Blog

Childress TX.
I packed everything in the truck and was ready to go Feb 2nd(tues) so I could get up and be on the road by 4am. I almost made it, I left at 4:15 but had to come back because Vivi called and let me know I had forgotten my pillow, dang! now my schedule is off.
Pillow in hand I am back on the road by 4:25am.... not much traffic this time of morning.
I am headed to Santa Fe to drop off a couple of paintings at Sage Creek Gallery www.sagecreek.com  and end up in Taos tonight as a guest of Randy and Sondra Phillips, their home overlooks Taos Mountain.  (They have a wonderful Casita (freestanding house) available for vacation getaways)www.vrbo.com/284432

It is foggy but the temperature is 34 so it isn't slick, but it turns to rain by the time I get to Childress Tx. Fog and rain, oh great!
The rain turns to snow by the time I cross into NewMexico and it is starting to get slushy.  Now its becoming an adventure.
The divided highway(I-40) is basically down to one lane each way, the left hand lane is building up with slush and is extremely slick when you pass, .......which I can attest to from personal experience.
I exited I-40 on 285 to go to Santa Fe and the exit is totally snow covered, I guess the plows don't exit here. As I cautiously head north on this two-laner , I encounter a dually with a long goose-neck trailer on the opposite side ditch with his trailer jack-knifed and blocking the opposite lane. A tow truck was there pulling him out. 52 miles to Santa Fe....... adventure continues.
The drive on 285  turned out to be fairly calm, as there was not much traffic at all, so there wasn't that paranoid "someones going to run into me feeling"......until I got to Santa Fe.
Santa Fe had a lot more snow on top of the slush and  the temp was 26, so that slush was a nice little icey substrate with snow on top, and lots of cars. .............Here comes that feeling.
Bumper to bumper traffic and stoplights on inclines, never a good combination. I was stopped at a stoplight and pressed the brake a bit harder , and started sliding!  Slow and steady, just get me to the gallery and in a parking lot before someone slides into me.
Adventure pause and evaluate.

I drop off the paintings and study the radar weather to decide if I should get a room in Santa Fe or try to get to Taos, which is a bit higher than Santa Fe. I am leaning towards staying put, the thought of 72 miles of mountain driving with ice and snow in my precious Tundra (which as we have recently discovered, could just take off on its own at any time) doesn't seem prudent.
I consult with the "eyes on the ground" in Taos (Randy) who reports very little snow in Taos but the storm is heading that way and forecast to dump a lot of snow.If I was coming I should leave ASAP! I could be stuck for another day, wherever I am. Hmmm, a Travelodge in Santa Fe, or a beautiful adobe home overlooking Taos Mountain with friends,....start the truck.
Just as Randy had predicted, the worst was in Santa Fe and it was nervous nilly15mph bumper to bumper in slushy hills for about twenty miles till I got out on the road to Taos(68) and then it was dry almost all the way to Taos. Great decision!

I sit here after a couple of glasses of wine, a great home-made dinner,  next to a warm fire,  fighting to keep my eyes open, looking forward to seeing the Mountain covered in snow.........adventure sleep.


 
Just past Childress TX.                    On I-40
 On the Way to Taos (on 68)