Seventh and eighth day -- from Taos to Hugoton, KS to Bloomington, IN

Two days left, Taos Inn's Huevos Rancheros send us onto the way home. Though there are 1000 miles to drive, we decide to explore one more ghost town, Elizabethtown. At first we drive past it, but later find its remains that now lie at the backyard of a new house. The owners of the house have gathered the history of this once lively gold mining town into a home-made museum.

We hurry to visit the Capulin Volcano National Monument, but stop at an interesting road side bar, owner of which proudly presents his photoalbum containing documents about the highlights of this bar middle of nowhere. We drive the spiral road to the top of the Capulin Volcano, where we walk around the edge of crater and down to the bottom of it.

Oklahoma is still flat and dull. Like for the counterargument, dusk gathers mighty dark clouds and we soon find ourselves driving in a nightly lightning show of a severe thunderstorm. We escape to Kansas, but storm shows no respect for the state border.

The last day we cannot but drive, we are still 800 miles from home. However we decide to entertain ourselves by visiting a Dalton Gang Hideout Museum at Meade, KS. After filling up at Pizza Hut lunch buffet we start our long drive home. We drive through the night and reach Bloomington by dawn, well in time to return the car due at 9:00 am.

Downhill OLDsmobile, Elizabethtown, NM Down to the valley
in the middle of nowhere Capulin Volcano
On the top of Capulin Bottom of the crater Volcano flower
Almost tornado Eklund's saloon at Clayton, NM Food
More food Train City center
Dalton Gang Hideout 199 blocks to Wichita, KS

Previous Day