This stretch of US 82 is a 110-mile microcosm of New Mexico, from the hot desert floor to cool mountains. The route begins in Artesia, a small town with a renovated main street and a visible pride in its work ethic, then climbs through rolling farmlands into the Sacramento Mountains, and down again, to the military town of Alamogordo, and the dunes of White Sands. The most impressive site you’ll find as you roll through downtown Artesia, New Mexico is this huge monument to the region’s oil and gas workers. It’s called “The Derrick Floor”, and was dedicated in 2004. […]