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Up and at them cowboy! Nice to sleep on a mattress again even if it was just foam and a sleeping bag! Got up this morning and reloaded everything onto the bike. Spent a few minutes saying our goodbyes and wishing each other good riding and good weather and Kenny and I parted ways. While I had a destination ahead, he was still not fully sure what direction he would go. He said he still had about a week before he was to meet up with his wife. I guess his wife rides with him sometimes but other time he rides off alone for a couple of weeks or more. He said the break makes them both happy.
I have to say that the folks at the KOA campgrounds have all been super friendly and cheerful. I think some of these places are franchises so they have to make sure the campers are happy. They are very accommodating and smile broadly. If I didn't know better, I would think these people were pod people cause nobody smiles that much! O)n the road in Colorado!
Now, Colorado seems to have quite the American Indian population and several reservations. They also have some odd landscape though. I had to stop and check out these huge ruts in the ground next to the highway. They form during flash floods and that's where the water washes through. The ruts are really huge and just seem to go on forever. It would take one hell of a rainstorm to make that much water run to create these ruts. It kind of looks like a mini Grand Canyon around here!
While going through Colorado, I also had the opportunity to stop in at Four Corners, which I guess is listed as being in or near Towaoc, CO. The Colorado section of Four Corners is a Navajo reservation and is huge. I pulled in and played the tourist card. I figure five bucks is a cheap admission charge so worth the stop. They have flags representing the eight tribes from this area up on poles. I remember going through here back when the kids were young, again, on one of our road trips to Texas. Back then there was no admission because there really wasn’t much here but the plaque on the ground and a small building with a sign talking about four corners. There isn’t that much more there today except they have shops around the marker, a restroom, and a couple of trailers in sad shape where you can buy snacks. Personally, I can’t see how any health board says it’s OK to sell anything out of these trailers. Looks kind of sketchy to me!
I swear this place looks like something straight out of an old western. The badlands await!
I decided I wanted to look at this monument and observe the other tourists without acting too much like one myself. The Four Corners marker is surrounded by Indian craft shops on all four sides where you can buy jewelry trinkets ranging from painted rocks to some pretty nice turquoise jewelry. I had to sit for a while and watch people get into all kinds of funny poses to get their picture taken showing that they were touching all four states at the same time. I tried to stifle the laughter but I got caught a couple of times laughing! I bought a small necklace for my wife at one of the shops and decided that if I came back this way, I would pull in again for another little gift for my wife. Funny thing about this place is that the blocks of shops are arranged so that each is located in a different state and run by the different tribes of the area.
On the road again and into New Mexico! Not a big change since all I had to do to get into New Mexico was turn right at the gate as I left Four Corners. The four states meeting at Four Corners are Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona. Now, before I start, I should provide a little background. New Mexico and I have a history that has bugged me for the past 30 years and which I HOPE DOES NOT REPEAT.
When I was in my mid 20's, I was living in Texas and was recruited by an old friend to take a job in California. He had been after me for 2-3 years to come run a Finance branch in the region he managed and finally made the right dollar offering to entice me. My brother Art and I packed up my car and my brother insisted on packing it in such a manner as to make it impossible for anybody but me to sit in the car. No hitchhikers! Too many movies we had seen about what happens when you pick up hitchhikers, I guess! I am driving through New Mexico on day two of that move, out in the middle of a desert when the engine in my car quits. No sputter, nothing, just silence and cruising onto the shoulder. Here I am in the middle of the desert with a car that won't even turn over thinking there is no way I can walk very far and with very little traffic around. I then remembered that about a mile back, I had passed what looked like a little store and gas station out in the middle of nowhere. We are talking twilight zone here because there is nothing for miles and miles except the store and gas station. I'm not kidding; there is nothing else for miles and miles. I'm thinking the people who run this place either sleep out back or have a hell of a commute to get there every day. I start walking back and I guess other drivers saw too many hitchhiker movies too because nobody is stopping. Finally about halfway there in the blazing sun, someone pulls over and takes me the rest of the way. I get there and I find that there is also a small car repair shop at this location. I go over and talk to the mechanic who says he isn't too busy and will drive up and bring my car back. I sit in the shade as he leaves with my keys and he is back really fast. He immediately determines that my alternator, which supplies the power to run my car and charge the battery, has died. Now, remember, this place is out in the middle of the desert with nothing around. He reaches up on a shelf. I'm talking straight to a specific shelf, no looking around or anything, and pulls out an alternator. He says he has the exact alternator I need! I am blown away and a little creeped out because I'm looking around and I do not see a large amount of spare parts and this alternator is new, in the box! He says he'll have it running in a few minutes so I should go over to the store and get a soda or something. I do just that because I am still sweating from the short walk in the sun and come back to him almost being done. He charges the battery a little and says he will jump start it and the battery will recharge as I drive. As I have been here watching the mechanic, a guy has shown up out of nowhere and I mean nowhere. Remember, I said this is a desert and this shop is the only thing for many many miles! This new guy is scary weird! He asks for a ride and I show him that I can't fit anybody, THANKS ART! He is talking the whole time about some paranoid delusions that don't seem to faze the mechanic at all. The mechanic just keeps working as if he has heard this story before while I am looking around for something I can use on this guy if he gets too close. So, weirdo here is going on about how the world is going to end and how the animals have all been conspiring against us and are storing food in tunnels they have built under the ocean. This is the animals hoarding food, not people. WOW! I can't wait to get going. I pay the mechanic a very reasonable amount for the part and labor and I head back on my journey. There, that's my history with New Mexico. FYI, a week after I got to California, I met my wife Tammy on a blind date! That’s whole different funny story.
Now back to the journey. Driving through New Mexico is pretty much an adventure in the desert except this desert has hills and mountains that look pretty cool. There's even a spot I had to stop at and take a picture because it reminded me so much of the scene in Forest Gump where he is running down this long road and just stops and looks back. The road just seems to go on forever. The terrain is kind of interesting though. The towns are few and far between with many tumbleweeds tumbling by. At one point, I thought I had stumbled onto a tumbleweed farm because I pulled over and there in front of me was a prairie just littered with tumbleweeds everywhere. I remember finding a company online once that you could order tumbleweeds from. No joke, this company would go, rustle a tumbleweed, box it, and mail it to you. I am still trying to figure out why anybody would buy a tumbleweed!
Some of the towns I stopped in were pretty much on their way to becoming ghost towns with empty dilapidated buildings in abundance. A town named Vaughn, NM was a prime example. The town had a bunch of really old buildings that had obviously been decaying for quite some time. These buildings didn’t look like they would be standing much longer.
Well, looks like history repeats itself or my Karma with New Mexico is not fulfilled just yet. I make a turn down a road which I think leads to Roswell just because. I figure I am in no hurry and the towns can’t be too far apart. Well, I was wrong because I just got onto a desolate stretch of road with nothing for miles and miles. Is this all starting to sound familiar? Traveling down a road that goes and goes with nothing around and in New Mexico? I get quite a bit down the road and see a sign with the miles to the next town and look at my odometer. My bike does not have a fuel gauge so you have to know how far you can go on a tank of gas. My bike holds four gallons of gas and a half-gallon in reserve. I do some quick math and figure that I will have to switch to reserve but using reserve will get me to the next town and I should still have enough gas to have made it about 5 miles past so I figure I’ll be OK. Well, I am riding down this road that I thought was a shortcut to Roswell when the engine on my bike sputters. I quickly switch to reserve and mentally do my calculations again for how far the reserve fuel will get me and I still think I’ll have a couple miles of gas to spare. I continue toward this next town and I can see that I am about a mile away from it when again the bike sputters but this time it dies. Yep, in New Mexico and on the side of the road again and about one mile away from a town! What the hell? The difference this time, 30 years later is that I CAME PREPARED! In my saddle bag, against everybody's advice sits a gas can with about 3/4 gallon of gas! I pull the can out and sit for a minute to rest before I deal with my situation. About then, this huge white pickup truck comes at me at high speed and pulls over behind me. This rather large, and I mean large guy steps out and asks if all is OK. I told him I ran out of gas but have some back up, thank him for his concern, and he leaves. The whole time I am thinking, "Dude, you need the shade more than me". This guy's face is beat red and he is a large gent! So, to my naysayers, I had to say "nah nah nah, I was right!". I knew bringing that gas can with me was the right thing to do! LOL
I can’t remember the name of the tiny town that was a mile away but I got to it and fueled both the bike and my gas can again. There wasn’t much to this town so; I got back on the road to Roswell. I finally get into Roswell in the evening and choose the Crane Motel as my stop for the night. Not the seediest place I have ever stayed though. Tired and hungry so, time to get the lodging setup and some food in my belly! The Crane Motel is a very old, cheap motel but they keep it clean and it is pretty quiet as best as I can tell. I figured what the heck; I don't need a fancy place, just a nice quiet air-conditioned place to put my head down.
So, we are in the south now, which means they serve the foods I like around here. By the foods I like, I mean the food that will kill me! Made a run to Der Wienerschnitzel for dinner and got a couple of chili cheese hot dogs and fries. As you can tell from the picture of my dinner, the memory of this food was obviously better than the reality. All joking aside, it was good but I know my guts going to pay for this later! I came prepared for this as well! I have some apps on my phone that will GPS my old favorite fast foods and tell me where they are and how to get there. One of those apps is the one that told me where the nearest Der Wienershnitzel is! I settled in for the night to watch a little TV and realized I covered 513 miles today. I meant to stop about a 100 miles sooner but didn’t because I thought Roswell was closer.
Following is some detail on the picture:
Pic 1 - KOA Campground of Cortez, CO: Adios Cortez, CO.
Pic 2 - The Ruts: The Indian reservation near Towaoc, CO. These huge ruts go for miles as a result of flash flooding.
Pic 3 - Navajo Indian Reservation: You in Indian country now. This is the Navajo reservation of Towaoc, CO.
Pic 4 - Four Corners: Flags of all the tribes from here. Four Corners, near Shiprock, NM.
Pic 5 - Four Corners: Looking out at the badlands of New Mexico.
Pic 6 - Four Corners: The actual monument is sided on all four sides by Indian craft shops. Funny thing is that each block of shops is in a different state and different tribes.
Pic 7 - Four Corners: Best pic I could get of the monument since there was a steady stream of people. Thought this group taking a selfie was funniest. I laid down on it so I can say I was in all four states at once. No picture though.
Pic 8 - The Flash Flood Canyons of Shiprock, NM: Another flash flood wash out canyon. Still pretty awesome looking.
Pic 9 - The Road that Never Ends: If this doesn't give you an idea of what going through the great desert called New Mexico is like, I don't know what will. Looks like the shot from the movie Forest Gump where he is out jogging with everybody following him. Just outside Shiprock, NM.
Pic 10 - The Long Road Continues: Interesting terrain just south of Shiprock.
Pic 11 - The Missing Town: I have no freaking idea where I am since I haven't seen a town in a while but thought this was worth pulling over for. My GPS says this is Bloomfield, NM but I don't see anything around!
Pic 12 - The Tumbleweeds: Still out in the middle of God knows where but I have finally found the fabled tumbleweed farm. They raise special tumbleweeds here known for their wind powered tumbleness. I guess that's Dulce, NM claim to fame as best as I can tell.
Pic 13 - Yellow Hill: Hey, just like yellow hill in Metlakatla, AK. This actually goes quite a ways back. Cuba, NM, what a name for a town!
Pic 14 - Cline's Corner: Cline's Corner out in the middle of nowhere New Mexico. This is otherwise known as Moriarity, NM. Just took this picture of their statues for a GPS waypoint. It's a big tourist shop/gas station/ truck stop/ restaurant. Whoah.... Who would have guessed a great Wi-Fi spot. Uploads away!
Pic 15 - Moriarity, NM: Finally something green again. Better not get used to it. I am getter closer to the Texas border!
Pic 16 - Mirages: Just another perspective shot to show what the road can be like. Is that Texas I see in the distance? This is probably just a mirage.
Pic 17 - Almost a Ghost Town: This is Vaughn, NM. It seems like most of the smaller towns are just dying out.
Pic 18 - More Desolation: Another interesting abandoned old building in Vaughn.
Pic 19 - History Repeats Itself: So, this is what running out of gas in the middle of nowhere looks like. I am 5 miles north of Roswell, NM. Luckily I am a belt and suspenders kind of guy, and I have a little gas can with me. The can holds about 3/4 of a gallon. It should be enough to get me to town.
Pic 20 - Damn Straight I'm Prepared: So now the naysayers who said I didn't need the spare gas can are free to eat their words! I should say that while at this spot, a big truck pulled over behind me and asked if I was ok. The guys face was beet red from the heat. Nice people around here.
Pic 21 - Crane Motel: So not the seediest place I've ever stayed but I am so tired I don't care. Ended up going an extra 100 miles into Roswell, NM because I thought I was closer. I’m off to get some food.
Pic 22 - Crane Motel: Not a bad room for the price. Everything is real old style looking but very clean and comfortable.
Pic 23 - Dinner Time: Bring it on Wienerschnitzel! I have been craving this for a long time and now it's mine, all mine! OK now that I ate it, I can definitely say, it looked much better then it feels now. Thank you Roswell, NM for the fine cuisine!
Pic 24 - End of Day Miles: And today's mileage is...... Drum roll please. I rode 513 miles and not one more.
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