Day 32: Get your Petroglyphs on Route 66: Bloomfield, NM to Santa Rosa, NM

Before we talk about last night, let us cover off a significant omission from the day 31 post. When we were at the 4 corners and I was wandering on the outskirts of the main attraction, I glanced into a hole and saw this little snake catching some rays. I tried to show Mrs Milddogs but by the time we got back, it was gone.

Now about last night. Let’s start with sunset. Rather pretty.

The wind, oh the wind. The cold, oh the cold! OK, we knew it would be windy and it did not disappoint. It went all night and into the morning. We did get some sleep (a fair amount) but it was complicated by the wind noise and by Amy being nervous. She doesn’t like wind. But, as previously stated, where we were was just as windy and had traffic to boot.

Eventually I went out for the morning walk and decided to head towards the official camp. Challenge #1, that direction is with the wind. Challenge #2, that direction is downhill. So, I set out in my normal shorts, t-shirt and windbreaker in huge wind and ~4C temperatures. I have not been that cold on a walk ever. I’ve done 10km at -29C but today felt colder. Wind! Here are some pictures I took along the way.

And one last shot of our van in our camp site.

Allow me to make a passionate plea. The big attractions get a lot of attention. But what we have seen in various parts of New Mexico has been amazing. Miles and miles of painted desert. Mesas. High Plains. Antelope – yes we saw some antelope today but they were not playing with deer. Caverns. Desert. Aliens. Snow covered mountains. What an amazing state. You must put it on your list. Like Arizona, there is so much diversity in such a relatively small area it does not take that much extra to explore more of it.

Today we departed after the other van that stayed in our secret spot. By 0915 we were on the road. We took our time getting out to the highway down the dirt road. Off we went admiring the scenery as we travelled and thankful that the wind was mostly behind us or on a broad reach. Whew. Still some interesting gusts. Have I mentioned the wind. Next time I’m bringing my anemometer to get real wind speeds.

Our first planned stop was at Petroglyphs National Monument in Albuquerque, NM. It was pretty cool to see the ancient graffiti. Amy was not allowed on the trail. Here are some pics.

Stop #2 was Costco to get cheap gas, provision and get a few hard goods. We like our CGI Pico chairs but they are too upright for napping. We picked up a pair of folding Cascade chairs that hopefully are more conducive to napping. Also got too much stuff from the bakery. Oops. Mrs Milddogs is a pro at utilizing our limited storage spaces.

Final stop of the day is Santa Rosa RV and Campground in Santa Rosa, NM. Good news, we are not right next to the highway. It’s not bad here. The guy at the desk was a bit grumpy but let’s not get into that here. I rate the showers a solid 2/10. I think they were cleaned. Not sure when. But the water was hot.

On our travels today we discussed how happy we were to have left Angel Peak #1 and moved to Angel Peak #2. If you aren’t going to sleep because of the wind, do it somewhere beautiful.

Unsure where I will walk tomorrow. We are on old Route 66 so I will have to at least step out there. Otherwise likely loops around the campground as I have not found any trails.

We passed through Milagro, NM. Turns out there is no ongoing bean field war and there never was one.

There is a lot of “Youstabe” out here. Much like there is in small town Ontario. “all of the these derelict cars in my yard used to be good”. “This town used to be the hub of the area.”

Huge mistake. Mrs Milddogs stocked the fridge with some Coors Light and I grabbed a warm one. Oops. Back in the fridge with the open can and grab a cold one. The blue mountains make it easy to see that they are Rocky Mountain cold, but by now you know certain details don’t catch my brain. You know, like should I turn left or right. That opened Coors Light cooled down nicely in the fridge and I was committed to drinking two of them. I’ll be peeing all night!

Tomorrow we continue the push east and will enter Texas for the third time. It’s a short drive tomorrow to the Amarillo area. Might have to up the mileage after that.

Thanks again to the people taking care of the house and special thanks to Mrs Pleasureway for the picture of the Crocus in Mrs Milddog’s garden.

New Mexico, you must!

New map: Interactive maybe??