Viva, Las Vegas!

7/25
After a good, hot breakfast we packed the car and headed for Three Rivers.
After a pleasant exchange with the volunteer at the entrance to Three Rivers Petroglyph Park (she was from NY, and she and her husband lived there full time in their RV), we set off for the mile and a half loop. While it was uphill for much of the way, it was not terribly strenuous, and the petroglyphs were interesting, and the view was wonderful from up there. We were between the Sacramento and the San Andres Mtns. It was quite a vista. We learned that the bushes we passed sporting either tiny white fluff balls or pretty little yellow blooms was the creosote bush, also known as chapperal.
From there we headed to Las Vegas along what has to be the most boring road in New Mexico. Although we were at an elevation of close to 9,000 feet at times, it was a plateau. We were surrounded by little more than pasture and cattle for miles upon miles, endless miles......... Ugh. There wasn't even a picnic table for pulling over to have lunch. We settled for what looked to be a largely unused back gate to someone's ranch.
Arriving in Las Vegas we were horrified to discover it is Bike Week! No wonder there were only a few rooms left at the hotel! The entire Plaza was roped off to cars and literally overflowing with bikes and bikers. What made this even more disappointing to someone like me who loves taking photos is the fact that the entire downtown seemed to consist of nothing but 19th century buildings just begging to be photographed. I had to content myself with a few photos of the train depot and adjacent La Castenada Hotel (a Fred Harvey hotel). The depot is still in operation, but the hotel was in disrepair. It still exudes charm, however.
We stopped at the Rough Riders Museum for about 15 minutes. They had some interesting Pueblo artifacts, as well as early Americana.
Our hotel is at the end of the line for Las Vegas, but it seemed to still be bursting with bikes. Hopefully, we can get a good night's sleep. The room itself is very spacious and modern, comfortable and clean. We suspect most guests will not be rising as early as we do, and the breakfast room will not be hectic. Fingers crossed on that account.
Dinner was once again a disappointment. Pino's Family Restaurant was within walking distance, but the positives ended there. The food was blah, and the place smelled of ammonia. Wait. It was cheap. Two positives.
Tomorrow we plan to visit Pecos National Historical Park, which is on the road to Santa Fe. We still haven't decided if we want to stay another night in Las Vegas (the bikers go bye bye tomorrow), or head elsewhere (Santa Fe? Albuquerque?).