The Hondo Valley in New Mexico is a delightful place to drive through. At least in good weather. This valley is actually pretty high in the mountains so on our way to Arizona we were not entirely surprised when we noticed vehicles coming from the south that had a thick layer of snow on the roof and hood. We had not seen any snow since we left Nebraska and didn’t really want any more. Until then we had been lulled into a false sense of security

Then in New Mexico the temperature was hovering around the freezing point of 32ºF so were getting a bit concerned that we might run into freezing ice on the road. That is not something we wanted to encounter on the mountain road on which we were driving. Traffic had ground to a near halt so we kept plowing ahead hoping we would not be snow plowing ahead. The mountain forests here were absolutely gorgeous but again we did not stop, this time thinking we should get through this before the wet roads became icy roads. The road here was slushy and sandy. When the temperature dropped to 30 ºF we got even more concerned but this lasted only for an hour before we the road led to lower elevations where temperatures rose again. We were safe and sound and happy in southern New Mexico.