Arizona & New Mexico

Arizona and New Mexico are wonderful states to explore. So many natural wonders maps can't list them all. Yet, with so few highways, every map pretty much shows every passable road in these states. There just aren't alternative routes. There's the main highways and there's nothing.

The most famous highway of all is good old Route 66. Most of route 66 has been replaced by the interstate highway. The longest surviving stretch is in northwestern Arizona. From about the turn-off for the Grand Canyon route 66 turned north to the Colorado River, then turned southwest towards Neddles, CA. The interstate chose to take a more direct route. Northwest Arizona is a retiree's paradise, warm dry weather, wide open spaces, and plenty of man-made and natural wonders to explore.

New Mexico is much like Arizona except much of the land is "pink" in color. Albuqueque is your standard, suburbanized big city. Indian casinos and hot air baloons are near by. Gallup, NM, on the other hand, is the center of a mecca of natural wonders. In any direction there is a different amazement.

The quintessential New Mexico town is Santa Fe. Every building is an adobe. The rest of New Mexico is mostly standard western construction, but not Santa Fe. Rich Californians flock here to take in the climate and buy the large amount of artwork that dominates the retail scene downtown. Graffitti tends to be "space alien" oriented eventhough Santa Fe is miles from Roswell, NM. New Mexico towns are crazy about their old steam engines.
Colorado Pages =}