On 2/28/05 15:09, "jbange" <hfinn@INGRATES.NET> wrote:

> At 12:43 PM 2/28/2005, you wrote:
>> The main complaint was that it was flat, not terribly
>> scenic, and any little town they stopped in was small
>> and without charm.  Keep in mind they are from Alaska
>> where small charmless towns are the norm, but at least
>> they have scenery.  They were talking about whatever
>> part of NM is nearest to Phoenix, AZ.
> 
> Well there's the problem, then. Presumably they drove in from AZ on  I10,
> which is nothing but straight stretches carefully laid out to avoid the few
> scattered terrain features. Living in a city like I do, I personally find
> those wide-open spaces of nothing quite enjoyable, but I suppose to AK
> dwellers used to wide open spaces full of forests and mountains it might
> very well look like, well... nothing. The nature of the interstate highway
> program was such that through Arizona and New Mexico they were built
> through the flattest and least obstructed parts of those states. In order
> to see the Really Cool Stuff you have to get pretty far off the interstates.
> 
> 

Extremely deceptive territory down there in the south ends of NM and AZ.
Did that journey on I10 many years ago.  Never saw so many "Dry Creek" and
Sandy Creek in my life in one stretch of hiway.  And the were honest about
it as well.  Take the rout from Alb to flagstaff and it is a bit more scenic
if you like looking at a lot of casino signs.  However in NM if you head
north through the las vegas and sante fe and areas up in the hills heading
into colorado and through the four corners things get a lot more scenic.

Though I do find albequerque to be nice and scenic the first week in
september even though I spend it parked in a church parking lot.  "Buses and
Balloons" time!
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jimt
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