New Mexico

My family drove though here when I was really little!

When i was in first grade my family moved there for a year. we lived in los alamos and the drive to get there was a really scary climb up this mesa. our backyard was a canyon and there were lots of trails at the end of the street. since we lived near bandalier national park i got to visit there pretty often. there were so many different indian ruins. one day we woke up to see a black bear in our neighbors yard. there were so many national parks out in the southwest. there is so much to talk about. i saw the albuquerque balloon festival, i visited native american reservations to see their dances, and i visited carlsbad caverns (but i wasn’t really old enough to do much) there is so much to see and do. and i definitely recommend the tesuque flea market in santa fe. santa fe was amazing i really liked seeing all the churches. some of their services are in spanish!

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.

I’m going there on my honeymoon this September and it will be my 4th or 5th trip there. I’ve visited all parts of the state, almost, and I can’t wait to get back. I would like to buy land there too. It’s where I go when I need to get the “bugs” out of my head. The desert is beautiful; the mountains, EVERYTHING. The only problem is that it is no longer a secret, but is developing far more than when I first visited. Still, the most awesome place I have ever been.

new mexico sucks! god i hated driving through this state. just dont go there…..just dont.

Beautiful mountains.
Good Mexican food
and a great mix of cultures!

i just drove through. it seemed very simple and pretty, and like the people were probably very hospitable. i’d love to live there someday!