New Mexico Ahoy

I woke up at about 5.30am and left El Paso while it was still dark, thanks to my all night drive the previous night making my body forget i should have been sleeping. I watched the sunrise over the delta of the Rio Grande before slipping out of Texas into the state of New Mexico. There was alot to see so I just took my time (except for a short stretch where i gassed it a biit, but you'll hear about that later) and stopped at every attraction along the way.


This is me in front of Lake Caballo in southern New Mexico. This was my first stop. The lake is very beautiful and seems kind of strange, given that its surroundings are pretty much desert. Texas and this part of New Mexico were really warm - even though this was at about 8.30am.

Sadly i was unsuccessful finding the next place i wanted to find. I stopped in a town called Socorro looking for the worlds largest array of radio telescopes. Clever blogreaders will remember that array from the 1997 movie 'Contact'. Despite following all the signs on the highway correctly, I was only able to find their lab at New Mexico Tech. After 45 minutes of trying, and driving around the backroads of the desert near Socorro, i decided to give up.

I passed through Albuquerque, and spent some time driving around Santa Fe. The houses and buildings in Santa Fe are amazing - they are without exception all in the style of the old Spanish missions. Not just the old buildings, even the new condominium buildings follow the same flat-roof and clay exterior style.

A little way north of Santa Fe, I got off the interstate to do some driving along historic Route 66. This part of the old highway made up part of route 66 prior to 1937 when it was moved closer to Albuquerque.
It has obviously been resealed, but it is still an amazing road to drive down and it was nice to get off the interstate for a while.






This is some remains of something alongside Route 66. I'm not sure exactly what it is, there is no information about it, its just sitting there rotting. It looks to me kind of like an old trading post or something.








This is some ruins in the Pecos, New Mexico National Historical Park. The park itself is actually quite cool in that not only does it have these ancient Spanish ruins, but it also encompasses histotical sites from the Sata Fe Trail and a civil war battlefield.

This is the remains of the Mission de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles, built in the late 16th century.




The wide open spaces of central New Mexico. It was shortly after taking this photo that I was pulled over by a New Mexico state trooper who seemed to think I might have been speeding. I remained in the vehicle and made no sudden movements. After checking my license and registration he kindly informed me what the fine was for going the speed i was going. Then he was kind enough to share his experience with me of just last week scraping a 19 year-old off the road 'just up there' who was also speeding. For a brief moment i contemplated whether the 19 year-old had crashed or been shot for speeding. In the end he let me off with a warning, and in return for his generosity i kept my speed down until I reached the state line.