This morning was another VERY cold morning and I love nothing more than putting on cold clothes and then trying to use my fingers to pack the Jeep up. Anyway, after fighting with tent cover for a while, I hit the road again with miles in mind.

The plan for this trip started out as an adventure through mountain passes on narrow dirt roads but since encountering impassable trails, that plan went out the window. The focus now was to complete the trail and enjoy the views along the way. Views like this:

I was worried that following the Divide on the paved, more traveled, roads would limit my ability to enjoy the trip but I would say it was the opposite. If there was a good view, there was normally a place to pull over and every turn revealed a new, interesting view to look at. Driving the main roads was also comforting because I knew the roads would be taken care of and I would be able to get up and over the passes with ease.

I made my way out of Colorado and into New Mexico and I could not have been more surprised at the change in landscape. Very soon after entering into NM, the terrain changed from valleys of sage brush and pine-covered mountains to sandy valleys with tall red and orange cliffed plateaus.

I made my way towards Albuquerque and then had to endure the drivers that live there. Apparently, they like doing math because the best I can tell, they took the speed limit, sometimes doubled it and sometimes just added 30 mph. Needless to say, I thought I was going to die and could not wait to get back out into the country where I got my second, third, and fourth shocks for the day.

The second shock was a beautiful arch in a rock face that I had to stop and take a picture of as it started snowing.

Then it started snowing harder, like a blizzard. It was blowing across the road and I found out that even in that kind of snow, the people who live in that part of NM follow the same speed limit math rules that the people in Albuquerque did. Unbelievable.

After enduring the snow, I somehow ended up back in Colorado because there were fog-covered mountains that were covered in tall pines and snow. What the heck? Anyone besides me not know NM looked like this?

Oh well. All I know is that with the last two days of putting as many miles down possible and after adjusting my objectives for this trip, I will reach the Mexican border tomorrow which should set me up to be home a day early and exceed my son’s expectations. Lol. Its always about the kids in the end.