Sunday, February 7, 2016

The Road Less Traveled


Last spring when I drove to New Mexico and visited Santa Fe and then south to see Spaceport America, I could have driven home from that area along interstates 25 and 10 and been home in just a  few hours.  Instead, I decided to get off the super highways and see some of the back country.  I'm so glad I did.  If you need to get somewhere fast, the Interstate system works well but if you really want to see America, you have to travel the roads less traveled.  I left Interstate 25 at Cabello and traveled west along state route 152.  The scenery immediately started to appeal to me.



In fact the rolling hills and outcroppings of rock had me pulling over several times to take photos.  And, the great thing is that there was no other traffic on the road so pulling over for a few minutes was a pleasure.


I passed through the tiny town of Hillsboro, a sleepy little place that looked quite peaceful.


On the way through I passed this beautiful little mission called Our Lady of Guadalupe.


I passed patches of bright yellow flowers in the distance.


I crossed into the Gila National Forest and started to climb toward Emory Pass.


Near the top I saw an area that had been devastated by a forest fire.  It had probably happened one or two years ago because new growth was coming back.


And finally, I drove through a rocky canyon with the canyon walls soaring high on both sides of me.  Not long after the canyon, I headed south on state route 90 and met up with Interstate 10 at Lordsburg New Mexico just a few short miles from the Arizona border.  What a memorable drive that turned out to be.  I'll remember to get off the super highway more often.

3 comments:

Lowell said...

I wouldn't have been at all surprised if you'd shown us cowboys and Indians! Great stuff and quite beautiful out there in the middle of nowhere! Love that sleepy little town. But what would you do there?

William Kendall said...

Some stark and beautiful terrain. The old mission really catches my eye, perhaps because it's architecture unlike what we see here.

Catalyst said...

Ah yes, the blue highways. Good tour, Sharon.