July 30, 2013 Colorado - homeward bound

Tuesday, July 30

Started off at 58 degrees, following the Arkansas River today.

  After some canyons, the landscape began to open up into many large ranches.  Near Westcliffe there are a few Amish homes and signs for horse and buggies.   We’ve seen deer and antelope and then come across a large herd of bison.  Part of Wolf Creek Ranch, but this must be how this area once looked.

Some large and neat ranches, some hardscrabble and in disrepair.  Lots of dry creek beds.

At 11 AM, we enter New Mexico along the old Sante Fe Trail. 

There are a few mountains  here and there, and we stop at Capulin Volcano National Monument, which we’ve passed by several times in the past.  This extinct volcano still shows the cinder cone and lots of lava rocks.  We hike the trail to the rim.

As we continue, the land becomes very flat.  Dozens of antelope.

At 2:20 we hit the Texas border at Texline.   Back to sagebrush, antelope, jack-up rigs, wind turbines.   We decide to take a bit different route, so head south to Lubbock where we stay at an RV Park on Loop 289.  Decent, clean and thankfully we can use the AC because it is very hot, even at 10:00 PM.

Call Matt and plan to meet him for a late lunch tomorrow. 6 ½ hours away.