Finally a good night's sleep for the pair of us and we're up and ready for the day ahead.
The SPC has a marginal risk for most of New Mexico so that's where we will be today with plenty of time for some sightseeing. Having never chased here before I hadn't thought to bring a map of the area so I'll have to use...Google. I get chastised from Rory for also forgetting to bring a sextant...
We head north on I25 and then turn off west at Walsenburg. There are snowy peaks in the far distance and our elevation will increase as we travel. We approach 8,000 feet and the vista is amazing with the snowy peaks getting closer and rocky outcrops thrusting into the verdant landscape. We are on a circular route on Highway 12 that will take us back to Trinidad; the views are amazing as we stop at an overlook for photos at a tad over 10,0000. We descend and pass by lakes and eventually an incongruous coal mine with a giant conveyor belt straddling the road; coal seams can be seen in the surrounding hills. We get back down to 6,000 feet which is the lowest we will be for a while; Rory's water bottle collapses as the pressure increases.
A quick stop at Walmart; there are no baskets to be had and the sandwiches are miles away. Interestingly there are no plastic shopping bags to be had either ahead of local legislation coming into effect next year to ban single use plastic bags. Way to go Colorado...this is a good thing, plus you won't miss losing circulation in your fingers trying to carry the bloody things. We head south on I25 back into New Mexico past signs on the interstate warning that bears may be crossing. No such luck.
We do the short 250 mile hop to Albuquerque and with not much in the way of storms happening we take the Sandia Peak cable car which takes us up into the mountain, over 10,000 feet high for the second time in the day. There's a spectacular view of Albuquerque from the top and on the other side is a ski resort. An actual storm is about to wash over us with a CG lightning strike and a nice hail shaft is visible. I think I'm actually getting acclimatised to the altitude, but it's time to descend, I'm not sure any of us is too keen to be taking a 15 minute cable car ride during a storm. We descend, mesmerised by the huge boulders balanced precariously atop others as if placed by some giant hand.
Dinner is at the Range Cafe which is a Tex Mex Restaurant and we both have the Range Chicken which is spectacularly good. Rory was in good form and wolfed the lot down. They also had a top notch draught craft beer range and we both have the 7K from Santa Fe Brewing Co. which is also excellent. Bravo!
We don't have time for the Breaking Bad bus tour but had intended to to pop by the Twisters restaurant which is Los Pollos Hermanos owned by Gus Ring in the series; it's raining and getting dark so we head off to our hotel for the night, La Quinta. There's a tedious check in as various cards get randomly declined before we get into our room which is very spacious and well appointed.
Tomorrow we are heading to Fort Stockton, Texas for potential supercells. We need to leave at 07:00 as it's a 7 hour drive. We need a storm but in any event Friday, Saturday and Sunday all look very promising. Having said that, this is a great road trip as usual.
Total miles: 382
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