On the road to New Mexico

 June 3, 2025

Spring River RV Park site 12

Roswell, NM

The landscape is certainly different from what we are accustomed to in Florida.  Miles of flat fields as far as the eye can see. 

The trip today from Big Spring, Texas began with an abundance of oil pumps on both sides of the highway.....the majority of them in operation.  

Slowly moving up an down on one end while the other end rotates in a circular motion. 

Then the scenery changed a bit adding fields stacked with round hay bales and long lines of irrigation equipment with fewer oil pumps.

Dad was watching his fuel gauge zipping quickly toward the empty mark.  We were traveling in a strong headwind so we were only registering 8.4 mpg rather than our usual 10.5 - 11 mpg. That low number is definitely a first for us.  Pam phoned with a bit of panic in her voice.  She had never seen her gauge drop so quickly and was thinking she had an 'issue' that needed addressing.  With everything so flat and treeless, she didn't even realize it was just a wind issue. 

Crossing the border into New Mexico made it a challenge for Momma to snap a pic of the state border sign as the road texture changed with a bump that rocked the camera and shifted the viewpoint.  It's a good thing the photo program has great editing capabilities.

Our rest break was also a refuel break as we still had about 70 miles to go and the tank was getting low.  Tatum, New Mexico had a nice, roomy fuel/truck stop that participates in the Open Road program so fuel was only $2.80.  That made Dad smile.

I was smiling when the coffee was made and the treats arrived.

Dad had fresh apple cake in his left hand and mini dog treats in his right hand.  I kept trying to send him a subliminal message to send that left hand to me as well but......at least I got treats.

The station was located just as we entered Tatum.  As we rode through the town, Momma was able to capture some photos of interesting metal work signage.

There was welcome sign as you entered Tatum that matched this sign as we exited.

 Passing a Metal Works Art studio helped explain all the metal work.  Further down the road, the entrance to ranches were embellished the ranch name in similar metal work.  It appears that the metal work business is prospering.  

As we neared Roswell, the scenery took on more interest.

This photo was taken as we were approaching Bottomless Lake State Park.

It looked like we made really great travel time...until you take into consideration that we just jumped into Mountain Time. At least we are easing into the time zones as we spent quite a bit of time in the central time zone. It's not like boarding a plane from the eastern time zone and getting off in central time and demanding your body adjusts to a two hour difference immediately.  

It really doesn't make all that much difference to me as I eat when I'm hungry and sleep when I'm tired.  I really don't care what time the news comes on.  Ooops!  They missed tuning in again tonight.  Guess you'll have to read the headlines.  

I'm Chloe