New Mexico aka: NM

I loved my scenic drive on US64. If you have time to drive over 400 miles on a sometimes straight, sometimes twisty US route, I highly recomend it! The drive will take you through deserts, mountains, forests, past lakes, rivers, and streams. Also, if you’re into art, there are a lot of studios in North Eastern New Mexico. Just make sure you go the speed limit all over, as the police caught me doing 82 in a 65 from about a mile away. Luckily, I’m from Pennsylvania (no points) and the fine was only $86. But still, I’d rather have kept my money. Thought the limit was still 75.

I hate this state so much. Not only is it boring desert, they have stupid “safety corridors” and cops that claim you were speeding when you aren’t. I wouldn’t care if the most awesome thing happened to be in this state, I absolutely just HATE it.

I only went through a small tip of New Mexico so I can’t say I’ve really visited. I WILL go back though. I’ve always thought this state looked interesting..those caverns look cool..

If you’re looking for excitement…no. it doesn’t have that. BUT we’ve (NM is my homestate!) got beauty and charm. We have the Balloon Fiesta and Roswell.
most importantly, we have green chili. just do it

Amazing… i fell in love with this state. Bottomless Lakes State Park, White Sands—breathtakingly beautiful.

My family drove though here when I was really little!

We used to go skiing here as a family when I was little.

I “sprained my arm” and had to wear a wooden board wrapped in gauze.
My brother and I took a children’s skiing learning course. It was so cute – depending on your level, you’d get a different animal name.
Like the first Beginning level was the Chipmunks, the next was the Squirrels… things like that.

I don’t remember that much about New Mexico, but I do remember the landscapes and the pueblos. It’s true what I see in the magazines: lots of tourquoise! I remember the sky and the sunsets, and the nightlife being really nice.

: )

Who knew there were so many shades of brown? Must, must, must go back and see more of it. I didn’t get to visit any of the cities, just passed through on the way to Colorado…

I went to college here in Santa Fe and loved it. Santa Fe can get kind of boring since it’s really touristy, but I was able to get out and go hiking on the gorgeous mesas and I even made it out to White Sands.

My first sight upon entering New Mexico on I-40 was construction, slowed traffic, merging into one lane, and all the crud that goes along with that. I was going to stop at the first rest area I came to and message my girlfriend that I’d made it that far at least, but the first rest area I came to was closed for renovation. It seems like there are only about five rest areas on that highway across the entire length of the state, and three of them were closed. One of the others was more like a big parking lot for a casino, so I didn’t stop there. The scenery itself was rather beautiful, although definitely different than what I’m used to in Oregon. Lots of surreal looking rock formations and bluffs, in different shades of reds and browns and such. Aside from the large amounts of construction, I made pretty good time through the state. I fortunately didn’t hit Albuquerque during the rush hour, but even in the slightly post-lunch lull, it was something of a madhouse, and again there was quite a bit of construction going on. Albuquerque looks like it might be a nice city to go back and visit someday, but this time around, I was just trying to make the best time possible, so it was just head through and move on for me.

I finally stopped just a little before I got to Santa Rosa. There had been some clouds building in the sky for a while, and I’m not real familiar with driving a truck, so I was feeling the gusty wind a whole lot more than I was used to. I pulled into one of the few open rest areas that I’d seen and texted my girlfriend to ask her what the weather forecast for that area looked like. She said that it looked like it was just a little line of showers, but it happened to be following along the route that I was taking. I saw that a lot of other trucks and RVs were getting back out on the road, so I figured I’d just head on out and take it slow and easy and do the best I could.

The wind continued and it started raining a lot harder than it had been at the rest area, and by the time I made it to Santa Rosa and stopped for gas, it was beginning to snow. After getting back on the freeway, the snow continued to come down harder, to the point where there was a definite buildup on the windshield where the wipers didn’t reach. Fortunately, it only lasted about half an hour or so, and then it cleared up pretty well, although it continued to drizzle all the way to the Texas border and beyond. I kind of expected to have to deal with heat while I was travelling through both Arizona and New Mexico, but it seems that I had more problems with cold than anything. Still, I’ll go back someday when I’ve got a little more time to stop and check things out.