Epic Road Trip 2017: Day 25 - New Mexico

A crazy day all around as I reached a magical desert landscape and made preparations to dodge Harvey.

Route: Albuquerque, New Mexico to White Sands, NM to Tucumcari, NM

Total Miles: About 500

Total Driving Time:  9 hours

Mood – Electric

Music – Money Jungle by Duke Ellington, Charlie Mingus, and Max Roach

I left my airbnb in Albuquerque around 11.  Before heading to White Sands, though, there was a matter I wanted to tend to.    

I found a Wal-Mart and strategically placed another “Anarchy Packet”. 

After that fun little excursion, I hit the road.  It didn’t take long and I was driving down long stretches of flat two lane highways that look like they go on forever.    

One thing I will say about driving in New Mexico is that the speed limits on the two lane highways, at least from what I saw, have a 60 or 65mph speed limit.  I find this frustrating because I should be able to do 90 due to the conditions.   

Anyway, on the way I came across a library in a tiny town that was having a used book sale.  Devoted book worm that I am, I couldn’t resist stopping in to take a look.    

I ended up buying 2 books.  I got Imperial Earth by Arthur C. Clarke for my nephew and I got One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn.    

I made it to White Sands a little before 6pm.  I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled up to pay the mafia the entrance fee when I was told “there’s no fee today”.  Can you believe that? I was stoked.   

As for White Sands, it was even better than I expected.  It’s quite a breathtaking experience! The pictures don’t do it justice, but I got some good shots.  And the best part was, I was there for sunset!   

After about 2 hours of driving and walking around this desert paradise, it was time to move on.  I had planned to drive across Texas, but Hurricane Harvey had other ideas.  I decided it would be best to take a more northern route.  This meant backtracking north and then getting on I-40 in Santa Rosa, NM and then heading east through Amarillo, Texas and Oklahoma.    

For maybe 2 hours of that night drive, it was raining.  My windows got fogged up and it was difficult to see.  I survived, but it was rather treacherous at times.    

Upon reaching Santa Rosa, I went to my go-to truck stop for internet, Love’s, to make an airbnb reservation for the next night.  I figured that I could get as far as Arkansas, and Little Rock had the most available options, so I booked it and took off.  (as a side note, my go-to truck stop for coffee is Pilot) 

At this point I was extremely tired and decided I would sleep at the next truck stop or rest area, whichever came first.  As luck would have it, another Love’s popped up near Tucumcari, NM so I crashed (pun intended) there for the night in the car with my trusty pizza pillow.

Stay tuned as the trek heads east!

Thanks for your time and attention!