Nice Super 8 motel last night. Most are iffy but this one was great. Chatted with a guy hauling elk statues from El Paso to South Dakota. He had two in the back of his truck and was towing a trailer presumably with more. Must be a conversation starter at gas stops..
Goodby to Las Vegas. It is amazing how many movies were filmed here (Easy Rider, No Country for Old Men, Longmire, ..). New Mexico seems to roll out the red carpet for movie makers (and tax credits).
Short hop down I25 and we decided to take the back roads to Springerville AZ instead of going home. Excited to get home but also enjoying site seeing. There were a few downpours today but they were short followed by clear skies.
We wanted to stop and see the indigenous peoples ruins that are all over this part of New Mexico so we wiggled down a cool twisty Rt 3 until it rose to a high plateau and straightened out. New Mexico got hit with a lot of rain the last couple days and we could see signs of it all day with swollen rivers and muddy roads. We found the Salinas Pueblo Missions Visitor Center in Mountainair NM and they had a great exhibit and movie which gave us a rough idea of what happened when. Basically, the indigenous peoples were wandering around in various tribes for 1000 years and then the Spanish came in the 1500's to 1600's along with the Franciscans to convert the Indians to Christianity. The Indians revolted in what is called the Pueblo Revolt in 1680 and then everybody left. So the ruins around here including the nice missions the Franciscans built (the Indians actually built them) were all abandoned. We stopped at the Abo ruins and the forest service lady gave us the entire story. Trying to figure this all out is very confusing..
Then we headed for Pie Town NM to get a piece of pie at he Pie-O-Neer restaurant. It was actually pretty busy for a place miles from anywhere. Pie for lunch is almost as good as pie for breakfast!!
Then the last leg to Springerville where we stayed in Reed's Motor Lodge where we have stayed before. Walked to the Western Drug and General Store (thanks Lindsey) to check out everything but anything you could want or need. Wow!!
Dinner across the street and then back to Reed's. Our last night out. Home tomorrow!!
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