Saturday, June 8th 2002
Carlsbad, NM to Albuquerque, NM
Weather: clear, sunny and a high of 90
Total Miles To Date 3,350 miles
Money spent today:
$1.50 for breakfast at McDonalds
$32.50 for gas
$6.81 for dinner at Subway
Total Spent Today
$40.81
Total Spent To Date
$1163.86
8am Mountain time Woke up, took a shower
8:30 on my way to the Carlsbad Caverns
8:45am I took the Natural Entrance way to the caverns this time. It was amazing walking down to the bottom. I hope some of the video comes thru because none of the pictures did. This place is just awesome!!
10am and on my way out of the park and onto 285 North
This place is so flat it seems like you can see 50 miles in any direction. Once again like yesterday 285 starts slow in the local towns with a speed limit of 30 then it went to 70...thank god..
by the way, listening to trippy tribal drum beats while driving thru the desert rules!!
12noon and I enter Roswell....I'm glad I didn't stay here last night. Roswell is like any other small suburban town, except with a lot of cheesy alien stores...do you think they are commercialized...well check out the picture and you decide..Some of the hotels even had signs saying Come Crash Here...
12:15 After checking out some of the local tourist traps, I was on my way. Back onto 285 North
12:45 and I'm on Route 20 North...Route 20 North is a barren highway that I take to get to another tourist trap...Boy Route 20 North is barren!! This road sucks!! I even pulled over and stood on top of the jeep and took some video. Wait till you see the video!! I went 45 miles with only seeing 5 cars
1:20 and I finally end route 20 North and I also got to see my first tumbleweed...wow, they really exist.
I move on from route 20 north to route 60 East. Well, the reason I took this road is to visit Fort Sumner. I really don't care about the fort, but this is where Billy Kid was buried.
1:55 and I'm finished checking out the grave and I head onto route 84 North
2:30 and I'm in Las Vegas, New Mexico and I'm on 40 West
2:50 and I'm on another spur of 84 North (which is historic route 66)
3:40 Mountain time.. and here's a recap. I left 84 North, went to 25 North and got off only a couple exits later and got onto 518 North.
Once you get near Taos, which is a Wintertime ski resort it gets really beautiful. It starts looking like a forest you'd find in the Northeast. Trees and everything. As you drive up the mountain it almost looks like the Berkshires. After driving thru the desert for the past day, it's amazing to see how green it is
5pm and I'm Taos. Taos is nice but boring. I asked some locals what's there to do in town. One girls suggested I go to the movies. This is the best she can come up with. Oh well, I grab some dinner at Subway and move on to Santa Fe.
5:40 I've had enough of Taos and I'm on my way to Santa Fe. I took route 68 South.
As you drive to Santa Fe, you notice something peculiar. Casinos are scattered thru the area. Some of them even run by Best Western. They even market them different than Vegas....The signs say "Where the locals go to gamble". Can this be good for the economy when you're burning your own locals money.
New Mexico is the land of Easy Rider. This is where they all came to live. And they dress the same way, and they drive the same car or motorcycle. There is also a large Mexican population. I've seen more low riders than I want to see. As you get closer to Santa Fe the architecture looks very Mexican and it looks cool.
Ok, I'm not feeling that well. I don't know what's up, so I have no patience for Santa Fe. I just want to find a hotel and go to sleep.
7:05 and I pass Santa Fe and take 25 South.
7:15 and I hit 500 miles today. NO way did I think I was going to drive this much today.
7:20 and I have the gayest moment of the trip. I pass the first car in a week with New York plates. The funny part was that the two girls driving seemed just as excited. We drove next to each other for a while and tried to maintain a conversation. They were from Long Island and they were driving cross country as well.
8pm and I enter Albuquerque and I'm going to find a hotel. I feel really shitty!! This isn't good. The last time I felt this way was feb of 2001 and I was out of commission for a week. The thought is now going to thru my mind to change course if I keep feeling this way. My uncle in L.A. is only a two day drive if I go directly there. I'll make that decision later.
I check into a Best Western. Take a couple Advil and I'm out cold by 9pm.
C YA
notes:
Ron, it was good talking to you today
Hey George, Thanks for calling!!
Why do they name cows bessie?
New Mexico is one of the most scenic states in the country
New Mexico is clearly a place where you fill up your gas tank whenever you can
Driving thru the town of Artesia, I saw this sign
Stoves should only be used to make dinner....please avoid child abuse
Hey Julie, I wish I had something funny to say...but...
Why does everyone in Taos take credit cards and I'm talking about the drive thru fast food places...Everywhere..it's weird
I've never seen so many women riding motorcycles than I've seen in Santa Fe
Total Miles Traveled Today
547