November 12, 2023 Day 36 Moriarty New Mexico to Farmington New Mexico 213 miles
Oh boy its cold this morning. The temperature was 26 degrees when we first looked at about 7:15. There is frost on top of the car but not the windshield. We visited with another retired couple during breakfast. They are headed to Minnesota to sell their townhouse and move to the house they just purchased in Arizona.
We filled with gas and headed out on old Route 66 about 9:00 am. We haven’t said how much we feel like folks during the dust bowl. The car is loaded more than usual with the lamp and two tires that are not normal. Going across Oklahoma, Texas and part of New Mexico with the wind blowing we could really feel for those folks. Much of that drive has very little to look at.
Another large bank of solar panels is just outside town. We didn’t see any windmills today. However, we did see a few oil wells.
We did see more mountains. They are colorful with reds, pinks, browns and creams. Interesting shapes too. They have definitely been affected by years of weather. We crossed the Continental Divide at an altitude of 7,380 feet.
In one of the few fields we saw hundreds of Canadian geese. At about the same time a coyote ran across the road and into the next field. Wonder if it went goose hunting.
We got gas and then went for lunch in Cuba New Mexico. Rather small town that is on one of the reservations. Reservation land in this area is quite large. It is made up of several different reservations. When we entered the restaurant we were their only customers. Not a good sign. A few others did come in while we were there. The dish washer wasn’t working so our silverware and dishes were all take out. That worked ok because Connie’s order had more than she could eat for lunch. Rob ordered chili and had to pay extra if he wanted beans. It must be different here. We had a choice of sauce in either red hot or mild green. The red hot was named correctly. We talked briefly with another customer who had visited his grandfather near Coeur d’Alene as a child.
As we came into Farmington we saw two donkeys grazing in a pasture. A river runs along the edge of town. Two large RV parks border the river. Both parks were nearly full and the RVs were parked very close together. No trees and no grass. Farmington is about 5400 feet in elevation and does get about 12 inches of snow per year. True snowbirds don’t come here.
We arrived earlier than usual because it was a shorter driving day. Towns just aren’t very close together in this area. Rob was able to work on the car a little. The auxiliary heater fan stopped working this morning and he ran out of daylight to get the issue identified. I was able to use the 12V electric blanket today by using a backup battery. It does not get real hot but it does help. We will use this configuration tomorrow as well.
Spoffords Travel 