New Mexico

November 3, 2009

We headed northeast out of Phoenix toward I-40 and northern New Mexico, the thermometer dropping the entire way. Except for a short stretch of alpine in
Arizona, it was desert the whole way. The varying hues of red, orange, yellow changed with time of day and elevation, each vista beautiful and far reaching. We have driven this part of I-40 before, but I didn’t remember the large lava fields. El Malpais is the Spanish term for these badlands of roughed terrain. But our destination of Albuquerque lay further east.

We had allowed one day to Albuquerque, surely not enough. We elected to visit Old Town first to soak up culture, history and Mexican food. The bonus was the wonderful day of shopping. We had a beautiful sunny day to get our Christmas shopping complete with no hassles of the mall. We both enjoyed the hunt in this laid back adobe setting.

NEXT TIME: the lava fields, Albuquerque museums