Driving West Texas/Las Cruces, NM (Day 8)

I had low/no expectations for today - the plan was simply to get the driving out of the way and stop in New Mexico for an oil change, laundry and rest before moving on to my next stop in Arizona. I left very early, before 5, and all there was just darkness and nothing on either side of the road. Around 6:30 the sun came up, but the road stayed fairly plain, though pretty, for several hours.

I’m not sure exactly when it turned, but it seemed that suddenly I realized I was driving through these really pretty, low hills – covered in somewhat sparse greenery. The way it looked, you could see the hills rising up behind each other for miles; I say "hill" but they were really low mountains, and the tops of the mountains were sort of flattish but rounded at the edges so they weren’t plateaus – I don’t know the word for them. Anyway - I thought it was absolutely beautiful, driving through these hills. I got out of the car at one point to take a picture, but honks and cheers from two passing trucks prompted me to quickly dive back into my car. Unfortunately, none of the pictures I posted will do any of it justice; since they were taken without aiming the camera through the window of my car.

The landscape continued to stay the same for a while, though I never quite got used to the beauty of it, and then out of nowhere it got even more beautiful. The vegetation became more sparse, and I noticed that cacti were growing in clusters on the side of the road. The sandy mountains became more rocklike, and taller and redder. I unfortunately lack the vocabulary to adequately describe the truly breathtaking beauty of the west Texas landscape. The best I can do is to say it was like driving through the set of any old John Wayne movie with “Rio” in the title. I began to consider getting out of my car again to take a picture, but pulling over to the side of the lonely highway made me nervous. Anyway, I was glad I decided against it when I passed a road sign that said “Prison Area – DO NOT Pick Up Hitchikers”. Wish I could have gotten a shot of that!!

By the time I arrived in Las Cruces I felt as though I really had a full day of sightseeing. I did the things I meant to do, then spent a relaxing evening in the hotel. I still can't get over the truly unexpected beauty of Western Texas. I love the way this trip keeps handing me surprises!