Saturday, August 29, 2020

From LV thru Arizona to New Mexico


Gas stations Past:

 


Saturday’s ride thru Arizona into New Mexico:

 At the Hoover Dam area we left Nevada and were welcomed to Arizona,  we made it down to I-40 and headed East. We are about 2,000 miles from Belmont, NC.

The road ws rocky ad mountainous for about 40 miles.

 

I enjoy the desert scenes and the rocky area. I am always amazed at the mountains in the west. Many times there are no ‘foot hills’, the mountains just start up from the flat plains.

 

The derelicts are many, and are a testimony to big things in the past.




Of course it is always nice to see the desert change from scrubs to small trees.  And then soon near Flagstaff the mountains are covered with pine trees.

 



I love the rocks along the road and seeing what the engineers had to dig thru. I love the colorful layers of the west:



About the time I saw the above colorful rocks,  emergency vehicles passed us on the right and I looked ahead and saw the smoke:


The car  was still burning, it did not look as if anyone was injured. Also a small grass fire was started and the fire department arrived.

But then in a few miles we are again in a plains area, not too much desert as grasses and scrubs of all kinds. I drove 3.5 hours this AM, now JJ is our chauffer.  WE have had both good roads and Terrible roads.

 

This was the last shots in AZ welcoming us to New Mexico. In person this is absolutely beautiful. The colors just mold together.

 



Below was out first view of the first mile into New Mexico.

  I-40 runs with the Famous Route 66 much of the time. WE are over nighting in GAllop, and this is the view from our picture window:



Towns are unique out west also. Back east you see houses barns buildings between towns. Out here, when you  leave civilization, you leave it.

 Nite Shipslog     

PS I will regress for a minute:

These pictures from 2013 when we were out and could walk on the dam. And as Lisa observed it appears to be drying up, but it has remained at that level for years.



Looking over the dam.
Above is the monument to the men who worked to build this huge dam.

Tomorrow we hope to drive across New Mexico and into Texas.

 

8 comments:

betty said...

You are covering lots of miles!! All great pictures past and present!

betty

Lisa said...

More great shots. Nick just came in and looked to see what I was reading. I looked up at him and said, “I’m taking a trip to New Mexico.
Looks like you are in a western movie. Sad about the burning car. Someone had a bad day.

From Sunny NC
Lisa

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

You certainly cannot complain about the view from your picture window. Nice you have help with all that driving. Definitely a lot of miles between you and home. Hope all continues on smoothly and you'll be home before you know it.

Chatty Crone said...

Magnificent - are you heading home?

Glenda said...

The scenery is lovely, best wishes on the remainder of your trip! Love from Chobee, Glenda

Mevely317 said...

Yep, N.M. "The Land of Enchantment"! Granted, not much south of Santa Fe could be referred to as 'enchanted', but it's nice to see these vistas again. Hope you've no more hiccups with the coach 'tween now and Belmont!

Dar said...

I see the 3 Musketeers are having a broadly spread trip. It's been such a pleasure to ride along. Travel safe and stay healthy. It's nice you can stop long enough to visit with the family. An awesome ride !
loven'hugs from up north where it was another glorious day. I smell fall in the air.

boromax said...

I love these southwest scenes. We have driven those roads many, many times. I finished high school, started college, and got married in Albuquerque; still have family and friends there; and family in Arizona. We are in Fresno, CA, now. These desert scenes are still beautiful to us when we drive through there.