11/3 - 11/12/05 The Santa Fe Trail - A New Quest in New Mexico

Old Route 66 Photo Gallery New Mexico Scrapbook Photo Gallery

11/3 - We left Canyon de Chelly under gray skies & were under them all day. I thought the sun always shines in the southwestern states. Not really of course, but I was surprised by the extent of the overcast. With a strong cold wind blowing most of the day, there was definately a taste of winter in the air. Snow is forecast for northern New Mexico next week. Hmmm, we may not stay here very long.

We headed back down bumpy US191, then continued east on SR264, over the ponderosa forested Defiance Plateau & on to Gallup, NM, where we picked up I40. I was glad to get on the interstate because we had about 250 miles to go, but unfortunately, starting there the drive was cluttered with mile after mile of casino billboards. Quite a change after the open vistas of Hopi & Navajo lands. At Albuquerque we took I25 north toward Santa Fe & the Sangre de Cristo Range. I was really struck by the I40/I25 interchange there. The concrete is all adobe color rather than drab gray & the side rails of the ramps are all painted turquoise. It makes for a striking visual: a vast, soaring sculpture. I wish I could have taken a picture.

We'll be staying just outside Las Vegas, NM, for the next several days at Storrie Lake State Park. We're visiting friends & doing a little sightseeing in the area. We arrived just as it was getting dark to find the park gates locked for the night. But they have an after hours parking lot, so that's where we're spending our first night in New Mexico.

11/7 - Our overnight in the after hours lot worked out fine & we've enjoyed our stay at Storrie Lake so far. Except for the wind which has been fierce most afternoons here. We're camped in the park's primitive area, near the shore & looking across to the Santa Fe Mountains to the west. The lake is populated with Canada geese, gulls (a long way from the sea), killdeer & the occasional heron or bald eagle.

Saturday my friends George & Elizabeth drove me over to Santa Fe for a short tour while Timmy stayed home. What an interesting city! Historic Santa Fe, the terminus of the famous trail, is still preserved in its southwestern architecture & winding roads. There is also a very strong Native American presence: Navajo, Apache, Zuni and others. But what really impressed me was the amount of art in this city. It's astounding! Galleries everywhere. Art everywhere. World class sculpture. I'm including a couple of photos here just to give a taste. Both were taken in a sculpture garden within one of the galleries. I didn't take any photos of the city; I wouldn't know where to start.

Sunday I accompanied George to their cabin in the Santa Fe Mountains, not far to the northwest. We winterized the cabin, then drove back via an alternate route, stopping for a short hike. The Santa Fe & Sangre de Cristo mountains mark where the plains end & the Rockies begin. The next major mountain range to the east is the Ozarks.

George also gave me the grand tour of Las Vegas. Once this small city was a major outpost on the Santa Fe trail. Later it was a destination for the rich & famous on their way to nearby hot springs. Now it's just a nice place to live away from urban areas, but near recreation & cultural resources.

The weather forecast for later in the week has improved somewhat, but it's going to get colder & we may see a little snow. We'll probably spend a couple of nights on electrical hookup before heading south on the weekend.

11/11 - After a couple of overcast days, we went for the juice on Weds. It's been nice on these cold nights to have the furnace running. No snow, but we did get some interesting storm cells today. We were out exploring on a new angle that is going to change our itinerary for quite some time to come. I'm going to be writing an online column on RVing America's Historic Highways. I'll add a link when we publish the first one. In a moment of serendipity, I discovered yesterday that Las Vegas is less than 10 miles from a "lost" 165 mile section of old Rt 66 that ran between Santa Rosa & Albuquerque. It was only part of 66 from 1926 to 1937. Today we set off to find the lost section.

There are a few signs near Santa Fe, but only one short segment clearly marked around Pecos. It appears that much of the old road, which was originally the Santa Fe Trail, is now frontage road to I25. We drove the whole section from Romeroville to Santa Fe, into the city & back out toward Albuquerque where the old road pretty much disappears. Next we went looking for the section that dropped down La Bajada (the descent) escarpment. It took some doing, but we found it. It was never paved even as part of 66 but it's now in deplorable condition, badly rutted & barely passable for an off-road 4-wheel drive. We drove up maybe a half mile & hiked another mile until we reached a fork. With threatening weather, we called a halt there & headed back.

Tomorrow we're going to drive the segment from Romeroville to Santa Rosa & then go east to the Texas border to drive another old section between there & Tucumcari. Then we'll leave 66 for a few days & check out US 70 south of here.

<< prior adventure           next adventure >>