Friday, November 04, 2011STATSDeparture: 10:30 am CDTArrival: 5:00 pm MDT, Las Cruces KOA, Las Cruces, NM (7.5 hours; we gained an hour going into Mountain Time)Distance: 425 milesComments: Like thirsty cattle moving across the desert and smelling the stream a mile ahead, we can smell the green, green grass of home (well, it’s probably the brown, brown tufts by now). From Big Spring, Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico. I must be crazy (I know, I’m stati...

As we pulled out of Santa Rosa Lake State Park, we saw nine hawks circling. I'm glad I’m not a field mouse.We went into Las Vegas, New Mexico. Looked around the town and had lunch in one of their city parks.Next, we drove to Santa Fe. We took a bus tour of the city. Lots of art galleries here—lots and lots! After the bus tour, we walked to the Loretto Chapel and saw the "miraculous staircase". It’s a circular staircase with no center pole fo...

First things first: Wal-Mart for groceries. Always an experience.Next was the Cadillac ranch, just west of Amarillo. Ten Cadillacs nose down in the dirt out in the middle of a field. Graffiti is, apparently, encouraged, and the cars are covered with it. The paint is visibly thick, and spent cans of spray-paint litter the ground. It's right on Interstate 40, but you’d miss it if you didn’t know it was there. We moved on to lunch, still looking for...