9/17 - Albuquerque

"Buenos Noches" from Albuquerque, NM. Beautiful weather - balmy evening - no sweater required. We're on the 9th floor of the Doubletree Hotel Albuquerque looking out over the city lights with the mountains in the distance.
We left our "casita" in Phoenix and travelled 465 miles today on I 10,I 17, and I 40.... Whew! Actually sounds worse than it was because it was an easy drive. Partway through and at the eastern corner of Arizona we drove to the Petrified Forest. It didn't take us far from our interstate route and it was interesting. Great chunks of logs that have turned to stone - Beautiful looking quartz-like pieces lying around.(We saw none standing.)Also stone formations that look like teepees. (That reminds me we saw a motel that gave you the chance to sleep in a teepee! - if only I'd known...)
At the northern end of the park is the Painted Desert which was also very pretty. It's still amazing to us that there are so many different types of landscapes just within this desert region.
The northern end of the park comes right back onto the interstate, so no backtracking was needed. We ate lunch in the car while in the park. Having the pit stop in Phoenix allowed us to restock our cooler(s) so we're good to go for a couple days(though it is difficult to eat breakfast in a hotel room when you're on the 9th floor.)
New Mexico's terrain seemed more sandy than Arizona and of course there are no saguaro cactus - which only grow there in the Sonoran desert. They are the tall cactus you sometimes see in cartoons that talk and move their "arms". A lot of scrubby shrubbery as far as the eye can see. There were some pretty steep mountains between Phoenix and Flagstaff where truck lanes are provided for the slower traffic. However this day we saw a pathetic VW "bus" (pulling the world's smallest trailer behind it) on the berm chugging up the hill at a good 10 miles an hour (I think I can...I think I can...).
We ate in the restaurant here at the hotel and will probably turn in soon. We lost an hour again when we crossed the state line (again because AZ doesn't observe DST) and we may be losing another tomorrow when we cross into TEXAS - see that Emily?? TEXAS!! Finally.

We plan on riding up in the Sandia Peak Tram in the morning and maybe something else - we'll see - we'd be driving into the sun in the morning anyway. Ta Ta!