Travel from Albuquerque to Santa Rosa, New Mexico

We drove our coach 100 miles, about 2 hours of driving, from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Santa Rosa, New Mexico, after the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. We were on our way to Tucumcari, New Mexico, but got stuck at the Anton Chico Rest Area, eastbound on I-40, due to a seized brake (see the previous post for details).

Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:

An interactive map:

Leaving the Balloon Fiesta:

Police horses:

Bye Fiesta!

Aggressive lane markers and trees:

Exit to I-40 east to Santa Rosa… we didn’t know we wouldn’t get quite that far:

An overpass:

Metal artwork on the hill:

Zuzax:

I-40 is a rather rough road:

A castle at McCall’s Pumpkin Patch in Moriarty, New Mexico:

Fun with maximum zoom:

Uh oh, a high temperature warning on the tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS):

These can sometimes be misreads, but need to be taken seriously.

Clines Corners:

Flying C Ranch billboards:

We weren’t going to stop at Flying C Ranch, but that TPMS warning was persisting, so we thought we’d better stop and let it cool off:

Inside Flying C Ranch:

We went to the DQ inside for a snack:

An old pickup:

The TPMS had cooled off, so we continued, but it got high again, so we pulled off at the next rest area:

Even after parking, the temperature continued to rise into the danger zone, which indicated a serious issue:

That was about the maximum; after that it cooled off, dropping about 1 degree per minute.

And thus began our unexpected stay at the rest stop:

More on that tomorrow.