Yes, the Land of Enchantment really came through today.  Non-stop sun, cloudless skies.  And more of the same forecast for tomorrow.  Busy, busy all day long.  Didn’t get settled til after 10pm because I wanted to set us up in Raton for tomorrow’s schedule.  It’s already close to midnight and I have a LOT of photos cropped & ready for you.  Sparkle only got breaks at gas stations.  And she ran like a champ — twisty mountains, city driving, desert driving, all of it.

Grip, Fix and I got bit by fire ants.  Nik & Grem were running around too fast I guess for them to latch on.  Grip was licking a front paw for awhile.  But Fixie, the drama queen, has been limping all day and barely will get out of the van.  I got them up my pants leg.   Even though it was somewhat a public area, I didn’t care — I just dropped my pants and plucked them off of me.  I stepped on them and they squashed out my blood.  Disgusting.  I believe all animals have the right to a healthy and happy life — except bugs that bite me or my dogs.  I can’t kill those suckers fast enough.

Let’s get to it.  Starting with Portales:

 

What’s with New Mexico’s water?  Is it not safe to drink?  Everywhere, just everywhere, there are those water vending machines and now a water store.  Love the water bottle entrance:

 

From Texico (yes, that’s right, at the border of TX & NM):

 

Over the border slightly to Bovina, TX:

 

On to Clovis, NM:

 

A Streamline Moderne / Art Deco building:

 

Love the little shield letters and how the blue & white & black match the rest of the photo:

 

Glad to see this place is hanging in there — despite being surrounded by other fast food places:

Had to show some support — had a craving for onion rings and these did not disappoint!

 

On to Tucumcari:

 

Detail from the Golden Dragon restaurant sign:

 

An interesting building I hadn’t noticed before — I’d say Art Deco with neat fruit?, pine cone? & cactus details:

 

I’ve shot a lot of these Phillips 66 stations on this trip.  This one I’ll include because I like the tires with the Tires sign — and the garage sign across the street:

 

A modern-ish billboard downtown — don’t forget, all my photos are clickable to get a larger size.  The shark/drugs chasing the girl/our youth.  The boat says “Our Community” on it:

 

 

On to Santa Rosa — the La Mesa Motel:

 

From the boarded-up Western Motel:

 

Some flowering cacti.  Haven’t seen that much cactus on this trip yet — only the stuff installed by humans in planters and such:

 

On to Las Vegas (NM, that is):

 

Yes, that’s Sparkle on the right — another view of the unique bumper:

 

On a depressing note — over to Dalhart, TX to shoot a few things.  I checked up on the Mission Twins Theatre that I shot last year when it was being “renovated” for a church:

Sure enough — they stripped it:

 

Over to Clayton for one more sign for the evening:

 

Tomorrow, we’ll be up and down the mountains north of Albuquerque.  After that, the rough plan if you’re interested:  Thurs & Fri, Albuquerque; Sat south of ABQ; Sun west of ABQ; and then Monday or Tuesday, on to Arizona.  I think it’s do-able and puts us on schedule.  We are officially just past the halfway point of this trip — 19 more days to go!  Seems like forever since we were in Ohio and West Virginia, doesn’t it?