We're on the road at 08:00 Mountain after a fitful night's sleep though without the air conditioning needing to be on which is a first.
We had an unscheduled tour of Trinidad first thing as all three places on the breakfast list were closed, in fact Trinidad itself was very quiet. It's a very picturesque city with some nice architecture, a river and a view into the mountains; it would be a nice place to spend some time, walking about, taking photos if it was sunny, which it is not. Due to the lack of available choices, "breakfast" is at...MacDonald's. It's another cool start to the day as we head south on i25 and climb into New Mexico at around 7500 feet. Trinidad was at 6000 feet and I could feel the altitude, especially still suffering the remnants of plane flu.
We travel through fog then it clears up as we descend, heading south east on US64 towards Mount Capulin which would normally signify the annual fitness check as we climb to the top, not a bad mooch on a sunny day which today it is not and it's only about 13c. There's a bit of blue sky on the horizon.
The SPC duly upgraded overnight to a slight risk with a 2% tornado chance over eastern New Mexico and the western Texas Panhandle with potential for isolated supercells. We get to Mount Capulin and we're in low cloud. As we drive to the top the cloud gets thicker, we stop at the car park and are rewarded of amazing views of...fog. It's 7c so after a short discussion we about turn and head south east towards Clayton. It's 11:00 and we have some sunshine.
We have a pit stop at Clayton then head south on Highway 402 towards Tucumcari. We pass through Nara Visa and head south west on US54....and we have blue skies and 19c.
Lunch today is at Del's Restaurant at Tucumcari, most of it is Mexican and I really haven't much idea what I'm ordering; It must be like coming to Boro and being presented with a dozen varieties of Parmo...I get the Taco Salad which I can't finish. "I Ran" by A Flock of Seagulls plays somewhat incongruously in the washroom. We're on Route 66, but don't have time for many photos. We head west on the old Route 66, now i40 towards Santa Rosa. It's now 26c, 14:45 and cells are starting to bubble up in the far distance.
We stop in Santa Rosa for a DQ; I decline, I couldn't absorb another calorie. We continue west on i40, there is a severe warned storm over Albuquerque, around 100 miles to our front. It's now 16:00, we continue west then south on Highway 219 towards Pastura; my OS map has run out. We do an about turn, north east on US54 back to Santa Rosa, then east on Route 66, then south east on US84 towards Fort Sumner.
We stop and have a look at the storm to our south west about 10 miles south of Santa Rosa. It's 17:20. The terrain is more rugged than further east with a cornucopia of bushes of all shades of green. We continue south east.
Our storm is now up to 42,000 feet and goes severe warned. A severe thunderstorm watch appears as we approach Fort Sumner where Pat Garrett shot and killed Billy the Kid in 1881, the Kid being buried nearby. We head east on US60 in bright sunshine. This storm is not going to be easy to chase as there are not a lot of road options.
We get to Melrose and head north on New Mexico 268. Our cell splits, the southern half showing 3.25 inch hail in the core; we have a decent view of the base. We stop for photos and then head east on 209 eventually leaving New Mexico and entering the Texas Panhandle and onto Central Time being 21:00. It’s getting dark so we’re hotel bound in Amarillo which is 75 minutes away with a stop in Hereford for provisions.
The nearby storm is showing serious signs of rotation including a 120 knot TVS marker so we scarper to get ahead of it. Lightning lights up the storm’s structure, what looks initially like a huge wedge is a big bowl shaped wall cloud. Under a dazzling lightning display we arrive at the Baymont Hotel in Amarillo at about 22:30; a couple of bottles of lager and it’s bedtime with a sleep in as we’re dead centre for tomorrow’s 5% tornado risk.
Total miles: 570
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