We drove highway 14 south from Santa Fe, which is the route they call the "Turquoise Trail". It goes through several small towns of varying descriptions. The two that we found notable were Cerrillos, which was interesting because it was so dilapidated, and Madrid, since it had been an abandoned mining town which has been revitalized by artists and has lots of vividly-painted houses and fascinating art work.
We took a side trip off highway 14 and turned onto 240 which climbs to Sandia Crest. It's a 10,678' peak overlooking Albuquerque and has skiing in the winter. There's another road that cuts off 240, but after seeing the sign, we decided not to try it. When we got back down, someone told us that it really required a high-clearance vehicle, so we were glad we didn't try!
We then connected with I-40 west for a bit and drove back north on I-25. We had more thunderstorms in the afternoon, and then ate a great dinner at the Ranch House Restaurant.
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| Dilapidated buildings in Cerrillos |
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| Artsy buildings in Madrid |
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| Lots of great metalwork! |
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| Piles of coal |
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| Nice thunderhead |
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| Hanging bottles in another town |
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| Screenshot from our drive up to the crest. |
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| Everyone wants their tower on this peak! |
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| The road we didn't take! |
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| Ski slopes |
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| Another thunderhead |
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| Typical house construction in Santa Fe |
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| Sunset from the campground |
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