April 12, 2010: Palo Duro Canyon to Santa Fe, New Mexico

I explored Amarillo a bit and really liked the western flavor and ambiance. While the original plan for the trip was to go out to California via the south (generally, the I-40 corridor until hitting Colorado) and then come back via the north (generally I-80 and I-90 corridor, with a brief drop down into Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri), I've decided to alter that plan. I want to see more of Texas or at least spend more time in the areas I have already see. I'll still see some of the northern Rocky Mountain states, but I may skip the Dakotas and Nebraska entirely.

The major attraction for the day was the Palo Duro Canyon, just south of Amarillo. This is the second largest canyon in the United States, after the Grand Canyon. Palo Duro Canyon is absolutely beautiful. The rocks have some of the same colorings as the Grand Canyon. The canyon has one large hoodoo, but it's barely visible from the park road. (Photos will be posted soon.)

People are free to hike the canyon. But, I didn't have time for that with a five hour drive coming up after I was done. I also would prefer to have someone with me before doing that.

The canyon got me back into taking better pictures. It seems I do best with areas that can typically be found in the Rocky Mountain west (canyons, other rock formations, sagebrush, twisted trees, desolate areas with hardy clumps of grass, etc.). It was great to finally see these kinds of features again. The last time I saw them was on my 2008 cross country trip where I spent basically a full month in the west.

After leaving Palo Duro Canyon, it was time to begin the long drive to Santa Fe, New Mexico. However, I also stopped to see the city of Canyon. It's a fairly nice place. There is a small state college located there.


View Larger Map

I noticed that gasoline is different starting with my visit to Canyon. They have a gas station with octane ratings of 86, 88, and 90. My car needed a minimum of 87, so I had to buy the "plus" variety, which of course was more expensive. These ratings seem to be the same in all the gas stations for which I've stopped have these same ratings.

As I drove west on I-40, after leaving the vicinity of Amarillo, things started to transition to the features seen in the Rocky Mountain west. Fields started being dotted with sagebrush. Everything continued to be flat, but the amount of sagebrush continued to increase.

Finally, I entered New Mexico and gained an hour since it's in the Mountain time zone. Immediately after crossing the state line, the speed went from 70 (in Texas) to 75. I put the car up to 75...and it cost me. The car is fine at 70, but it really eats gas at 75. Any savings of time is costly in terms of having to fill up the gas tank.

New Mexico is beautiful with desert features. The sagebrush increased, but the flat land as seen in Texas gave away to rocky formations (nothing spectacular, but still better than flat land).

Along this stretch of I-40, there is an exit just for a souvenir shop and gas station. It's a numbered exit and goes nowhere else. The gift shop owners have numerous billboards. Practically every different type of product they sell has its own billboard. This is sort of like a watered down version of the Wall Drug signs (Wall Drug is in western South Dakota). They have so many signs that you have to stop to see what the place is about.

I visited the city of Tucumcari. In 2007, I thought I'd be driving through New Mexico and expected to stop at a hotel in Tucumcari for the night. I'm glad I didn't try it last time when the schedule was even tighter. The historic Route 66 runs through Tucumcari, so I briefly drove Route 66.

As I was getting off I-40 and onto a US route that would take me to Santa Fe, I turned on the radio. To my pleasant surprise, the station was playing Native American music. As I have some Native American ancestry (along with a number of other ethnic groups), this was great to hear.

The scenery was very nice, though nothing like what I would see the next day. As I got closer to Santa Fe, I noticed houses and other buinsses done in the adobe style. Santa Fe has a law that all buildings be in adobe style.

I've been wanting to see Santa Fe for three years now. I'm looking forward to exploring the city the next day.