Okay, so, fun story...after Thelma and I left White Sands and headed toward El Morro, there was a long, glorious stretch of road across the valley floor between the San Andres Mountains and the Black Mountains, along US route 70 to Interstate 25.
Did you ever play that game as a kid where the floor was lava?
Well, the ground was lava! Like, was liquid lava, waaaay back.
Yes, we nerded out at all the different shapes of hardened lava and the plant life.
Did I take any photos of that stretch other than the lava fields and Thelma taking photos of a windmill? Of course not.
Why? Umm, snakes, kids. I was scared of snakes. And bugs.
Anyway, we had a fabulous time talking and laughing, and then the truck ahead of us signaled with his left light. Thelma said "I think he wants us to pass him."
Nope.
He was letting us know that we needed to pull over because a truck was ripping down quiet little US #70! That truck tore past us doing at least 100 mph!
So, in no time, three police SUVs/trucks came a'flyin' at a similar speed. Which means, what was happening on #ThelmaLouise2019??? Kids, it was technically and legally known as...a high speed chase!
And what music was going through my head?
You guessed it. The perfect "We're driving in the desert and we see 3 flying police vehicles" music.
Ahem...because nothing says "Southern New Mexico" like pounding surf and the illegally expropriated independent kingdom of Polynesian islands known as Hawaii. Oh, and Jack Lord's hair.
Annnnnnyway...
So, as we drive along toward I-25, we discuss just how and when the police were going to catch the bad guys, (tack strips/spike strips, radio ahead to the State Police in the next town, etc), because we're Thelma and Louise, we've watched TV police dramas so DUH, we're the ones to call!
So, as we approach Las Cruces, and the turn northward toward Albuquerque, and our turn-off at Los Lunas, we got just a wee bit excited at what we'd possibly see in the way of the apprehension of the (insert type of criminal here) in the truck. Well, take a look. And you're all welcome for the fabulous colour commentary. And yes, I know it says "high spee chase"...that's official code, okay? No, I cannot tell civilians what it means.
How we didn't get a medal is beyond us both.
A week or so after I got back home, I looked up any relevant news stories for that area on that date. Not much, but there was an article on how the drug cartels use that area to smuggle...uhhh, not fruits and veggies...
So yeah, it was just another day in the life of two crime fighting detectives cleverly disguised as Thelma and Louise, in their Subaru of Justice.