Two Sisters Take a Trip to New Mexico and West Texas by Judith Dollar

 

10 Days on the road…2,400+ miles across Texas and New Mexico in a Mini Cooper, 2 sisters, and plenty of art supplies. What could go wrong?

In mid-July, my sister, Penelope, and I made a plan to drive, sketch & stay in 7 different towns across the two states. She made a spreadsheet and I filled our palettes with fresh watercolors.

Our route took us to Fort Davis, on day 2 some rebar sticking up out of a parking lot peeled the front license plate and part of the body trim off the front of my car. Which ultimately led to being pulled over twice for not having a front license plate on display. Lucky me, Penelope was taking a turn to drive both times! Oh well, the scenery was worth it. 

Next down to Marfa, which lived up to its reputation as a funky, cool, and interesting town. Yes, we stopped at the Prada art installation as well as Little Riata where the movie Giant was filmed. 

From there we headed into New Mexico, stopping in Hatch for fresh roasted peppers and a stop for the night in Truth or Consequences. After sketching the colorful courtyard of our hotel we drove up past Santa Fe to Abiquiu, near Ghost Ranch, one of the places Georgia OKeeffe had a studio.

In Abiquiu we stayed in a yurt at the foot of a craggy red mountain. (see blog header) It rained during the night making the low-water crossing on the road out a muddy red river bed. Before driving across it I thought I should check it out on foot. After about 20 minutes of deliberation two cars finally came along behind us. They told us they had come in thru the opposite end of the road and it was not a mess. So, debate over, we turned around and left the mud pit behind.

The next night was in Santa Fe, then Cloudcroft, down to Monahans, and finally back to Round Rock to drop Penelope home before I headed back home. The final mileage reading was 2,472 when I pulled into my driveway.

Trip highlights: stunning landscapes and big, big skies, a sketching partner, friendly people, picnic meals, petroglyphs, the yurt, Santa Fe’s International Folk Art Museum, Acoma pottery artist, Chihuahuan Desert cactus greenhouse, and icy margaritas. The only change I would make to the trip is longer stays in fewer locations.