Murderers and Killing cows?

Greetings,

After an almost 3 week stay in Los Alamos, New Mexico we departed 9AM Monday on the first leg of our “Road less traveled” tour. We drove south thru New Mexico on mostly secondary roads. In Santa Rosa the old Rt 66 motels are still there but the new modern hotels at the I-40 interchange have pretty much killed any Art Deco ambiance the town may have had. 

Even in death Jesse James is jailed due to several tombstone thefts

At Fort Sumner we turned east and headed towards Texas. We took a short detour and found Billy the Kids grave. Even though he was a thug and murderer, it was still interesting to see his final resting place. By the time we got to Texas the terrain had changed and we started seeing cultivated fields. Lots of the crops are irrigated but there are also large tracts of rangeland lush with wild grasses.

Nothing grazes on the ranges, cattle are held in crowded pens, the ground bare dirt, one side of the fencing made with slots the cows stick their heads thru to feed on the dried hay provided for them. There is a shade awning over part of the pens which gives them some relief from the brutal heat, but that’s about all the comfort they get as they wait to die. It’s a very sad thing to witness. 

factory farming cattle

End of day found us in Littlefield Texas, home of outlaw country singer Waylon Jennings. The RV Park we are staying in bears his name and is provided free courtesy of the town. According to the internet [so it must be true] Waylon donated the money to build the RV Park and put on a concert here every year to raise the money to keep it free. On our after dinner walk we happened upon an outdoor stage a short distance from the park. Now in disarray it probably hasn’t been used since the honky-tonk legend died in 2002.

I wrote this late Monday night and reviewing it this morning it seems I highlighted only darker subjects, murderers and killing cows, that by no means is a reflection of the day. We love traveling the back roads of America and yesterday was another great day.

See you down the road,