It was just getting light when we left Cross Timbers State Park in Toronto, KS. We continued west on US 54 for the rest of the day driving through Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and, finally, New Mexico. Most of the day was spent crossing Kansas.
It was a continuation of the relatively quiet US 54 until Wichita, then things changed. The quiet, truck-free route, became a two-lane substitute interstate highway with hordes of tractor-trailers in both directions. It seems that US 54 is a shorter route to northern Oklahoma, northwest Texas tand I-40 through New Mexico to the west coast than going south from Wichita to Oklahoma City and west on I-40.
It was one of the worst drives we have ever done in Speedy. The road was often badly surfaced and being tailgated and passed by big trucks all day was rather stressful. When we traversed the short stretch of Texas we passed through Dalhart, TX and between two of the largest stockyards we've ever seen...cattle in pens as far as the eye could see in both direction. There must have been hundreds of thousands animals in these muddy pens. We finally reached Tucumcari late in the afternoon.
We hadn't expected to get this far. It was nearing sunset and we hadn't considered where to park for the night. There wasn't anything in Tucumcari except for a couple of very tired RV parks. A perusal of the Allstays app showed Conchas Lake and a state park about 30 minutes away. It was on one of the two routes to santa Fe, our next stop, so off we went, up New Mexico 104. The lake is a Corps of Engineers lake and the COE campground was near the road. Unfortunately, it and the other Corps campground further up the lake were closed. They had been listed as open year-around.
There were two more areas listed a few miles further up the lake in the state park. We continued along the lake and across the top of the dam. The first one was open, but the showers and toilets were closed, so on we went in the fading light to the last choice (last chance?). It was open, as was its facilities. There were about a half-dozen other campers there, but plenty of room to finally pull into a site overlooking Conchas Lake as the Milky Way appeared.
It was a quiet, dark night and we were exhausted. A quick dinner of soup with cheese, sopressata and bread, then lights out.
This morning, after scraping about a million bugs off the windshield and hood of Speedy, we were on our way to Santa Fe. On New Mexico Route 104 it was back to a quiet two-lane road that initially wound through a classic landscape of buttes and mesas, then eventually up a twisty escarpment to open grasslands with occasional small herds of cattle grazing.
After a 75 mile drive, we reached Las Vegas, NM just in time for breakfast. Johnny's Mexican Restaurant sat at the edge of town and had the requisite number of pick-up trucks parked outside to make it enticing. The sign of the side of the building announced Mexican and New Mexican food..with some American dishes. It was the classic local breakfast spot. Ellen went New Mexican with a Hand-held Breakfast Burrito (a smaller size than the Burrito Breakfast) and I went American with Oatmeal-Blueberry Pancakes. Coffee and sides of thick tasty bacon completed our order. The breakfasts were both tasty, as was the bacon, although I think Ellen made the better choice...but I'm a sucker for pancakes.
From there it was onto I-25 for the 65 miles to the Santa Fe Whole Foods on St. Francis Dr. for some provisioning, as well as a stop at an Albertsons supermarket to top off the list. Finally, it was back onto I-25 south to Cochiti Lake another Corps of Engineering lake and campground.
Here we were planning to meet up with our traveling friends, Harry and Sally, Tom and Jean. We have traveled with them on various trips in the past, both on land and water. They had been off on individual late summer and fall excursions through the West and we decided to get together here as we were coming west for the winter and they were about to head home to Massachusetts.
We will be together at Cochiti Lake for the next few days, visiting Santa Fe and surrounding sights. But for today it was getting back together, comparing travel tales and having a good dinner.
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