Western States 2012 - Day 8

June 12, 2012 - Tuesday

Today was another day for putting in more than 250 miles since the plan was to go from Amarillo to Albuquerque. Since a gentle rain had moved in overnight, a much-needed rain, we stayed around the campground until it passed about 9:30.

On the way out of we saw several feed lots for beef cattle. Martha said: "So this is the type of operation where dad send the calves to be fed.

It has been nearly 50 years since Byron traveled this route, either by train or by car, when his oldest brother was stationed in Roswell at Walker Air Force Base. Since I-40 parallels most of old US Route 66 he was recalling memories of his first time seeing the difference in terrain from the panhandle of Texas to northeast New Mexico. At times we were also parallel to the old Santa Fe rail line, the same line he rode in 1962 for his first trip west.

Going from OKC to Amarillo the trip is across a lot of flat land where there is some farming and a lot of open range. Some rail lines have been abandoned. There are still grain elevators still standing at every small town. Some of them are still in use but the grain is hauled away in trucks instead of railroad car. One other change is that most of the small gas stations have now been replaced by a Love’s with a Subway franchise inside.

Here’s a view out the windshield looking down I-40 just west of Amarillo — flat land, for sure, and no tall trees along the roadway obstructing the view of the blue sky.

As we traveled further west mesas began to appear across the landscape. At one point, Byron remarked that when he was young and traveled this road with his parents, he told his mom he was expecting to look up to one of the mesas and see Indians standing there. You really do get that feel even now, especially if you have watched many old west movies. The landscape was pretty much typical of those old Westerns. All day Martha waited to catch a glimpse of cowboys or Indians racing across the landscape. Alas, it was only pavement and a variety of vehicles in site.

From Amarillo to Albuquerque the topology changes three times. About one-third of the way the terrain is much like that approaching Amarillo, flat. There are large farms where grain is raised as well as cattle. The middle third you see no farming. However, you do see arroyos and mesas as the gentle ascent begins toward the southern ranges and foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Towns get farther apart and a bit larger. The last third is definitely into broad hills and mountainous topology. We traveled next to railroad tracks still in use by BNSF as we wound the way toward the Sandia range. (Sandia is the Spanish word for “watermelon’ because the sunset paints the mountains a pinkish color in the evenings). Just before Albuquerque we reached an elevation of 6300 feet before the 1000-foot descent into Albuquerque.

Here’s another view further down the road in New Mexico. The mesas and mountains are beginning to appear.

After crossing the Sandia range, we arrived in Albuquerque mid-afternoon to visit with Pat Trainor, the twin sister of Byron’s sister-in-law. Pat treated us to a delicious dinner of taco salad and pound cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Later in the evening we drove down to Old Town, the first Albuquerque settlement. We walked around the plaza in the early evening then drove through a section of the original Route 66 as we got a glimpse of the city of Albuquerque. There is only about 12% humidity here. Pat said she can leave a bag of potato chips in a basket on the counter covered only by a napkin for several days, and the chips do not get soggy or stale because of the extremely low humidity.

Byron calculated that we have driven a total of 1715 miles. We been fortunate and only run the generator for 15 hours (the temps have been somewhat mild). The Caterpilar engine in the Airstream has provided an overall average of 10.45 mpg. We are pleased with that kind of mileage and Byron is impressed with the performance of this motorhome. By the way, fuel prices were lowest around Tulsa. Low enough that it made us feel like we should buy extra to take home to Kentucky and sell for a profit.