The flight was uneventful, though it foreshadowed later events - those appear to be fires burning in southwest Missouri.
After landing in St. Louis, I met with a Bitrode customer "behind the fence" at Sandia, who handed me off to Jim who was working outside the security fence. We set off on the tour. Leaving Albuquerque, we crossed the Rio Grande.
Driving west on I-40 means driving into the setting sun.
The first thing that struck me about the southwest is how empty it is. This was typical of many miles of road.
The Rio Puerco bridge (old Rt 66).
Only a few minutes outside of ABQ I sighted my first casino. It would definitely not be the last.
The second thing that struck me about the southwest is the scenery. If you like geology, go
here. Things like this are all over the place.
Dusk over mesas.
Sunset, and one little cloud.
Scenery.
Road cut through more scenery.
Settlement to the side of the road on one of the many Indian reservations.
The sun is definitely going down now.
It looks as if Indians on reservations have two ways of life. The first are by selling goods
to people - even in little shacks by the roadside. The other way is by opening a casino. There
doesn't seem to be anything in between.
We had dinner at a place called Earl's in Gallup, NM. The food was good, but it was an odd mix - a quesadilla with French fries. Several times various Indians came to our table offering jewelry, pottery, and other things for sale. Subsistence vs casino, with nothing in between.
After dinner we went a bit further and spent the night in Holbrook, AZ.