how many hours we worked here, but over the years it's been a lot. Things change... personnel changes.... and even the landscape changes... though in the desert that seems a lot slower.
We haven't been here for 3 years... it's time to stop by for a visit. And that will be the next post.
That's All For Today!
On roads like that I definitely have to stay awake to make sure Jim stays awake. They need to throw in a curve once in awhile.
ReplyDeleteLots of long, straight traveling! I'm thinking you must get hypnotized by it all. Happy Travels!
ReplyDeleteYep, there is a lot of nothing in Texas, but I love it.
ReplyDeleteAccording to my cousin, every thing in Texas is just another twenty minutes.
ReplyDeleteI like the picture of the drop into the Rio Grande valley. Sort of like dropping down to the Ohio River. Takes you by surprise when it shows up.
I just go nutz with that kind of terrain. I feel a touch of claustrophobia in the long flat spans of nothing. Then people who love that environment are claustrophobic in the forest and woods.... it seems.
ReplyDeleteI know nothing.
HAaaa and yes to Joanne... 20 minutes was the answer to just about any distance... bread? 20 minutes. greaet ol state ... I love it too, Dizzy. Just prefer the Hill Country, East Texas and the Gulf.
Well I enjoyed riding along with you today. Never been to Texas, except for flying into San Antonio for son's graduation from basic training. Never been to NM so all the sights were new to me. Hope you enjoy the refuge.
ReplyDeleteHoowee! I've never been to the Texas Panhandle and doubt I ever will. But I had a from from a ranching family in Post, Texas. A little different from NYC! (He left the ranch to study theatrical movement in Japan. Wonder if that's a common thing for Panhandle ranchers' sons to do.)
ReplyDeleteLove your travel shots. Are some taken through the windshield or do you stop to shoot?
ReplyDelete