New Mexico...Cool!

I'm glad we took yesterday off because today was another long one of driving broken up by some very cool sights. While getting ready to leave the RV Park this morning, we watched this Osprey take off from the airport behind us, fly in a large circle, and land. I had never seen one of these. The Osprey is a tilt-rotor aircraft that takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter and flies like a plane by tilting its wing-mounted rotors to function as propellers...combining a helicopter's operational flexibility with the greater speed, range, and efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft-Wikipedia The propellers are in a horizontal position in this photo enabling it to perform like a helicopter. In flight, the propellers are rotated into a vertical position like the props on other planes...cool!

Here's one last look at Cadillac Ranch as we left Amarillo this morning...cool!

Seen along the interstate was this Horse Motel which was a first for me; it even has individual pens outside the stalls...cool!

This may be the best and most welcoming state line sign we've seen this year...cool!

Rich has gotten into the habit of giving the girls a handful of small treats after we eat lunch. Now Bella sits at attention and stares intently at us until treat time. Dora lies on the couch waiting for him to throw them to her there. Focused on their goal and SPOILED but always...cool!

We stopped at a Walmart in Albuquerque for our afternoon break and I went in to get a few things. On skids inside the doors were large burlap bags filled with ? When I checked out, the folks in front of me were buying four of these large burlap bags. I asked the cashier about it and turns out this is harvest season for Hatch Chiles which are grown only in the Hatch valley of New Mexico and are considered by many to be the best chiles in the world. Each burlap bag contains 30 pounds of chiles and costs $16.99; you can buy red, green, mild, medium, and hot. Most folks try to buy enough chiles to last until next year's harvest. That price includes roasting them. Oh yeah, outside the store there is an area with several gas fired roasters that have cylindrical metal mesh baskets that turn constantly tumbling the chiles so they roast evenly. After purchasing your bags of Hatch chiles, the Walmart employees dump a bag into an open flame roaster and cook them until they are tender and the skin blackens and falls off. They are then removed, cooled and you bag them in whatever containers you brought for that purpose. This is not something we would see at our local Walmart! Here are some photos of the guys roasting some very hot chiles...cool!

Confession ~~ from Santa Rosa to Albuquerque I dozed off from time to time and was dreading the rest of the drive through New Mexico because there was nothing to see, nothing to photograph...no cows, no hills, no rocks...boring. But did that ever change west of Albuquerque!

I'm going to post just a few photos but let me tell you...if you have always heard about the awesomely beautiful red rock formations at Sedona, Arizona but have never been able to go, just meander along I-40, which parallels Historic Route 66, all the way across western New Mexico. There are seemingly endless miles of the most beautiful red rock formations I have ever seen...and yes, we have been to Sedona...and yes, it is beautiful. But, Sedona is also frightfully expensive. Saving a few travel bucks is always...cool!

Lovin' Life ~~ It's Cool!
  Bev