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Well, this is a good-looking morning and it looks like I might be leaving just in time because the clouds look a little foreboding! Adios Roswell.
I get going and no sooner am I on the road then I feel a few raindrops and behind me is a bunch of rain clouds. As much fun as I had playing tourist for the day, I want to get back on the road so hopefully I can stay ahead of the weather.
So far, so good. I've made a couple of stops to stretch and look around and I am still dry! A rest area I stop at has this very odd metal sculpture called "El Jefe" or The Boss in English. I have absolutely no clue what this thing is but I start thinking I need to get into this whole art thing. Since nobody seems to understand it, or at least I don't, maybe I should throw some stuff together and call it "The Alfredo" and get rich? I doubt it!
Next chance to stretch occurs in Yeso, NM or least close to. I pull over to get a picture of this cool metal cattle ranch sign. This place seems to go forever but not a cow in sight. As a matter of fact, I have seen a disturbing lack of cows on this trip and so close to Roswell, hmmmm. They have a cattle-crossing grate at the entrance to the ranch. Every time I see one of these it reminds me of stories my dad used to tell from his youth. He worked in fields picking vegetables some years, especially as a young man. Many landowners back then didn't even try to hide their bigotry and treated the workers "not so well". I could describe it the way my dad did, but chances are the blog would be taken down. He told me of one incident I can picture in my mind as I look at this grate. The grate has enough space between the metal slats that if a horse or cow steps in, they will slide through and no cow or horse likes that so it keeps them in.
My dad told of this horrible landowner who would watch them work from horseback with binoculars every day while carrying a rifle. If you dared straighten up to stretch, he would fire you, not at you, and walk you to the gate off his property. My dad said this horse had a nasty talent of walking behind the worker and nudging them with its snout if the owner thought the worker wasn't walking fast enough. One day, a friend of my dad's couldn't take being hunched over anymore and stood up. Sure enough, the guy on horseback shows up and fires the guy and tells him to leave NOW! I guess the gate was a fair ways off and this poor guy walked with the horse nudging him the whole way. My dad says they could all see what was going on but there was nothing they could do. You have to remember that this was in his youth, around the 1930's or 1940’s. This was long ago and before any organizing by the workers. The worker and the owner get to the gate and as the worker is going to step over the grates, he turns and grabs the horse's bridle and pulls it into the grate which of course spooks the horse and the owner, in an effort to stay on the horse, drops the rifle. The worker picks up the rifle, c*** it, and aims it at the owner who has dismounted by this time and is leaving the horse to his own while facing this guy he has just been an ass to aiming his rifle right back at him. After some pleading, the worker decides he is not going to shoot the guy so he breaks the rifle on the post by the grate and tosses it off. He left and the owner went back to being an ass. My father says the worker returned the following year to work and the owner who obviously recognized the guy couldn't be nicer to the guy! I guess in this case it paid to face off the bully. My dad had tons of stories about working in the fields and we would sit with him to tell them all the time.
So, I make my way down the road and come across patches of sunflowers everywhere along the road. Bunches and bunches of them. Of course, I had to stop just short of Farmington, NM to snap a picture for my wife, Tammy. It's August 26 and I did miss her birthday because I was on this road trip after all! In my defense, she did encourage me to go since she would go down to Bellingham to visit her sister.
I make it into Vaughn, NM with a serious hunger. To my surprise I find and old gas station that has been converted into a burrito take-out place. The guy there, Pedro of Pedro's Mexican Take Out is in and the place looks a little dodgy but I am hungry. He seems to have occupied only the part of the gas station that was the store and the rest is in serious disrepair. I pulled under the awning cover because it has started to rain a little and I figure I might as well stay dry if I can. The rain is minor so no big deal. I get my breakfast taco and it is surprisingly good! I have as much water as I can get down to make sure I stay hydrated and the predictable happens. Now I have to use the restroom in the worst way! Suffice it to say, I ask Pedro to use the facilities and he says around back. I go around back and there's nothing but weeds and junk back there, no door. I come back around and say "Hey Pedro, I can't find the restroom". His response is simple, there isn't any, just do what I do and go back there. Enough detail here!
More ground to cover today so back on the road. I get to Moriarity, NM and there's my old friend, Cline's Corners. I pull over because I remember they have really good Wi-Fi service here and I need to upload the pictures I have so far. I spent a little while in the shade watching people come and go constantly. This place must be a gold mine! I decide I will take a slightly different route just for a change of pace since my GPS says I'll end up in the same place anyway.
No sooner am I on this new road, then the scenery changes. I go from total nothingness everywhere to trees upon trees, I stop at a historical marker and notice this is the first historical marker I have seen honoring a woman so I've got to get a picture of that. Other things are different on this new road. I get close to Lamy, NM and find the New Mexico Girls Ranch; I guess the girls here must be kind of wild if you have to keep them on a ranch!
Hey, an actual working windmill! This one has to be the coolest looking one I have seen so far. Most of the others, the vanes don't even turn anymore. On the way to Santa Fe, believe it or not, I find the road to El Dorado or at least to Eldorado. Nobody told me there was a difference. This Eldorado doesn't have roads paved in gold or anything else you would expect. They do have a neighborhood of what looks like expensive houses that all look like Adobe structures with lots of loose gravel around. The loose gravel makes it tricky to push the bike around and get pointed in the right direction. Since I have no clue where the road goes except into the desert, I turn around. I pull back onto the road and find myself staring right into a canyon. This must be the road to Cuba, NM. Not as cool as finding the road to El Dorado though!
I'm going through this canyon and find the trees here are really odd because they grow on the sides of hills and embankments. As a result of these odd places to grow, they grow with the root systems partially exposed and they look like they are walking uphill. It even looks like they left tracks! As I get ready to pull out on the road again, I start realizing how lucky I have been with the rain so far. I've been dodging rainstorms all day. I keep seeing them right in front of me and then the road steers me clear to one side or the other. I have managed to stay dry but am thinking I am running out of luck real quick! I have rain gear in my bag but decide I will push my luck and trust my leathers to keep me dry if it starts to rain.
I can see the road rise and rise ahead of me. When I crest the hill, I find I am right at the Continental Divide just outside Cuba, NM. This is the highest elevation I have attained yet at 7380 feet high. Thanks to my new carburetor fuel/air mix adjuster, I have only had to make minor adjustments to keep the bike running its' best. Unfortunately, it's cloudy, so I can't see much in either direction. I press on until I get to Dulce, NM and run across the Apache casino, my peeps! I figured I'd go in and ask for my cut but not sure I would like the response! I couldn't even go in for a look because I have my side arm on and I know carrying a firearm in a gambling, liquor serving, place is a no-no. I'm also not about to leave it in my saddlebag just to go in and take a look. Instead I decide to check out the area and find some metal teepees with benches. Hey, what Indian casino is complete without metal teepees? I even found the official seal of the tribe on a dilapidated building and take a picture of it. The casino is not very big so its no big loss in not going in plus I'm not a gambler anyway.
One thing I saw a little too much of were roadside memorials for people I assume died in accidents. Most of them are well cared for so somebody comes out now and then to clean around them even though most are not very near a town. It makes you feel for these folks who are still in so much grief that they come out to the middle of nowhere to maintain these memorials.
I continue down the road and I have to stop as soon as I see this plateau in the distance. It brings back movie flashes of Encounters of the Third Kind. I am realizing I have seen a lot of movies since so much stuff in this blog has movie references! There' are also some really odd rock formations all over the place in this area.
There's also the Navajo land I seem to have crossed into. They have some kind of farming program growing here because there's a bunch of different crops being grown. It warms my heart to see something besides casinos on Indian land.
I run across this place where the amount of stacked hay is unbelievable. I know I have taken pictures of wild roaming hay in the past but this is stack upon stack of hay bales and then there are rows of this stuff. I can't help but think how long my sister in law's horse could survive on this stuff! Imagine, never having to worry about feeding your horse! My sister in law Deb has a horse name "H" that she uses in dressage. I have been married to my wife, her sister, for 27 years and am just now starting to understand what dressage is but I still want the horse to jump something! Obviously, I don’t get invited to dressage events very often anymore!
It’s dinner time and thank you Kirtland, NM. They have a small teriyaki place in this town and it's just what papa ordered. I get my dinner and take my time enjoying my teriyaki chicken, one of my favorite all time foods. One thing you have to appreciate about most of the teriyaki places is that they don’t skimp on the amount of food you get!
Here's where I make a big mistake. Remember, I have been hugely lucky avoiding the rain all day and staying just a step ahead because every time I look back, I can tell it's coming. I get to Farmington, NM and decide I'll just go to the next town of Shiprock since it's only 20 more miles down the road and will leave me that much closer to Four Corners. The weather holds and I get to Shiprock, open my hotel app on my phone and it shows no hotels in Shiprock. I can't figure this out so I go to a gas station to find out where the hotels are in town since the rain is right on my butt by now. I get the strangest news I have ever heard for a town this size, There are no hotels, motels, or anywhere to stay in Shiprock at all. The woman at the counter says it's either back to Farmingotn, which I just passed or a long ways down the road. It's getting darker and I know my luck is not going to hold much longer so I decide back to Farmington it is. I point my bike in that direction and I am looking straight into a rainstorm. I get going and sure enough, the rain finds me about a couple of miles on my way back. Luckily, my leathers worked better than I thought and I stayed pretty dry considering the rain is serious now!
I pull into the first hotel I find and right from their awning; I book a room with my phone and go inside. Nice place. They give me a room around back and I go back there. There is one covered spot, not really a parking spot but big enough for a bike. Unfortunately, some other guy got the same idea and beat me to it. Looks like the bike is getting wet tonight! I scramble and get everything in before it gets wet. I settle in for some TV and a soda from the vending machine and off to sleep I go. I managed to get 498 miles in today but that counts my little adventure to Shiprock and back.
Following are some details on the pictures:
Pic 1 - Until We Meet Again: Adios Roswell, NM!
Pic 2 - Just in Time: Looks like I'm getting out of Dodge (AKA Roswell, NM) in the nick of time! The rain is moving in and I just caught a few raindrops. Road ahead looks pretty clear though.
Pic 3 - Stretch Time: Interesting historical marker AKA time to stretch the legs.
Pic 4 - Odd Art: Almost missed this piece of art at the rest area titled "El Jefe". 1997 commissioned for Art in public spaces. What it is, I have no idea.
Pic 5 - Cattle Ranch: Just had to stop for this cool cattle ranch sign outside Yeso, NM. Not a cow in sight though.
Pic 6 - Cattle No Go: Cattle grate at the Murphy cattle ranch. Don't know why they need it; there are no cows to keep in!
Pic 7 - As Far as the Eye Can See: This pic does not do justice to vast expanse of nothingness before me.
Pic 8 - Flowers for the Lady: Middle of nowhere outside Farmington, NM, a field of sunflowers. For my beautiful wife.
Pic 9 - Pedro Time: This is Pedro of Pedro's Burritos Mexican Take Out in Vaughn, NM. Nice gent I got a breakfast burrito from to give the rain a chance to pass.
Pic 10 - Next best thing to a Taqueria: Now here's what I was talking about. One of these ancient little gas stations that have been run out by big oil stations converted to a taco stand. Long live the small entrepreneur. Well, rain has passed over me, so back on the road.
Pic 11 - No Strangers: Ahh, Clines Corners in Moriarity, NM, we meet again. I know you are good for fast Wi-Fi so let's get a little upload going.
Pic 12 - Change of Scenery: No sooner did I change my route, than the scenery changed dramatically. Trees everywhere! No more nothingness! Thanks you Ribera, NM.
Pic 13 - More History: Stopped for a leg stretch and lo and behold. This is the first historical marker I have seen honoring a woman. You go girl! Errr...went.
Pic 14 - Girls Ranch: New Mexico Girls Ranch of Lamy, NM. I wonder what kind they grow here.
Pic 15 - Working Windmill: This has got to be the coolest working windmill I've seen so far. Had to go all the way to Santa Fe for a working windmill.
Pic 16 - The Road to Eldorado: Quick, someone congratulate me. I found the road to El Dorado! No gold though. Damn it, retirement will have to wait.
Pic 17 Adobe Looking Houses: I'll give El Dorado this; they are consistent with their architecture. Most houses have this type of look.
Pic 18 - Consistency: And another!
Pic 19 - The Canyon: This new route looks interesting. Heading into some canyon near San Ysidro, NM!
Pic 20 - Cuba: The trees here walk up hill. Their roots stick out all over to help them get a footing. Some looked like legs! Cuba, NM
Pic 21 - Weather Ahead: Ominous weather! I have been dodging rain storms all day. I have been lucky and weaved in between a bunch of storms visible on both sides of me. This is behind me and has moved into where I just was!
Pic 22 - The Continental Divide: Highest elevation I have had to encounter making only minor adjustments to a/f periodically. Just left Cuba, NM.
Pic 23 - Don't Look Like Much: Top of the world Ma! Can't see as far as I thought I would be able to.
Pic 24 - My Peeps: Finally, an Apache casino! I went in, told them of my Apache heritage, asked for my cut, and they told me to get lost. Go figure. Thanks Dulce, NM. For a name like dulce (sweet in Spanish), that was not a sweet reception. Just kidding!
Pic 25 - Teepee picnics: So what Indian casino would be complete without some tepees?
Pic 26 - The Seal: The official seal.
Pic 27 - Not Today: So this is the casino entrance. I would have gone in but I was not about to leave my sidearm on the bike!
Pic 28 Roadside Memorial: I saw too many of these in New Mexico and Texas. Please folks, drive safe and sober. I can imagine these families pain to feel they had to mark the spot their loved ones passed and then maintain the spot.
Pic 29 - Close Encounter: Close Encounter anyone? I know it's not the one in the movie but it reminded me of the movie. Outside Cuba, NM.
Pic 30 - Odd Rock: Just a strange looking rock near Bloomfield, NM.
Pic 31 - Grow Time: All kinds of different crops being grown here. This is all part of the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry. Happy to see something besides a casino.
Pic 32 - That's A Lot of Hay: This is just a small part of all the hay bales stacked here. Rows and rows of the stuff. Hey Deb, how long would this last H?
Pic 33 - Teriyaki: Teriyaki for dinner in Kirtland, NM! Come to papa!
Pic 34 - Wet: I managed to avoid the rain until almost the end but it got me eventually. This is the first hotel I saw and price wasn't bad so here I am in Farmington, NM tired but ready for another day!
Pic 35 - Big Bed: Nice room which I have messed up in short order bringing everything I could off the bike so it won't get wet tonight. Here's hoping for dry weather in the am.
Pic 36 - End of Day Miles: That's it for the day. 498 miles including driving 20 to Shiprock, NM where the people there have not enough sense to have a single hotel! I had to backtrack to Farmington 20 miles to bed down! The clerk here said they aren't allowed to warn you!
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