Time and Date: ~6:30pm, 27 April 2011
Location: Roswell, NM
Odometer: 5633
After refueling in Socorro, NM, we had to figure out how to go about 8 miles south to catch US Highway 380 WITHOUT driving on Interstate 25. (We have very strict rules about not driving on any Interstate highways.) After wandering around a bit and getting directions from a local farmer, we ended up driving several miles on gravel roads that run parallel to the Rio Grande irrigation canals. But eventually, we did end up on Highway 380. And we saw some nice scenery along the way.
US Highway 380 runs west from Socorro through Carizozo and Capitan to Roswell, NM. As you can see, the area is pretty desolate. There is some nice scenery around Capitan, however, with the El Capitan peak (~10,000 ft) to the south. (This is the area which was the home of the Original Smoky the Bear.) We Found ourselves in Roswell for dinner and managed to evade the UFOs and aliens long enough to eat. After dinner, we drove on north on US Highway 70 to spend the night in Portales (pronounced "Port Alice"), New Mexico.
On our way out of town the next morning, we stopped by Bill Daley's house in Portales. He has been collecting windmills for over 30 years and has many of them displayed in his front yard. It was early and although the Daley's garage door was open, we didn't disturb them. We did, however, stop and look around at his collection, which was pretty cool! This was a nice stop for the "Windmills" part of our tour.
