Day 21: Mountains, Valleys, and More (northern NM)

Another full day of sunshine. And I made the most of it motoring all through the forests and mountains north of Albuquerque, down to Santa Fe, over to Cuba — and back to Bernalillo to set us up for Albuquerque tomorrow. Whew! And now, getting a very late start. Not promising much coherency or flourishy writing tonight. Sparkle running great — got her third or fourth oil change — I’ve lost track. The dogs got a couple swims today — weather still pretty mild and the water is COLD.

Let’s start with Raton — yes, that’s 7:19 am. If the sun is there, I get cracking early!

At a former Conoco gas station. I’ve never seen a Dr Pepper machine before (no, it wasn’t filled with bottles or working):

Two signs are better than one:

Signs in the window indicated that this is soon to become the “Rockin’ Raton 50s Diner”. Gawd. I hope they don’t mess with the sign — but it seems inevitable:

I couldn’t resist slipping across the border to nearby Trinidad, CO:

Back into New Mexico — this is in Cimarron:

North of Taos — a couple of shots from the headquarters of Earthship Biotecture:
http://earthship.com/

From Embudo — the Gasoline Alley Museum. Which is Johnnie Meier’s collection of all kinds of stuff — mostly gas station related:

Lots of gas station signs as well. This ice cream sign came from someplace about an hour north of town:

And the more valuable stuff is locked in a building. Gas pump globes, photos, ephemera, etc.:

On to Espanola:

Down to Santa Fe:

Taos & Santa Fe are really decked out in Pueblo styled buildings. Including the chain restaurants like McDonald’s & Burger King. Here’s a unique IHOP in Santa Fe:

Another one from Santa Fe — a bus stop shelter:

Getting late but westward I went — the former Big Chief Gas Station in Zia Pueblo. No pumps anymore but this sign remains:

A fun, modern sign in Bernalillo:

And, lastly, shot just as the sun had set behind the clouds. Had to use the flash for this one. It’s this time of day, I can’t help but think where I could have shaved a few precious minutes off somewhere and gotten a better shot. But I think you guys will like the moodiness anyway: