Albuquerque — A Piece Of Cake

Our  drive to Albuquerque was dry (almost), smooth and best of all, uneventful. We referred to all our Route 66 books, pamphlets and magazines so as not to miss anything really noteworthy and did see a lot of quaint, colorful sites along the way. The scenery was bleak as we left Amarillo, with dirty snow along the edge of the highway, transitioning to a carpet of white atop the flat fields of the plain. 

Art commented that I should mention the kinds of trees we began to see. So, of course I will. He also told me that today in our journey to Flagstaff, there will be a good chance of seeing a Mountain Blue Bird (true electric blue bird). It seemed to me we were zooming from Texas into New Mexico because of the contrast with the slow and treacherous trip from Oklahoma City to Amarillo. But at  a speed between 65 and 75 mph we did see a changing assortment of snow laden bushes and trees. First came the Creosote and then the Catclaw. Juniper (the low kind) soon joined the group and as we drew closer to small mesas the higher Pinon Pines were there, covered with snow. They were most evident on what looked like snow covered hill sides, some of which were undoubtedly a kind of alluvial fill in between the steep walls and the bottom lands. Cholla also added a different texture as we made our way toward the more populated Albuquerque.

When we reached the first hills and arboreal plant life as we moved into New Mexico, the snow was a little deeper and clung to the bushes and small trees. The road cuts and hills or mesas were covered with a scattered covering of snow, creating a kind of black and white polka dot illusion. As we moved further into N.M. where there were bigger trees, the white began to dominate. At one point we made a stop at Cline's Corners to see a shop billed as the largest old gift shop in NM (or something like that), we discovered that everything there including some rooms to rent and a gas station were closed due to a lack of electricity. No doubt one more victim of this week's costly storm. Art walked over to look into the display windows while I became fascinated by the rime covered trees with ravens sitting on the higher branches. What a lovely study in black and white. Those birds looked really fat so when the restaurant and cabins are working full tilt, the ravens must eat well. 

We coasted into Albuquerque at 5:30, just in time for the blinding sun to make it a little dicey, but we made it safely and then had some comical time trying to find the closest Motel 6 in the area where we decided to exit highway 40. We finally reserved a room near the science museum and many of the special places in the old part of the city. We had a delicious dinner at a Mexican fish restaurant. We'll try to visit several special places tomorrow, catch the petroglyphs just beyond town and then be on our way to Flagstaff.  If another storm doesn't arrive  before we do, Flagstaff should be well under control despite the snow. Wishing for a beautiful day tomorrow. Will try to add a couple of photos by tomorrow morning.