October 23, 2018: Tent Rocks National Monument and Ghost Ranch
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Guy, Fred, and I left Dallas fairly early on Monday morning for the long drive to Albuquerque. Fred had made reservations at a Fairfield Inn just off I-40 in Albuquerque, and we wanted to get there early enough to have a nice dinner after we checked in.

The route from Dallas northwest towards Albuquerque and Santa Fe in New Mexico is one that we have taken frequently on our many hiking and camping trips out west. Actually, the route we take depends on where in the west we are going. If we are going to Big Bend or El Paso or southern New Mexico or anywhere in Arizona, we would typically take I-20 west from Fort Worth.

But if we are going anywhere in the Pacific Northwest, Colorado, or northern New Mexico, we begin by heading northwest on US 287 to Wichita Falls. When we go from my house, as we are today, we head over towards Fort Worth on the Airport Freeway, turn north for a few miles on I-35W, and then angle off northwest on US 287. On the occasions when we have left from Fred's house, we would head north to Sherman and then west across the very top of the Metroplex on US 82 to pick up US 287.

At Wichita Falls, we would head north on I-44 if we were going to Oklahoma and the Wichita Mountains, or we would continue northwest on US 287 to Amarillo for anything in the northwestern United States. At Amarillo, we pick up I-40 west.

At Amarillo, we have another decision to make. If our destination is anywhere in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, or anything northwest of that, then we stay on I-40 just a few miles, leaving it and following US 87 to the northwest. This route eventually brings us to I-25 just south of the Colorado border, and we can head north or northwest from there.

But for the area around Santa Fe, or anywhere in northern New Mexico or Arizona, we just stay on I-40 as it heads west. It is a 250-mile drive from Amarillo to Albuquerque, and the scenery is, sad to say, some of the most boring that we ever drive. I-10 in north Florida is pretty monotonous, but at least it is always green and there are lots of trees.

Here in West Texas, though, you pretty much leave the trees behind when you leave the Metroplex, and all there is to see are low rolling hills covered in scrub vegetation and mesquite. This area was once the bottom of a shallow inland sea, and the lines of low cliffs that you can see in the distance were the ancient shorelines of this now disappeared sea.

If you doubt my description, here is the most interesting of all the pictures Fred took out the window as we drove. And it's not even the landscape that's of interest- its the clouds.

We reached our exit in Albuquerque just after sunset, and as we got to the bottom of the exit ramp and I stopped, Fred took this picture of the sunset ahead of us:

Fred did the lodging reservations for our trip, and our first night would be in a pretty typical Fairfield Inn at the corner of I-40 and I-25 in south Albuquerque.

On the aerial view at right, you can see where we exited in Albuquerque, and where the Fairfield Inn was located. We got checked in and relaxed for a time in the spacious room that Fred had reserved for the three of us, and we walked around the hotel complex for a while.

Back in the room, we searched online for nearby restaurants. We finally settled on one that was within walking distance of the hotel, and so we headed over there.

The Range Cafe turned out to be something like a diner but with a decidedly Western influence. We found an extensive menu that had just about anything you might want. Fred and I settled on meatloaf, and I think Guy got a pasta dish and a salad. It was a good meal, and we were happy to have found the restaurant.

(Image courtesy of Google Maps Street View.)

The next three days were going to be busy, with lots of outdoor activities. Unfortunately, the weather was going to be a factor, apparently, as a front was coming through and showers were forecast. There wasn't much we could do, so we just hit the sack hoping that our next day's hikes wouldn't be a washout.

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	October 23, 2018: Tent Rocks National Monument and Ghost Ranch
	Return to the Index for Our Trip to New Mexico