The stories he could tell…
Living in the USA (Steve Miller Band)
Oh, we got to get away. Living in the U.S.A. Come on baby, Owwww!
Someplace in Texas. Apparently if you enter without permission, Yosemite Sam will shoot to kill!
Fall 2016
Yes, the Vinohikers are back in the good old USA and itching to get back on the road. With a couple of weeks to kill before we begin a remodel on a rental property in Northern Arizona, we decide to do some exploring through New Mexico and Texas before heading back into Arizona. This would be our second trip through this area, having done it a few years ago. Back then the effects of the great recession and the ongoing drought were in extreme evidence.
The effects of the drought are still evident.
Huge abandoned homes in the middle of barren and parched fields with many of the small towns we went through nearly empty and in decay.
Abandoned ranch home in the Texas panhanlde.
So why go back, you ask? Are we crazy?
We are probably a bit crazy, some might say more than a bit crazy, but our reasoning was sound. Other than looking for the best alcoholic drinks while ‘hiking’ around the globe, our second mission is to try and capture what we see on our travels with photographs. On our first trip through the area we were kind of in shock and really didn’t capture the essence of the area, so we decided to do it again, this time with the intent of capturing the gloom. As it turned out the area had recaptured some of its previous glory, but still had not seen the recovery that much of the other parts of that nation had seen. Also, we’re a sucker for anything that says National Park, National Monument, or State Park. We are hikers after all. So this trip had the additional mission of visiting every park we could find and hike it, drink some vino in it, and photograph it. Oh, we also did some living and laughing.
So enough of this babbling. Let’s get to the photos.
Hike Drink Live Laugh (Apero Time!)
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Abandoned Home in nowhere New Mexico.
Desolate road in Texas with a lone tree.
Water hasn’t visited here in a while it seems.
Another lonely road. It’s a good thing we didn’t break down.
I’ll bet this bicycle was once the property of some proud child. Now relegated to the junk area of a now closed second hand store.
A gas station from a bygone era.
One of the many towns in decay and nearly abandoned that we drove through.
Playgrounds and empty homes.
No more cars to fix.
Down the road a piece and still no cars to fix.
A second hand store with no second hand buyers.
Roswell. NM. It’s not just about the aliens. Or is it?
Roswell, NM: Home of the earth aliens.
Selling a slice of Americana, but no one wanted it.
White Sands National Park, NM. Surreal!
More from White Sands, NM. Truly gives the feeling of snow as you drive through the park. The light is very strange.
White Sands National Park, NM.
Time to move on to the next blog post. See ya!
Hi Carrie & Pat: Really great photographs. So stark, almost abstract. rae
Thanks Rae! That’s very kind of you to say.