LONG Drive

600 miles

And we ate lunch in Las Vegas. (I'm not kidding.)

http://www.hillcrestnm.com/

Donna ordered chile. You know how chile peppers come in red and green varieties? Well at The Hillcrest Restaurant bowls of chile come in red, green, and Christmas. Donna ordered Christmas and highly recommends it.


The day started out like this:



But later on...



I love driving into the mountains. The hills sneak up on you at first. After an hour of driving in a continuous passing zone, you notice a "pass with care" sign and realize there's now some ebb and flow to the landscape. A single small butte appears off to the side. Maybe a plateau in the distance. At some point you round the top of a slightly larger hill and come out on the other side with a totally new panorama around you. Even in the middle of a seemingly empty desert, I love those big open views. Minutes after you've been lulled into the rhythm of the hills, you spot some bigger hills on the horizon. They hang hazily in the distance, framing the expanses around you. Inching closer, you suddenly realize that those "hills" are white capped. It’s a thrilling moment.