New Mexico

From Clovis, we headed west toward Arizona.

Clovis is a railroad town and, unfortunately, the railroad and a small freight yard is just across the street from our motel. Switching cars, with the requsite banging and whistle signals kept my wife up much of the night. In the morning, we rolled westward.

There were a few places we wanted to see, but each was closed on Sunday. THis included all of the state visitor's centers along Interstate 40. If we could have gotten at least a free map, we would have spent more time in New Mexico and spent more money.

While driving, we passed through a small town, Santa Rosa. We have passed through this town several times over the past twenty-five or so years. It used to be a vibrant little town with many business on Business I-40, also known as Historic US-66. Each time, there were less and less businesses open. This time, most of the storefronts were vacent. At the rate this is going, the next time we drive through we will see tumbleweeds rolling across the road. It is so sad to watch this little town die.....

We found an interesting place for lunch - a restaurant chain called Lot-A-Burger. It has been around since 1953, but only in New Mexico and Arizona. For a fast food joint, the food was good, made when we ordered it, and reasonably priced.

We stopped in another railroad town for the night - Gallop, NM. We found lodging at a DaysInn and dinner at a Chinese restaurant where they really overfed you. We ordered three dishes - one lo main, a chicken and cashew, and one sizzling beef. We ate our fill and then filled (and I mean filled!) three to-go boxes.