the turquoise trail

{colorado} I crossed the state line into Colorado and continued a short drive into the state to Pagosa Springs for the night.  I was amazed by how quickly the landscape changed from adobe homes in the sandy desert to log cabins in the lush mountains!  The change in landscape and change in elevation brought with it a rather drastic change in temperature; the night was rather brisk and my first time experiencing single digits in quite a while.   Welcome to Colorado! Pagosa Springs is a hot springs and skiing resort-style town.  It has a very nice little downtown, a few hot springs and all the typical tourist amenities.  I spent my night at the local Walmart, then went into town the next morning for church.  I joined Mark and Sara & their three kids for a Mexican mothers day lunch afterwards, then they took me for a scenic Sunday drive.  We wound our way through the mountains to the east of Pagosa Springs, finding a waterfall and a few scenic ...

{new mexico} I crossed back into New Mexico in the late afternoon, too late to visit the tourist info centre & late enough to call it a night in the first town, Gallup.  I found a little asian restaurant for some well-cooked stir-fry, then found myself parking spot for a quiet night of Walmart camping.  Well, I think it was quiet - I was dead to the world thanks to the pain killers from the dentist... Welcome (back) to New Mexico!  As I was driving up to Albuquerque the next morning, the radio revealed that according to recent statistics, Gallup is the 15th most dangerous city for violent crime in the US.. fabulous.  It wasn't a place you'd choose to spend a lot of time, either way.   It was a couple hours from Gallup up to Albuquerque, where I headed to the old town district for a look around the historic square.  There was a wide selection of galleries and shops featuring native art, an old church & lots of adobe buildings with chile pep...

{texas} After my refreshing visit to Balhormea State Park I continued north through Pecos, which is very much an oil & gas town - I saw nothing but transports and pickup trucks for miles!  There were lots of oil wells and little camps along the way north, where I crossed the New Mexico state line.. {new mexico} Welcome to New Mexico! ...and spent the night in Carlsbad.  I didn't take the time to explore too much of Carlsbad, but I enjoyed a relaxing evening catching up on emails etc., then got an early start to Carlsbad Caverns.  I was undecided over whether I should take an organized tour or just explore the 'big room' & main cave on my own, so I wanted to be there at 8am to get some more information.  When I arrived I realized that the self-guided cave tour covers quite a lot of area and takes about 2.5 hrs, so I decided that would be enough. The trail to the natural entrance opened shortly afterwards, so I headed off on the 2km hike descendin...