<– Day 34 – Fri. May 15th: High Plains Drifter | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 36 – Sun. May 17th: Tracking the Ore –>

Today was my last day in Texas. Both Ann and I feel satisfied that we did enough and went enough places to get a taste of Texas regions. We appreciate Lee, Sam, Brian and Jason for taking time to meet and talk with us. Also, as always, we appreciate everyone’s suggestions!!

Today I drove from Amarillo, Texas, to Alamosa, Colorado.

To bid me a memorable goodbye, Amarillo threw me a thundershower party. There was thunder, lightening and plenty of rain. The worst of it came just as I stepped out of the motel with my arms loaded with stuff for the Jeep. So, I ran for the jeep and unlocked it as quickly as I could, but I still got pretty drenched!! I hopped in the jeep and drove to the covered area by the reception desk and snapped this photo.

Rather than try to photograph the Cadillac Ranch area in the rain, I headed north hoping to escape the storm. The plan actually worked. Within an hour I was cruising along under clear blue skies.

I even got a chance to see one last jeep before leaving Texas:

I wanted to drive to Oklahoma to see Boise City, a place heavily affected by the Dust Storms of the 1930s. The museum wasn’t open when I drove through the city, but I did find this tribute to a bomb dropped by a B-17 during 1943. My wife reminded me that this is why bombs are not armed until ready to drop. There are a surprising number of accidental bomb droppings I’m told, but safety procedures and good luck have kept us safe.

Next I headed to New Mexico. I did this just so I could say I’d made it to four states today.

I didn’t realize it, but part of my trip to Mexico followed the old Santa Fe trail. There are multiple markers and tributes to that effect.

Courtesy of the Herzstein Memorial Museum

When I arrived at Raton, New Mexico, I decided to drive downtown. On the way there I spotted this old gas station. I can’t tell if it is a museum or just something to look at. But, it is certainly from a bygone era.

Following Raton, Interstate 25 takes travelers over Raton Pass. It was raining as I hit the summit, so I only got a partial shot of the welcome sign. When cresting the pass from the south, there is a line of snowy mountains in the distance that instantly notifies drivers they’ve entered Colorado!

Interstate 25 drops out of the pass and into the town of Trinidad. It has become quite the tourist place. Here’s a shot of downtown.

I found this restored engine built to haul coal (or coke) from Trinidad. Smelters required tons of coal or coke to smelt the argeniterous (lead bearing silver-lead) ore. This train was built early enough that it could have made deliveries to my family’s smelter in Pueblo.

I liked Trinidad. Not for the downtown or the trains, but for the jeeps. I was in Colorado a total of a half hour and spotted four jeeps. Three were CJ-5s that I saw from the highway and couldn’t photograph. However, this militarized CJ-3A sat parked downtown.

North of Trinidad I headed west. I was hoping to visit the Great Sand Dunes National Park, but the rain and cold made that impractical. So, instead of my toes in the photo, here’s my son’s toes from his photo last month.

So, that might be it for Texas, but I/we will still be on the road for another couple of weeks. I’m trying to get some research done for my books during that time. So, while there won’t be these nightly long posts, there will probably still be some occasional photos.

<– Day 34 – Fri. May 15th: High Plains Drifter | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 36 – Sun. May 17th: Tracking the Ore –>