We got on the road by 5:30 a.m. with the countryside pitch black and the stars were shining brightly. We crossed the Oklahoma/Texas border at 5:53 a.m.
By 8:27 a.m., we crossed into another time zone, too, into New Mexico.
We pass the time observing our surroundings, looking for police, enjoying the scenery when the sun rose and listened to music.
It would have been nice to have kept Sirius XM but we needed to cut some expenses. Not much on the radio and if we did get a station, Brad drives really fast so the station would go out of range quickly.
Playlist included AM radio for football games, Dylan, Zeppelin, Sarah McLaughlin, David Gray, Sheryl Crow, Neil Young. It was fitting to listen to Prairie Wind through Texas.
In the darkness of Texas, we saw a horizon of red blinking lights. I thought they were oil fields but to my surprise, they were wind turbines. We felt as if we were in a Pink Floyd video.
Most of drive through Northwestern Texas was uneventful except for two trucking companies (Knight Transportation & Bill Davis Trucking) camping out in the left lane when there was upcoming traffic that could travel at 75+ mph. The terrain was fairly flat as well. As we crossed into New Mexico, the country seem vast with lots of sage brush, just as Texas. I had a bunch of things to mail and I asked Brad to stop at a post office. We were going to mail them from Taos but I thought, let's just get them mailed. We passed town after small town and they all had post offices. Las Vegas, Sapallo, Mora, Cleveland. I when I would see a sign for the next town, there will be a post office. We laughed as he drove by as they were usually on the left side of the road. He said my mail would never make it to the East Coast in time for Christmas. I don't know what it is, they seemed to be all on the left side of the road, even the two post office in Taos were on the left. I finally mailed my postcards in Taos.
When we drove through Mora (popl 4,596), we were saddened by all the boarded up buildings. The town and other towns were depressed. We passed many properties or home sites where there were many abandoned cars, campers and dilapidated buildings.
As we climbed on state road 518 to Taos, Brad would stop for scenic pull offs. After one of the pull offs, I thought we blew a tire but it was the altitude affecting our snacks. The pretzel bag blew and it scared the crap out of us. There were four more bags of popcorn and chips we anticipated blowing but they never popped. Thank goodness!!
In the darkness of Texas, we saw a horizon of red blinking lights. I thought they were oil fields but to my surprise, they were wind turbines. We felt as if we were in a Pink Floyd video.
Most of drive through Northwestern Texas was uneventful except for two trucking companies (Knight Transportation & Bill Davis Trucking) camping out in the left lane when there was upcoming traffic that could travel at 75+ mph. The terrain was fairly flat as well. As we crossed into New Mexico, the country seem vast with lots of sage brush, just as Texas. I had a bunch of things to mail and I asked Brad to stop at a post office. We were going to mail them from Taos but I thought, let's just get them mailed. We passed town after small town and they all had post offices. Las Vegas, Sapallo, Mora, Cleveland. I when I would see a sign for the next town, there will be a post office. We laughed as he drove by as they were usually on the left side of the road. He said my mail would never make it to the East Coast in time for Christmas. I don't know what it is, they seemed to be all on the left side of the road, even the two post office in Taos were on the left. I finally mailed my postcards in Taos.
When we drove through Mora (popl 4,596), we were saddened by all the boarded up buildings. The town and other towns were depressed. We passed many properties or home sites where there were many abandoned cars, campers and dilapidated buildings.
As we climbed on state road 518 to Taos, Brad would stop for scenic pull offs. After one of the pull offs, I thought we blew a tire but it was the altitude affecting our snacks. The pretzel bag blew and it scared the crap out of us. There were four more bags of popcorn and chips we anticipated blowing but they never popped. Thank goodness!!
