3-22-10

CATCH THE WIND

PRICKLEY PETE

NICE PLACE FOR A PICNIC

DRILL BABY, DRILL!


We tried to flea Texas this morning, but it's hard to quickly escape such a vast expanse. There was a whole lot of nothing as we drove through the back roads for 14 hours today. The bluebonnets, Texas's state flower, line the roadways and they were the only nice sight. En route we "fueled up" with coffee at Fuel in Llano, about 100 miles north of Austin. It was simply amazing. The barista was extraordinarily friendly, made good coffee, and gave us two complimentary brownies. If you are ever in Texas, go to Fuel. Hours later, we picnicked at Big Springs State Park. Lunching on our Farmer's Market goodies, in addition to pineapple and popcorn, was the best roadside meal yet. After passing many, many more plains, we finally crossed the border into New Mexico.

WELCOME TO THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT

TATUM STREET SIGN

BLOWIN' IN THE WIND

WEATHER VANE

KOKOPELLI

SLOW TRAIN COMIN


The drive continued on into eastern New Mexico into the Rocky Mountain time zone, yet the scenery remained identical. 40 miles east of Roswell, sight of alleged UFO landings, we stumbled upon the sleepy town of Tatum. The streets of Tatum look the same as the rest of rural Texas and New Mexico but the street signs are hand made works of metal art. We happened to find Westcraft Metal Art, the proprietor of which, hand crafted each street sign in town over 30 years ago. His custom artwork decorated ranches for hundreds of miles in both directions. His life's work is palpable in the area and is completely astounding.

The sun finally set as we arrived in Albuquerque. We'll stay, visit, and explore tomorrow and probably head to Arizona Wednesday. We'll wwoof just north of Prescott. Although our vacation has been great, we're both quite eager to get our hands back in the soil and learn more about farming.