The travels of the Rambling Roses: June 6 - Acoma, NM to Amarillo, TX

June 6 - 349 miles - I woke up to sunshine today, yahoo! Got on the road with plans to make it to Amarillo, TX as long as the weather cooperated! Scenery was awesome again - I tried to take some pictures through the windshield to share with you, but they don't do it justice. I saw cows and I did see a small herd of wild horses grazing out in the middle of no man's land! Basically, I-40 cuts through New Mexico with little civilization until you drop into the valley and bam! you are in Albuquerque! That was the first place that I ran into construction and loss of lanes since I got onto the interstate. I'm really glad I took on this town on a Saturday because there was still a lot of traffic - can't imagine a weekday! Once you get out of town, you climb back up the mountain and back into no man's land!

There are exits on the interstate, but the often lead away to ?????? Maybe a town somewhere? Often the exit is just for a gas station, food and tourist trap! Around 12:30, I stopped at one of those places for lunch and it had a DQ! It took forever to get my chili dog (they moved at one pace and it was slowwwwwww). Anyway, I went in with sunshine and came out to BLACK skies to the west! I fired up that motorhome and headed out with the NOAA radio blasting. It informed me that a severe storm with 1/4 to 3/4 inch hail was traveling north, so as long as I kept moving, I was good! I traveled on the stretch of I-40 that Mike rode his bike along and I have a healthy appreciation for his endeavours! There were some SERIOUS climbs! I did see one guy with a bike and a little trailer, but he was walking! Wimp! I also saw a man pushing a woman in a modified wheelchair loaded down with luggage! Very bizarre! And as I passed over rivers in eastern NM, the rivers were very red! Oh, by the way, the moment I crossed the Texas border, I was now in Central Time.

Oh here is a fun fact; In New Mexico, I-40 is known as the Purple Heart Trail!