All the way to Pueblo, Colorado

Leaving all eight of our grandchildren behind in Texas
(with sad hearts)
we traveled from El Paso on to I-25
just south of Las Cruces, New Mexico.
We drove for ten hours today, and we're still on I-25
but have "landed" in Pueblo, Colorado for the night.
Pueblo is about 45 minutes outside of Colorado Springs,
and we intend to go there and ride
the cog railroad to the top of Pike's Peak tomorrow morning. I am not very happy with my pictures from today.
Most all of them were taken out of the window of the van
that was traveling at 75 mph (the legal limit --
trust me! Mr. Jones does not speed!).
It's difficult to take a quality picture at that rate of speed,
and I just don't do well getting an artistic photo that way.
Naturally, there were trains all along the way and
my beloved Mr. Jones felt it mandatory that I should
capture any/all locomotives that we saw ...

We passed through places such as
Truth or Consequences (yes! that is a city!),
the U.S. Customs Inspection Station @ Williamsburg
(they waved us on through -- evidently
Mr. Jones and I don't look like Mexicano drug smugglers!),
the San Mateo Mountains,
the Ladron Mountains,
Albuquerque,
Sante Fe (and along the Sante Fe Trail),
Pecos,
Las Vegas (not Nevada),
and somewhere along the way we saw this
engine parked along side of the road --
we had pulled off I-25 for gas, and there it was!
It was good to get out of the van, walk around a bit,
and hear all about Engine No. 1129 from Mr. Jones.
The 1129 has been parked in this exact spot
for over 50 years ... and is in need of some significant repair.
Further along in our travels, we came to this
highway cutout -- can anyone tell me WHY
they just didn't go around this little mound
instead of cutting through it?
We saw many interesting signs along the way.
Elk Crossing!
But we never saw one single elk.
However, we saw many many deer --
I missed them with the camera every time!
I was so frustrated -- it's just that their color
blended in so exactly with the fields and hills
where they were feeding that we were right on top of them
before I could even get my camera ready.
But I did have the song, "Home, Home on the Range"
going through my head because it was
exactly like the lyrics!
Speaking of signs, at the first rest stop today
(in New Mexico) there was a posted sign
warning of rattlesnakes -- good thing I'm not squeemish
about snakes, huh?


Many places we drove through had signs
warning of dangerous crosswinds
or stating that gusty winds were prevalent.
They also let you know that your speed was being
monitored by aircraft!
I took this picture just about 15 miles inside
the state of Colorado ...
As we drove through Colorado, it just got
more and more beautiful ...
Here's another sign that got me!
I-25 is a two-lane divided highway
with a speed limit of 75.
On the entryway ramps, signs tell bicylists
to ride on the shoulder -- would YOU do that?
The harvest moon rising over Pueblo


We are staying at a LaQuinta Inn in Pueblo tonight
and it is the prettiest room we have stayed in so far ...
We're not real fussy about where we stay;
afterall, we're just sleeping and eating breakfast!
I will say that this hotel's internet is the fastest one yet
at uploading pictures --
too bad I didn't have more good ones to share.


Hopefully, tomorrow's pictures from Pike's Peak
will do justice to the beauty of the place ...