ROAD TRIP - Dodge City, KS to Taos, NM

Wow! What a contrast in roads on this leg. From the straight, "over the horizon roads" of the plains to the mountain roads up into Eagles Nest, NM and down to Taos.

We left Dodge and back tracked a bit on highway 56, west to Sublette, KS. This highway is near perfect. it is a wide, two lane road with large shoulder areas. One of the well kept little town along this route is Montezuma, KS. Like so many we passed through, the Grain elevators are on the north side of the road and the town on the south.

Montezuma, KS

We kept on going straight on Highway 56 at Sublette heading directly for the corner of the state and into Oklahoma. The road west of Sublette was fine but nearly as nice as what we had just traveled. Once in Oklahoma, the road narrowed and the shoulder area disappeared. Still and easy road that is mostly straight and easy to navigate with mild crosswinds.

Oklahoma Roads - Highway 56

On into New Mexico. The crosswinds became very strong yet, still not an issue for the stability of our rig which is based on a  Class 8 Semi-Truck chassis.  We stopped in Clayton, NM for fuel at $3.88 a gallons and a quick lunch. Staying on 56, we met up with Interstate 25 in Springer, NM and jogged up a bit then due west on NM Highway 58 to Cimarron, NM. Now that road is narrow, bumpy and a good challenge in the very high crosswinds we encountered. Once in to Cimarron we headed due west on Highway 64 up and into THE Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Eagles Nest, NM.  This is where the contrast took effect. Highway 64 is a great mountain road and easy in any RV with an experienced driver. I enjoyed the drive!

EAGLES NEST, NM

Eagles Nest is in a beautiful valley at @ 9000' elevation. The people are friendly and the fishing in the nearby streams and the lake itself are reported to be "epic".

Eagles Nest, NM History Page

Eagles Nest Lake from Mt Baldy.

South of Eagles Nest is the Angel Fire ski community. Angel Fire is a big operation with an airport that can easily accommodate a small passenger jet or the Gulfstreams of the vacation home owners. We drove on past as places like this fit my rule of "bad and or challenging roads = good people", "Airports for Biz Jets = bad people". Or, at least people I don't care to be around.

Highway 64 took us up out of the valley and then down into Taos. The people on the highway were very courteous to our 65' long travel train and I again enjoyed the mountain road.

Today's route

Our route so far, this trip.

We are in Taos now. This is our second visit in a few years. Taos is a mix of people that I will talk about in the next Blog entry. It's time to relax now!