Day 9 Miles 556 Begin Chimayo, NM To Fossland’s Paradise (home), AZ
Roads Traveled: NM 503, 285, I-25. I-10 to Oracle Road to Home
Breakfast was delivered on trays and they suggested we light the fireplace again, but we knew we’d be on the road pretty quickly, so just enjoyed our juice and coffee and pastries and fruit and packed up for home.
There was little traffic and soon we were back to NM 285, a nice four-lane road to Santa Fe. From there, we hopped on I-25 to Albuquerque and points south! Today was not going to be a “roads less traveled” day because we had, like the song says, “a long way to go and a short time to get there” (Although we were westbound-not eastbound).
Two and a half hours later, our timing was good to pull in for some lunch. The best chile cheeseburgers in the world, according to Bub, are made at the Owl Restaurant and Bar in San Antonio, New Mexico. The picture doesn’t do the taste justice.
We got fries and onion rings and savored the diced green chiles that covered the beef patty. It was a fitting last meal for a New Mexico road trip.
Back in the car for Interstate driving the rest of the way, except for the Hatch to Deming shortcut. We’d bought chile powder and a couple of chile ristras in Chimayo to pretty up the front of the house for the Christmas season, so we didn’t need to stop in Hatch.
Good weather, good tunes and good company.
We made a gas stop at Bowlin’s Butterfield Station. Out in the middle of nowhere, it was packed full of western souvenirs. They even had a few pieces of White Buffalo Turquoise and an article explaining that there was a controversy about whether it really was turquoise. I took a picture of the article and the nice girl behind the counter said she had a copy of it and gave it to me. I love my earrings and don’t care about the details of are they or aren’t they?
The final run home took us through Wilcox, Texas Canyon, and Benson, arriving just as the Catalinas were turning pink for the sunset!
Ahhhh, to sleep in my own bed is always a treat!