New Mexico Part II

 I stopped into the first Starbucks I've seen since first crossing the Arizona-New Mexico border. There are very few here! I asked the cashier and she said it's because the population is so low. They might be found in Albuquerque, but not in outlying areas.

I'm finding this to be true. It's amazing how much bare land there is here. I tend to be attracted to the smaller highways due to less traffic, less semis, and thinking there might be interesting landscape to see. Not really. Miles and miles of flat semi-desert land sometimes with mountains in the distance. Once up in the hills which are considered mountains here, one finds more shrubs and then taller trees and it becomes scenic and beautiful. At least all the roads, highways, and freeways are drivably maintained. 

Yesterday after leaving the Albuquerque food co-op, I headed east and then south to Fort Sumner. Tiny little town. I had hoped some remnant of the fort was there, but only the cemetery now exists. With Billy the Kid's grave! I love Wild West history and as I drive some of these tiny highways, I imagine what it was like to ride a horse and be a cowboy back in the 1800s. It might take hours to drive to Fort Sumner, but it must have taken weeks on a horse!

.

There was also a Billy the Kid Museum in the middle of town capitalizing on the tourism brought to the area by the gravesite. I asked the cashier what was in it thinking maybe (probably not) there was anything historic of Billy the Kid's. She said there were all kinds of wonderful things, including cars. CARS? Billy the Kid didn't drive a car! I didn't bother to pay $8 to see a car not driven by Billy the Kid. I know from reading biographies there isn't much on Billy the Kid except one photo and legend.

Next I headed to Roswell on my tourist loop. Main Street is filled with alien stores...and lots of tourists. I stopped into one that wasn't swamped with people just too look and bought a postcard for a pen pal that said "Ask me about my butthole. Probed in Roswell." LOL! I couldn't help myself. Too many tourists on the sidewalks and not a whole lot of places to park a giant van so I left.

Next drove to Cloudcroft which is up in the mountains. Camped in the Lincoln National Park at the James Canyon campground right on Highway 82. Very beautiful and quiet in the mountains.

Heading back to Arizona. It's definitely warmer there. My test-traveling adventure is almost over just in time for Christmas!