From Holbrook to Pueblo...............changing landscape

We got up this morning and it was chilly in Holbrook.  Asked at the front desk and was told that the processing plant we saw all lit up last night is actually a plant that produces electricity.  No wonder they put it out in the desert - those people who live out in the Desert want to be able to see after the sun goes down, just as much as the people of Phoenix etc. - extends the day and allows McDonalds in LA to operate 24/7 as well as Wally World operating 24/7 and Walgreens 24 hours of pharmacy access etc. etc.
The land around Holbrook is very flat, is at around 5,000 feet above sea level, but it has mesa's here and there that just seem to pop up out of the ground.  As we traveled, we came upon one such mesa close to the road and it had some sort of rock formation at its base that strongly resembled fingers that the mesa had  dug into the earth as if to anchor it in one spot.  Trust me, that mesa was one big hunk of earth and rock and it really was not going to move any time soon......but then we must take care that we have all bases covered, even if you happen to be a mesa.
I watched the landscape change with every mile.  In many fields there were this year's crop of calves frolicking about and making short work of the grass.  The grass up here is not long and lush like the prairie grass that grows in Nebraska at the Nature Center.  It looks like it got mowed but I know that no one in their right mind would mow the grass in these fields...................guess that naturally, it does not grow tall.
In one field I saw something that looked out of place.  It looked like spindly trees with brown and white leaves.....and then I figured it out, I was looking at some deer.  Just then a truck passed us with a quad on the back but under the quad was a buck that looked like it could have been a 12 point rack.  I think that Jacob would have been envious of this haul.
We no sooner crossed the border from Arizona into Colorado than we saw mountains that seemed to just pop up out of the ground.  Not only did they appear seemingly out of nowhere, but they just seemed to soar into the sky and a couple of them even have snow on them already.  In my book, that event is way too early and they even have signs by the side of the road encouraging people to check the road conditions in Colorado.  How much snow does this state get anyway?  Probably much more than I can comprehend and even more than I want to face at winter time.

This picture is of entering Colorado.

The trees in the Arizona side of the border are short stubby things, but the trees in Colorado are tall Ponderosa pines and it is remarkable the change from one state to another.
We used our GPS on our I-phone to map our drive and find out how much further we had to go.  Finally, we arrived in Pueblo and checked into our motel.  This is a  palace compared to last night's accommodations.  I am glad to have a place to sleep and bathe, but this motel tonight has an indoor pool, and hot tub and lots of other amenities.  Even went into a Weight Watchers meeting to get some products.  Did not get weighed - will wait until I get to Maine to start again.

While we were in the hot tub, there was a man already in there talking on the phone.  We began talking to him and told him that we were missionaries for the church doing genealogy on our mission.  I asked him what he did for a living and he said he was a Baptist Minister.  Well, not to worry, we carried on our conversation and found out that he can speak a little Japanese.  He is only a part time minister to a nearby school.  I assume that it is a school run by his church.  the rest of the time, he spends his time in the employ of Lowes (hardware store), mapping the store.  They want to float a system where people can go to the store and with their smart phones, they can hold it over the squiggly little box on a piece of paper, and the location of their desired item will appear in the screen of the smart phone.  I have often seen these squiggly little boxes in advertisements and other printed material, but as yet, have not figured out how to make my phone read these dots and dashes in the little squiggly box.

So ends day two of our travels.  We have logged over 700 miles so far and only about 1800 more to go.  I have seen signs for Historic Route 66 (famous in song and legend) and the Santa Fe Trail (also famous for its cattle drives in times past).  I have seen whole neighborhoods of "Santa Fe" style homes and they look wonderful.  Have not seen one Victorian style architecture home on this leg of the journey.  They really would stand out if they did.  Have seen many buildings that have given up leaning into the wind, and have given up the ghost and now lie in a pile of splintered wood.  I am sad that no cactus live this far north or at this elevation.  It seems strange to see Santa Fe style homes and no cactus (they have cactus by them in Prescott and in paintings, but in real life not a noticeable feature.)

This picture below is a night time shot of the electricity producing plant in Holbrook.

As we approach each town, there are billboards bragging about what we could see here if only we had come a few months ago or could stay a month or so for a special event.  It seems that tourists are rather like itinerant farm workers who follow the seasons and crops, whereas the tourists just follow the seasons to attend the events.  Guess there is some value to putting all those brochures in the lobby of the hotel and motel.  I even saw one advertising events in Prescott...............of all things.

Tomorrow, we get up and do this all over again and end up in Lincoln, Nebraska and Grandchildren.