Guadalupe County Courthouse

Best Laid Plans

I hadn’t planned on stopping in Santa Rosa, New Mexico.  Nor had I suspected I’d find anything as photogenic as the 1909 Guadalupe County Courthouse. On my third day of a week-long photoshoot around the Southwest, I had hoped to get to Tucumcari, or even Amarillo.  That morning, I had started with an excellent breakfast in Moab, Utah, then driven south to Monticello, and west into Colorado, with the goal of stopping at Four Corners. 

From that place where four states meet, I drove on across northeastern Arizona and into New Mexico, stopping for photos of Shiprock and the Sandoval County Courthouse before having supper at a New Mexican restaurant in Albuquerque.  While I ate, the rain started falling.  By the time I was on Interstate 40, heading east, the rain had turned to a deluge.

A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall

It’s roughly 110 miles from Albuquerque to Santa Rosa, and the further east I drove, the slower the traffic.  I was driving 25 mph on the Interstate and felt that was too fast for conditions.  With the Santa Rosa exit approaching, I decided it was a good time to get off the highway for the night.

A Morning Epiphany

The photograph is available from my Etsy Shop, LightIntoArt, in a wide variety of sizes and formats.  Choose glossy photo paper prints in three sizes:  8×10, 11×14, 16×20.  Or if you prefer something larger, choose canvas prints in 16×20, 24×36, or 30×40 inches.  Finally, for a spectacular display, you can get this image in 3 panel side-by-side canvas prints at 24 x 72, 36 x 72, or 40 x 90 inches.  The video below gives you an idea of what these sizes are like in a living room, bed room or office setting.

The rain stopped during the night, and the next morning, finding myself in a County Seat, I just had to find the Courthouse.  One of my favorite photographic subjects, county courthouses come in all shapes and styles.  What I found early in the morning of September 2^nd was a large red sandstone building, with a constuction date of 1909.  There is a newer building attached to the side of the older structure, but it wasn’t nearly as photogenic, at least in my opinion.

All told, I’m glad I spent the night in Santa Rosa, if only so I could grab this image. The video below shows you some of my photos from this trip across New Mexico, including me standing on the four corners, Shiprock, and the Sandoval County Judicial Complex in Bernalillo, New Mexico.

To visit Saturday’s post, click here.