Stage 4: Albuquerque to Santa Fe to Roswell
This morning we were quite late leaving Albuquerque because Lisa and I met for breakfast with her friend slymongoose and her partner, Groot. We had a fine leisurely breakfast at the Gold Street Cafe and Lisa and her friend caught up on old times. Lisa was very happy. Then we headed up to Santa Fe to deal with the family business, which went well, but took some time. (Still much less than if we'd had to send papers back and forth between Santa Fe and Fernley.) After the business, we briefly strolled around the plaza outside of the Palace of the Governors before working our way out of Santa Fe. We stopped at Whole Foods Market and had lunch there (our first lunch not on the run for several days), then refueled the van. As we were leaving, we got to see the RailRunner train coming in to Santa Fe through a horribly complicated grade crossing (the rail line diagonally traverses a major intersection). Unfortunately, the camera was not handy. Indeed, we took no photos at all today.
We left Santa Fe about three hours behind our projected schedule, and never made up any of that time. We headed south on US-285 through Cline's Corners and Vaughn. The territory here is about 150 miles of rolling hills, gently descending several thousand feet over that distance. There wasn't really a whole lot to look at, and we took turns driving and keeping each other awake. It was interesting seeing antelope interspersed with the herds of cattle along the highway, though.
When we got to Roswell, we initially went to the wrong hotel, and it wasn't until I was coming up to the counter that I realized we were at the Holiday Inn, not the Express a couple of miles south. We continued on, arriving about 9 PM. Upgrade-fu strikes strongly, as we've been upgraded to a full suite with a full kitchen with two-burner stove, dishwasher, full-size fridge, and assorted kitchen utensils. (It's larger than the apartment I rented in San Jose for a year.) Had we known that was going to happen, we might have done more than buy lunch meat for sandwiches in the room. OTOH, the hotel has only wireless internet instead of wired (another reason I'm glad we took no photos), and the layout is somewhat wasteful. Still, it's nice to be treated as a special customer.
Today's travel: 275 miles (1295 since Fernley, versus 1249 projected by the scheduling software; of course we never travel exactly the way the scheduler thinks we should travel.)
Tomorrow is a (relatively) short leg, going on to Fort Stockton, Texas, so that Lisa has some time to take me to the Roswell Museum for my birthday tomorrow. My thanks to everyone who has sent me good wishes. As usual, I'm too busy with Worldcon or travel for my birthday, but I do appreciate the nice messages.
We left Santa Fe about three hours behind our projected schedule, and never made up any of that time. We headed south on US-285 through Cline's Corners and Vaughn. The territory here is about 150 miles of rolling hills, gently descending several thousand feet over that distance. There wasn't really a whole lot to look at, and we took turns driving and keeping each other awake. It was interesting seeing antelope interspersed with the herds of cattle along the highway, though.
When we got to Roswell, we initially went to the wrong hotel, and it wasn't until I was coming up to the counter that I realized we were at the Holiday Inn, not the Express a couple of miles south. We continued on, arriving about 9 PM. Upgrade-fu strikes strongly, as we've been upgraded to a full suite with a full kitchen with two-burner stove, dishwasher, full-size fridge, and assorted kitchen utensils. (It's larger than the apartment I rented in San Jose for a year.) Had we known that was going to happen, we might have done more than buy lunch meat for sandwiches in the room. OTOH, the hotel has only wireless internet instead of wired (another reason I'm glad we took no photos), and the layout is somewhat wasteful. Still, it's nice to be treated as a special customer.
Today's travel: 275 miles (1295 since Fernley, versus 1249 projected by the scheduling software; of course we never travel exactly the way the scheduler thinks we should travel.)
Tomorrow is a (relatively) short leg, going on to Fort Stockton, Texas, so that Lisa has some time to take me to the Roswell Museum for my birthday tomorrow. My thanks to everyone who has sent me good wishes. As usual, I'm too busy with Worldcon or travel for my birthday, but I do appreciate the nice messages.