Road Trip Maine - It's all about the weather 09-06-16

This drive home is intended to just get me there!  I am not sightseeing or visiting  people and had hoped to make better time and cut a day off the trip.  But between the electronic gremlins that have plagued me and today's stormy weather I think it will be the 8th before I drive into my garage.  From the picture you can tell that the day started out gloomy, got better, got worse and then even worse.   On the electronic side, I sent off the SQG newsletter to the proofreaders last night and heard from one of them this morning that there was no newsletter attached when they received it.  I was already on the road and it took until Santa Fe, NM, to find a Starbuck's with connections, so I could attempt to resend.  The process  is all different than it was last month, but I finally figured out a way to send it successfully.  Now I will need to do it again to send it to the lady who posts things online to our website.  Hope I can figure it out a  second time.  Who knows what will happen next month? 

Leaving HIE at Limon,  CO, at 8am it was a solid grey sky.

 

I drove south on Hwy 24 which is mostly one lane in each direction.  It has changed a lot since I last drove this road - better road, more buildings and as I got closer to Colorado Springs there are subdivisions.  I didn't see any antelope this trip.  But somewhere along the way there was a yellow sign with a picture of a bear to warn drivers there might be bear on the roadway.

 

Then, as I neared Colorado Springs the sun came out and brightened the gazillion sunflowers, some of which can be seen in this image. 

 

In the far distance is the front range of the Rocky Mountains.  I never see this view without thinking of those hardy pioneers who walked for months across the prairie only to be confronted with this wall of mountains.

 

A bit closer to the mountains.

 

To the east the sky is clear and the pinyon pines are spread over the hillsides. These are the wild version of the  pine nuts we buy for baking and eating.  They have the cutest little fat cones.  I gathered them one year and tied them with gold bows on our Xmas tree.

 

There are some lovely valleys with ranch houses, trees and lots of beef cattle.   I also saw a pasture of llamas and alpacas.

 

Oh, Oh, the clouds are starting to gather.  Notice the wind generators, three together which were turning, and one motionless to the left.  All the pictures make them look grey, but in reality they are all a brilliant white from ground to tips of the arms.

 

Across the road from the wind generators is this sculpture - just out in the middle of nowhere.  I thought at first it was a deteriorating bill board, but it is actually a piece of art.

 

Here are the three generators, turning in lazy circles like they were dancing together. Some solitary peaks in the distance - so typical of this area.

 

To the west the clouds gather and a few lightning strikes lace through them.

Ahead the clouds grow as the miles fly by - speed limit is 75mph.

 

Into the center of the dark clouds.

I stopped for gas in Las Vegas, New Mexico, MUCH smaller and different than the more familiar Las Vegas, Nevada.   While the gas was pumping the rain started.

And it came down in huge drops, very hard.

 

The day got darker and the rain continued.

Naturally, construction was part of the mix.

When I stopped at Starbuck's in Santa Fe there were quite a few people there.  Including this cowboy working his cell phone and drinking coffee.  I guess everyone goes to Starbuck's if there is one in town.

This stone work on the outside of the building looks like a brilliant quilt to me.

 

Clouds are gathering on the east.

More rain periodically.  Lots of lightning strikes.

As I came into Albuquerque, New Mexico, the storm increased to the point that everyone was going very slowly, bumper to bumper.  I couldn't see the lines on the roadway, nor sometimes the car in front of me.  I thought "Del, why are you driving in this?  It is 5:30, find a room and settle for the night." 

Here is the sunset from my HIE room.  The sky looks more clear, but there are periodic sprinkles.

And a telephoto shot enhances the color. 

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One year ago - continuing on Road Trip 05-29-14

I apologize for getting behind on this series of posts.  I've been a little "off my feed" lately and have not been able to keep up with my blog.  This week I am working on the Surfside QGuild newsletter and hope to have it done by the weekend.  I am taking a new medication which takes two weeks or more to be effective, hope it kicks in by midweek.

 

On May 22, 2013 I drove from Tucumcari, NM, to Springfield, MO, straight across the panhandle of Texas.  I watched carefully  for tornadoes which were sighted all over the mid west states. 

About in the middle of the panhandle is Groom, Texas, where this cross stands right on I-40.  It is 190 feet high and can be seen from over 20 miles away.  Really flat land around here.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groom,_Texas

Even though it was May I saw very few wildflowers along the way.  These dandelion heads are located at the highway Info Center (below).

This Texas Information Center is on the west bound lanes of I-40.  I'll stop there on the way home.  It is located right on the lip of a valley that drops off on the back side, so the rugged landscape is laid out at your feet.  Quail, ravens and, of course, house sparrows in abundance.

Several years ago I started collecting images of the alphabet when I travel.  Can you see a G?

And a C - way at the top of the picture?

Thicker clouds and an embankment of wild flowers.

A few infrequent wildflowers.  I wonder if this is part of Lady Bird Johnson's beautification effort.

Now into Missouri where I started to see more horse ranches - lots of white board fences.  Probably made out of vinyl these days.

 

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One year ago - continuing on Road Trip 05-23-14

People ask me how I can drive so far alone and don't I find it boring?  No, not boring, more an opportunity to think and observe and wonder.  I do sometimes listen to a recorded book, but must turn it off in traffic or when going through a city where I need to be alert to road numbers and turnoffs.   But there is almost something to look at and wonder about. 

Heading east on I-40 from Gallup, NMexico, the land is very bare and dry.  Large flat top mountains arise between long stretches of flat land and deserted highway.   Some are up-thrusts and some are worn away by millions of years of erosion - like the one in the right background.

This is an example of a sedimentary rock ridge very close to the highway.  It isn't terribly tall - compare it to the SUV.

Albuquerque has added interest to their section of the Interstate with fancy overpasses, walls and plantings.  This fanciful display is a pedestrian crossover.

Terra cotta and teal/turquoise are the colors of much of the architecture.

The mountains in the distance are represented by 'etchings' on the sound walls.

These three pointed decorations might represent growing corn - an American Indian symbol.

They do fanciful landscaping/hardscaping also, although I doubt these plants are much larger than when I went through in 2012.  Things don't grow very fast in the desert. 

Just east of Albuquerque is the turn off to Zuzax, NM.  I wonder if it came before or after Zzyzx Road, CA, which is just east of Barstow. 

I always see lots of interesting vehicles on the road.  Many strange cargoes, or mysterious humps covered with tightly tied tarps.  This American Red Cross truck was traveling in a caravan of similar trucks.  Since it was the day after the terrible death dealing tornado in Oklahoma I wondered if that is where this fleet of rescue vehicles was heading. 

There are curves in the road now and then.  This one is at a junction with another road.  And I always enjoy the clouds which are almost always present.  But no rain. 

After the curve I-40 is straight again, all the way to the horizon.  Unless there is a wreck or horrible weather, there aren't any traffic jams out here. 

Even though it is very dry, the little grasses and plants right against the pavement benefit from the runoff when it does rain.  So there is often a fringe of green along the edge.

When I first saw these light colored triangles, my first thought was "tepees"!  But they are much too large for that. 

I decided they are mine tailings.  Notice the steep dirt roadway diagonally across the mountain.

I stayed in Tucumcari, NM, that night and had dinner at Del's Restaurant which has been in business since 1956.  I think the cashier has been there all that time and she didn't care that my name is Del!

The food is was fresh and well prepared - very basic diner fare with a nice salad bar.

I ordered the grilled chicken with raspberry sauce on the side - good thing because it was rather spicy for me.   I liked seeing the Fiestaware in every color that it came in.  I wonder  if that is what they started out with, although these are modern replacements. 

 

The trip report continues tomorrow.

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