Thank you for sharing and looking forward to the next installment.

Have been curious since you asked for input on others experiences along parts of this route.

Travel to Houston and home cooked meal awaits you both.

And yes, the weather is dicey above the tree line. This ought to be interesting.

Old V Twin

 

Bob, as usual great write-up! Looking forward to the next installment!

 

Thanks to all of you - you know I appreciate it!

On the route - It was kind of spontaneous. The original plan was to run down to Arkansas, then over to Texas, do the 3 twisted sisters and maybe some other highlights, work our way over and up to Santa Fe, then do the reverse of our trip to Santa Fe on this trip. I can't honestly remember why we changed gears but it had to do with the timing I think. Maybe the weather. Either way, one can't go wrong with a trip to Colorado - even when chasing storms.

 

We picked up Hwy 104 heading NW out of Tucumcari. Immediately it felt like a lonely highway. (Btw - I have no idea why I am in the left lane. No idea at all)



Very pretty. Very desolate. It was warm, but not hot and we were comfortable in our light jackets. We rode for a long time, not seeing a single soul. I had 94 miles on the reserve and I figured we surely would come across civilization before that ran out.

Nope –



We had traveled a ways and it only became more desolate. Now there were no homes at all, let alone gas stations. My reserve was dropping and I was starting to get nervous. Adding to my nervous condition was the road. It was rough. Really rough. We bottomed out often and when we weren’t testing the travel of the loaded Ultra, we were having our fillings loosened by the awful vibration coming up through the bike as a result of the heavily textured pavement. I was working very hard mentally on a “Plan B” when I saw a solitary sign - Las Vegas (the other one) 75 miles. Oddly enough my reserve read 77. What are the odds? And then another sign – “75 miles to the next services”. What??? Thirty miles from nowhere you tell me I’m 75 miles from somewhere? WTF? So that made Plan B a necessity. But, what was plan B? Well, I figured we had two choices – ride all the way back to Tucumcari on that sh*tty road to where I didn’t see a gas station, or wing it and head south to pick up I-40. There was a road up ahead and it had numbers, so I figured I would head south. I also did a “Garmin” search to locate the nearest gas station. According to the 10 year old Streetpilot with equally old database, we were 40ish miles from a cluster of gas stations. I figured it was a good bet, so we zagged south towards fuel and the interstate. I can’t even tell you what road we took. But I can tell you it was smoother than Hwy 104. More curvy too. All in all it was a pleasant ride and I felt confident that we would make a gas station with plenty of reserve left. I did feel somewhat let down by the “bail out” route to the interstate. I was really looking forward to riding into Santa Fe through Las Vegas, for whatever reason.

Before long (another “couple minutes” I figure) we hopped onto I-40 heading west. It was the usual cacophony of tire noise and diesel roar, but at least it was taking us towards fuel. A sign ahead indicated a gas station, so we pulled off and looped back in the direction the gas sign pointed. But, when we got there, it looked like a pole barn with a bunch of wrecked cars strewn about. Once again, the banjos in my head started playing and I opted to pursue a more pedestrian source for fuel. Back to the interstate.

Along the way we saw some Antelope –



Of course there’s nothing remotely unusual about seeing Antelope along the highway in the Southwest. But, Cheryl kept pointing to the side of the road (starting in western Kansas) and saying she just saw something. I knew what it was, but I just kept telling her I saw nothing. By Texas she was thinking she was the only one on earth seeing these mythical beasts along the road, and she could never capture them on the camera. Finally, along I-44, she was able to offer photographic evidence that Antelopes really do exist. I had little choice but to agree at that point.

Not far down the road from the mysterious Antelope was a gas station. We filled up and reorganized for the rest of the ride. Layers were shed and water was acquired.

Naturally because we shed some layers, we ran in to some old friends –



Yep, more rain. It was sunny and clear all day – where the hell did that come from? Well, it was blowing up from the south and I knew that, had we stayed on the original route, we probably would have missed it. But, we may have missed it on foot. I can live with the wet alternative. So we pulled over after a while and geared up for rain – again. At this point Cheryl inquired as to my proposed route. She had witnessed me ignoring the Garmin imploring me to take every exit we passed to get back on the original course. I explained to her that I had abandoned that route and that we were riding to Albuquerque, which is on the way to Santa Fe, and then north. She gave me a funny look and stated that Albuquerque was not at all on the way to Santa Fe. Silly girl. I have the gift of knowing exactly where I am (more or less) whenever I am traveling. I am confident I could find my way to anywhere without a map due to my innate sense of direction. We continued west. Cheryl added to her earlier assertion that, not only are we going the wrong way, but we’re going the wrong way into a pretty nasty looking squall. She seemed pretty confident. I have learned that when she is particularly assertive on any given topic, it’s usually because she is right. I allowed (internally) that I could be wrong and (outwardly) stated that I could go for some food. While eating we would look at a map. We pulled over in Moriarty New Mexico to look for food.
I had seen billboards for Moriarty for many miles, going all the way back before Tucumcari. I figured it would be as good a place as any to pull over, especially since it was on Route 66. But, like pretty much anywhere else I’ve been on Rt 66, it just looked like anyplace else. Nothing remarkable. I was, and still am, wondering what all the billboard hoopla was about. That said, we pulled over at The Breezy Rain Café.

The name seemed to fit the situation. Or impending situation anyway. We walked in to good smells and a friendly staff. We were well after the lunch crowd, but it was still busy - A good sign. In fact, we chose this place because it had the most cars in the parking lot vs other places along the Moriarty main drag.

Despite the time of day I ordered the Green Chile breakfast burrito -



I will tell you this, it was the best damn burrito I’ve ever had. True, I was very hungry as it turned out. But, the green chili they use is unique to these parts. The taste was an epiphany relating to my previous visits to Santa Fe. It just had that certain taste that you don’t find anywhere else. Normally I leave a little on the plate, but this time, there was not one speck left. Cheryl equally loved her Huevos Green Chilis.

A sign that pretty much sums up our ride –



Everything just seemed to feel right sitting in this diner right down to the signage.

After killing off that burrito I walked out to the bike to get the laptop. I didn’t have a New Mexico map, plus these old eyes appreciate the ability to zoom in to secondary roads. Outside a gentleman said he loved that beautiful black bike. I thanked him for the compliment and asked if he rides. He did in fact. He had a Triumph (can’t remember which one) and told me that he rides down here often from Santa Fe. He said we were at the end of one of his favorite weekend routes and that we should take that road north to Santa Fe. I got a few details from him, chatted a bit more, and wished him well as he went on his way. Back in the diner I popped open the laptop to see exactly where we were. Turns out Albuquerque is not at all on the way to Santa Fe from where we were. I played that down as best I could, but Cheryl adopted that smug – I’m smarter than you – look for at least an hour.

You can see it in the next two pics –




You know she’s feeling cocky when she’s willing to pose for more than one pic.

 

After the Glam-shots session we headed north to pick up Triumph guy’s route. It heads northeast up to Santa Fe (because I overshot due north – I know…I know) Hwy 41 is a pretty, lightly traveled road.



It was here that we started to feel that we were there. And by “there”, I mean the part of the trip that we anticipated. In this case, heading into some elevation.

By now the sky had filled with clouds. To the west –



And to the east. That one cloud looks like a horse….sort of –



Sometimes the clouds add to the beauty –



We were really enjoying Triumph guy’s route. We came upon the church where he told me to turn left –



He said there were some curvy roads after the church. There were, but the speed limits were very low and much of it ran through a residential area. It was still a nice ride. Even with the cloud cover. I was certain we were going to get wet. And sometimes, it did sprinkle a little. But not too bad.

Oddly enough, after a while it looked as if it was going to clear up ahead –



And by the time we got to Santa Fe, it was sunny and warm. Weird. The clouds just seemed to evaporate. I followed the Streetpilot’s directions to our digs in Santa Fe. It was a split level home not far off the Square, which is where Old Santa Fe is and most people want to be. Navigating the many one way streets wasn’t too difficult, but the drivers were a bit erratic. Two guys on bikes past us on the left, one of them on a hardtail custom of some sort. When he passed he did this move where he looked back over his shoulder at us and lifted his (considerable) butt-cheek off the saddle and just kind of…looked at us. Cheryl took immediate offense. I figured he was just welcoming some fellow riders to Santa Fe. But t was pretty strange. Be that as it may, we veered off that road and onto the secondary streets that would take us to where we check in. Our reservation was at Hacienda Nicholas. Cheryl found them online and they offer a pretty good range of accommodations. We wanted privacy, but within walking distance to the Square. They recommended the Juniper. When we arrived they simply handed us the keys and gave us directions to the Juniper. It was 3 blocks from the main hotel and up a “steep dirt road”. Uh……we didn’t see that online. Normally, when I hear “dirt road” I don’t sweat it. But here in New Mexico, when they say “steep dirt road” I’m concerned. We cruised up the street and there were a lot of dirt roads. Great. Which one was the one? So I chose the nastiest looking one that ran sharply up hill. I figured that was it because A - it was the worst and B – it appeared to go on forever. Yep, it was steep. And, due to the recent rains, very rutted up and washed out. The loaded Ultra did not like the soft rutted dirt climb and the front tire plowed through the deeper potions and threatened to steer the bike into a deep wash out, from which it would have been very difficult to emerge unscathed. Add to that a car came around a corner and started down the hill towards us. There was no way I was going to slow down so I just kept on chugging through the crap and somehow made it up the hill. And, as it turns out, it was the right hill. Halleluiah! We made it. I could feel Cheryl’s body relax. Not that our driveway, which was comprised of a 4 inch layer of deep pebbles was any better than the road. I just pulled the bike straight in and shut it down. It was going to suck backing it up a hill and through the mushy pebbles, but we made it, which was good enough for now.

Our home for 2 days –



Not luxurious, but very “Santa Fe”.



The place was nice and the views not bad –



The front desk did warn us that the neighbors were prone to having loud parties. I’m assuming they drive the low rider –



We got settled in and cleaned up. Naturally we needed some food and beverages. Cheryl didn’t feel like walking down the hill to the square at that time, and for some reason wasn’t up for another off road ride. I volunteered to run and get said food and beverages, figuring the unloaded, solo Ultra would feel downright nimble at this point.

But first, I needed to pry it out of it’s parking spot –



It was getting dark and I could hear thunder in the distance. But, it was a nice night out, perfect for a nice evening ride. I managed to “back and forth” the bike out of it’s spot and headed down the hill. Even in the dark it was much easier negotiating the unburdened machine down the steep rutted hill. No drama at all. Nice! I made my way through town to a local grocery store and fetched supplies.

Meanwhile, Cheryl continued to snap pics. That thunder that was far off, was getting much closer while I was away.

Red skies at night –



And lightning too!



I made it back before the rain. The rest of the night was spent eating the worst steak I’ve ever had, along with the most unremarkable wine I ever drank, with the best company I could ever imagine.

Miles – 400ish
Time – Hell, I don’t know….seemed like a lot longer than a few hours
Rain – some
Temps – 60s-80s
Nothing – plenty
Something – Some
Hill Climb Fear Factor – about a 6

 

Wish i was there ... keep it coming!

 

Congratulations on another great trip and write-up. Thanks.

 

thanks again for sharing, great that you let us tag along....why not take Ken on these trips? he can be entertaining

 

I read your west coast trip and now following this one. Nice to see places I have traveled relived through others eyes and their take on the experience. Makes me want to head back to several of them. You have many of the same responses as I have had to parts of the country.
I did notice I saw no tether to keep your Go Pro from becoming a parts camera if it decided to unwillingly jump ship. Or am I missing something?

Thanks for sharing your travels. Great cold weather read. BTW if you make it through the Tulsa area sometime shoot me a PM, I'll buy you and Cheryl a cold one & swap travel stories.

 

Hope you enjoy your stay in New Mexico!