..or should i say, "americas wasteland." dont get me wrong, new mexico does have some nice places (the carlsbad caverns were awesome) but in between the missle ranges, bomb test sites, and air force bases, there is practically nothing in the state of new mexico. the "land of enchantment" as its called, didnt seem so enchanting when your driving for hours on two lane highways without another heartbeat on the horizon.
i did get a chance to go to roswell, although it was at night and it was only for about an hour to eat (at some place called farleys). i would have liked to have seen it during the day, but from what i did see, it looked pretty neat, even though the whole town is alien-themed. which i can imagine would get rather annoying if you live there.
amy and i rented a jeep cherokee laredo for the week which was pretty nice. i couldnt drive one everyday, but for 1 week i had 4-wheel drive, heated leather seats, and more than 6 inches of ground clearance which made for a great time on many of new mexicos bumpy, dirt roads. of course, being that it was a rental, they only offered the v6 model which had no balls what-so-ever. it was all bark, no bite. in fact, it didnt even have teeth. we still returned it with a thick layer of new mexicos best dirt. (glare)
one thing about new mexico that drove me craziest was the sudden climate changes. and when i say sudden, i mean, sudden. i got there on saturday and it was about 70. when i woke up sunday, it was about 35 and by noon it was about 60. when we got to carlsbad, it was almost 80. it was beautiful. then monday, it snowed. the changes in elevation cause the temperature to fluctuate about 5-10 degrees in relatively short driving distances. in fact, on the way back to albuquerque to come home, i watched the temp gauge go from 41 degrees, slowly down to 24 degrees and back to 47, before dipping back to 38 and back up to 55 in albuquerque. the change from 24 degrees to 47 happened in about a distance of 10 miles. thats like the temperature at my house being 24 and kens house being 47.
also, everyone talks about 'dry' heat compared to our humidity. well, i got my first taste of 'dry' heat. when its 80 degrees with 10% humidity, its beautiful. however, when its alwayys dry, it sucks. i woke up almost everyday with nose bleeds, my skin felt like it wa cracking anytime i moved, and when skin gets that dry, it gets rather itchy.
it was my first time going out west and even though there wasnt much out there, it was pretty cool to see. there is a lot of history along those roads. there were hundreds of broken-down stone buildings, many of them that still had trading post signs on them, old indian burial sites, billy the kids supposed grave site and museum, and many other historical buildings, sites, and monuments.
im just glad to be back home where the temp is stable and the grass is green and we actually have trees, i just wish it was 70 degrees here.
here are a few pics
1- this is what driving in new mexico looked like about 98% of the time
2- i took this from the top of carlsbad caverns rooftop observation deck (i told you there was nothing out there)
3- part of the extremely curvy road leading to the caverns
4- the natural entrance to the caverns
5- my sister and i in the cave
i did get a chance to go to roswell, although it was at night and it was only for about an hour to eat (at some place called farleys). i would have liked to have seen it during the day, but from what i did see, it looked pretty neat, even though the whole town is alien-themed. which i can imagine would get rather annoying if you live there.
amy and i rented a jeep cherokee laredo for the week which was pretty nice. i couldnt drive one everyday, but for 1 week i had 4-wheel drive, heated leather seats, and more than 6 inches of ground clearance which made for a great time on many of new mexicos bumpy, dirt roads. of course, being that it was a rental, they only offered the v6 model which had no balls what-so-ever. it was all bark, no bite. in fact, it didnt even have teeth. we still returned it with a thick layer of new mexicos best dirt. (glare)
one thing about new mexico that drove me craziest was the sudden climate changes. and when i say sudden, i mean, sudden. i got there on saturday and it was about 70. when i woke up sunday, it was about 35 and by noon it was about 60. when we got to carlsbad, it was almost 80. it was beautiful. then monday, it snowed. the changes in elevation cause the temperature to fluctuate about 5-10 degrees in relatively short driving distances. in fact, on the way back to albuquerque to come home, i watched the temp gauge go from 41 degrees, slowly down to 24 degrees and back to 47, before dipping back to 38 and back up to 55 in albuquerque. the change from 24 degrees to 47 happened in about a distance of 10 miles. thats like the temperature at my house being 24 and kens house being 47.
also, everyone talks about 'dry' heat compared to our humidity. well, i got my first taste of 'dry' heat. when its 80 degrees with 10% humidity, its beautiful. however, when its alwayys dry, it sucks. i woke up almost everyday with nose bleeds, my skin felt like it wa cracking anytime i moved, and when skin gets that dry, it gets rather itchy.
it was my first time going out west and even though there wasnt much out there, it was pretty cool to see. there is a lot of history along those roads. there were hundreds of broken-down stone buildings, many of them that still had trading post signs on them, old indian burial sites, billy the kids supposed grave site and museum, and many other historical buildings, sites, and monuments.
im just glad to be back home where the temp is stable and the grass is green and we actually have trees, i just wish it was 70 degrees here.
here are a few pics
1- this is what driving in new mexico looked like about 98% of the time
2- i took this from the top of carlsbad caverns rooftop observation deck (i told you there was nothing out there)
3- part of the extremely curvy road leading to the caverns
4- the natural entrance to the caverns
5- my sister and i in the cave
