I have completed the long boring drive across Texas and New Mexico. My Caveman compass pointed me towards Durango, CO, and I will make this my home for a while. My journey began  by leaving my beloved homebase of eleven years, Austin, and heading up to my hometown of Terrell to stay a night and see family. From there, I headed West and a little north across TX and NM. Here is a picto-post of my journey thus far:

Driving across the parched nothingness of North Texas near Wichita Falls.

The digital thermometers at every small town I drove through registered 102+ d F, and I was rolling with the 2-60 AC 90% of the trip. At least the roads were free of traffic and the Texas sky was big and bright.

The world famous Cadillac Ranch just outside of Amarillo. I can finally scratch this one off my Texas bucket list.

Got to watch the sunset in Texas one last time. Lego Caveman was an ok travel companion. He didn’t talk much, but sometimes that is good thing.

Farewell, Lone Star state.

As I neared Tucamcari, NM I had a front row seat to a spectacular lightning storm. My camera didn’t have night settings, so all i got was blurry car lights and a little white patch from a lighting bolt illuminating the clouds. The strorm was actually a little down the road in Santa Rosa, NM where I spent the night.

By the time I hit Santa Rosa, NM, it was late and I was tired of driving so decided to find a campground for the night. There is a state park on Santa Rosa lake just north of town. I had a hell of time finding the park and a place to pitch a tent (thanks to the state of New Mexico’s uber intuitive wayfinding), but eventually found an ok pad, setup camp, and crashed hard. I woke up to a beautiful sunrise.

Made it through Albuquerque and onto Hwy 550 which would take me all the way to Durango.  I could see the beginnings of the San Juan mountains in the background.

Colorado State Line, my new home state for a while.

On top of the plateau looking down into the Animas river valley. A beautiful day here in the 4 corners region.

This is the view looking south from my new place.

Here is a view of my backyard. I caught this pretty little lady hanging out mid day. There are some crabapples on the property that she really enjoys. I got to within 10 ft tossing some her way.

So, that sums up the trip and a little bit about where I have landed. My second day here I met up with Austin mountain bike friend Payson McElveen who will be going to school here at Ft. Lewis College and we rode a good chunk of Horse Gulch, the more popular local trail system starting right out of downtown. I’m totally out of shape and struggled to keep up with him on the climbs, but I reckon a 3-4 rides out here a week will get me back in shape very quickly. Enjoy the ride!
Caveman