Rio Grande River Gorge

Being back home in Salt Lake City has been a whirlwind but I'm having a grand time remembering the last part of our trip and reliving our adventures as I write.

Waking up on Saturday, June 7 was odd because our trip was winding down. Hard to believe we'd been on the road for six weeks! We were excited to get going, because we knew we had great riding ahead of us and by the days end we'd be in the majestic Rocky Mountains!

Leaving Taos, we knew this was a place we would return to. As I said in my earlier post, Taos has a "feel good" vibe about it and although it feels far away, it's only 600 miles from Salt Lake City, about a 12-hour ride through scenic byways and mountains.  It would be about 1 1/2 day ride for me and I'm sure Randy would make it in just one day!

As we rode through the city and small suburbs, we crossed the Rio Grande River Gorge which is spectacular! We rode over the bridge, (built in 1965) parked and walked back to the middle.


I'm terrified of heights and I couldn't look down and walk at the same time. I kept my eyes focused forward. Once I got to the middle of the Bridge, I looked down, across and all around me. I was OK aa long as I had the rail to hang onto and just didn't think about the height.  The Gorge is stunning!  Putting aside my fears was good because I would have missed the beauty that was below the bridge.  The Rio Grande! 

There were a couple of river rafts, that looked like little dots on this massive river.  I zoomed in with my camera , and caught a photo of the rafts before and right in the rapids. One raft had four people and the other was a two-person raft.  I think this would be a great adventure. 

 Looks like fun!

Randy was surprised that the bridge wasn't just welded together, but put together with giant nuts and bolts. I imagined a huge giant putting together the bridge with his erector set!  I'm sure the engineers who designed the bridge and workers who constructed it wouldn't appreciate my vision.

The bridge is the 7th highest in the United States and the locals call it the "Gorge Bridge" or "High Bridge". For someone who hates heights, I'm glad I had the courage to walk the bridge and to create yet another new experience.

Hard to believe that a bridge could be beautiful, especially when we're surrounded by incredible plateaus, a raging river and majestic mountains. 

Somehow this monstrosity manages to help us appreciate our surroundings even more.

So glad I have the rail and Randy to hang on to! 

Taos, New Mexico ...what a great surprise!

After visiting Madrid, we continued to our final destination of the day, Taos. Again, a beautiful ride, but we did cruise on an Interstate and hit a little stop and go traffic through a city, before getting on a mountain road. All in all, we're really enjoying riding in Northern New Mexico. It's beautiful!

We did have another weather challenge; there was a tornado warning right in Taos! We've been in virtually every kind of weather and now a tornado warning. Lucky us! Fortunately, it was over the mountains, miles away and we kept going. I was tentative and thought perhaps we should ride back to Santa Fe. I didn't want to get caught in rain again or find ourselves stranded somewhere. Randy, as always, is more positive about our weather situation. Luckily, with Randy's GPS, he could follow the weather via satellite. We watched the storm clouds blow over the mountain and rode on, mostly in sunshine. At one point, we were headed right toward the blackest clouds and then we cruised right away from them into sunshine. We dodged bad weather again!

I didn't stop and take a photo but check out these photos from Geraint Smith. On the day we were riding into Taos, the clouds looked just like this! Beautiful but a little scary. He has amazing photographs online, look at his website: www.geraintsmith.com - he's is incredible.



We originally were going to visit Albuquerque and Santa Fe, but most people, (bikers and non-bikers) told us to go straight to Taos. We were anxious to get home so we decided to take their advice, and bypass Albuquerque and Santa Fe. We'll visit both on another trip. After our fun day of touring in New Mexico, arriving in Taos felt mystical, magical and just fun!

We arrived in the late afternoon, went for a quick swim and out for the evening.
Taos has a small downtown area filled with restaurants, breweries, art galleries, clothing shops, western shops, antique stores, sport shops, etc... There seems to be something for everyone. Most of the shops were closed but the restaurant and bar patios were filled and everyone was having a great time in the wonderful warm evening weather. The Downtown area had a positive vibe.

That night I decided to leave my bike parked and ride with Randy. I've ridden with Randy a lot and thought it would be nice to be his passenger for the evening. The Downtown area was less than 10 minutes from our hotel.

What I learned is that I'm out of practice getting on and off the bike with him. What made it a little challenging was that I had to ride on the luggage rack/portable folding chair. Even though I didn't have a back rest to lean on for balance, I got on and felt OK, but unsteady. Luckily, Randy kept the passenger floorboards on and I settled in hugging him tightly. Felt good! Until we started off. Without a backrest, I was so uncomfortable that I made him take me back to the hotel to get my own bike! Then, I almost couldn't get off the bike, because I didn't have a backrest to steady myself. Randy held the bike steady and was fine, but not me! Part of the problem was the seat and the other part was, now that I ride, I like being in control! We were both laughing about this situation!




Now that we're home, I'll need to get on his bike, with seat and backrest and go for a ride. As much as I like riding my own bike, sometimes, I do miss being his passenger - we've had great times together on one bike.

Surprisingly, we couldn't find Eske's the brewery downtown. It was tucked away in an odd location and with the traffic patterns, we couldn't get there. A first for us, missing a brewery! We ended up at Station Cafe 3 one 6, right on the main road with a parking lot filled with Harley's. We cruised in and parked our bikes with the others. I should note that every Harley parked, were all customize and awesome. Of course, ours fit right in. However, I think my was the best of all of them.

Orlando, the owner, immediately commented on the fact that we had cruised by on one bike and arrived on two. He laughed out loud when he heard our story about my control issues!

We sat on the patio for a couple of hours, had a great dinner (nachos and fish tacos with home made blue corn tortillas), watched the world ride by and enjoyed the sunset. We had a fun conversation with Ronnie, from Arizona, who joined us to talk bikes and road travels. He was on a sweet 2009 Road Glide.

Station Cafe 3 one 6, turned out to be a great choice! The owner, Orlando, owns another restaurant in town and wanted to do something new. So he took an old Sinclair Station and renovated into a restaurant. Very cool! If we lived in Taos, we'd hang out here. Great food,  beer and atmosphere.


Across the street was another store named "Randalls" this time a lumber & hardware store. Randall seems to be very popular name! This is totally a "randy" store!


Next morning we cruised by the Taos Brewery, another missed opportunity, and we know that Taos is one area that we are definitely coming back for a visit! The riding in the area is wonderful, great restaurants, spas, shops and outdoor activities. I feel couples road trip coming on! Or maybe just a girls trip? Jayme, Stephanie and Patty...are you in?

Wild Hogs!

Wild Hogs is an outlaw comedy movie about four biker buddies leaving their dull suburban lives for the open road. Most bikers have seen this movie and usually see themselves or their friends in the movie characters. Not surprisingly we've seen this movie dozens of times, and we laugh out loud everytime. It's silly, quirky, not plausible and easy for us to relate to.

Wild Hogs was filmed in Madrid, New Mexico. After leaving Route 66 we traveled the Turquoise Trail to the artsy village of Madrid nestled in a narrow canyon in the Ortiz Mountains. It was a beautiful and dotted with amazing adobe style homes new and old.


Madrid once was a historic coal mining town and ghost town that is now full of art galleries, eclectic shops and bed & breakfast inns. Residents have quirky sculpture gardens in their front yards. Some look professional and others just look junky. There's also a biker tavern but our destination was Maggie's Diner to have a glass of ice tea in this famous mecca.








We cruised right up to Maggie's, parked and walked right in to quench our thirst. Imagine our surprise when we found out that it's not a diner, it's a souvenir shop! We weren't the only ones that thought it was a diner, there's a sign out front clearly stating that fact. The clerk in the store wasn't very pleasant and we could tell that she was tired of people coming in expecting a diner. Randy charmed her with questions and she warmed up to him and told us that the building was specifically built by Disney for the movie.








Even thought we didn't get our ice tea, it was worth the ride to Maggie's. Madrid was a cool town that was fun to visit. We know that lots of bikers visit Madrid just to see Maggie's, so we're considering buying the building, adding a kitchen and running a diner. We're pretty sure we'd fit right into that town and would be great at running a biker diner.

 Perhaps Maggie's should be our next venture?

Getting our Kicks on Route 66

After visiting the Billy the Kid Museum, we rode north to Santa Rosa, New Mexico. It was a beautiful drive on the highway, with rolling hills, straightaways and amazingly huge cattle and horse ranches.

Our next museum destination was the Route 66 Auto Museum in Santa Rosa, New Mexico.It's a pretty small museum with only 30 cars but it was still a fun place to stop and it was only $5.00 per person. All the cars were in good condition, a few for sale (we resisted) and we even found "Mater" from the movie "Cars" in the parking lot, ready to roll.

After the museum we cruised Historic Route 66, looking for a place to eat and an iconic sign for a photo. 
We found both at the Route 66 Restaurant. The diner was vintage and fun! There weren't any cars, except a vintage T-Bird in the parking lot which made us a little unsure about eating there. What a great surprise we found. 
Our lunch was terrific, Frito Pie and a Chili Dog with Tater Tots! Service was great, place was really clean and it was cheap too! Well worth the visit - we ended up with a great Routee 66 photo and look how happy Randy is with his Chili Dog! Simple pleasures are the best.

After lunch, we reluctantly got on the road on our way to Taos. We've been on Route 66 before, near Lake Havasu, Arizona but this time, on our "coast to coast" journey being there was memorable and inspirational. We have done so much on this trip, and to be on one of the first and most famous highways in America was remarkable. The Mother Road is famous all over the world, and many people only dream of riding on it. It was exciting to know that we're one of the lucky ones who get to ride Route 66!

UFO... The Roswell Incident

On Thursday, June 6, the weather forecast for Roswell was going to be 107 degrees! We decide to head out early to ride in cooler weather as much as possible. However, what I didn't plan on was the time change! When we crossed over the New Mexico border we went from Central Time to Mountain Time which added another hour to our riding! My GPS stated that we'd arrive in Roswell at 1:15 pm and we left Texas at 8:45 am. I had in my mind 4-1/2 hours to ride and I was OK with that. I set my mind for that and knew I'd be out of the sun soon. Imagine my surprise when at 12 noon, right as the heat of the day was starting to kick our butts, I learn I have two more hours to ride, not one! I literally have a meltdown in the Texas sun! Downing lots of water and getting my mind wrapped around 2 hours more helped me keep going. That and the patience and support of Randy. The heat never seems to bother him.



We arrive in Roswell, right on time 1:15 pm MST! 

 Stop for a quick lunch and head right to the UFO Museum. We parked right out front and I know Randy has been waiting for this day for almost the whole trip.

Randy is an avid Discovery and History Channel enthusiast and he watches virtually every TV show on UFO's. We've been to Area 51 in Nevada, once a couple of years ago and on our very first day of our "coast to coast" journey. So naturally, Roswell was a must see.









































The UFO Museum has a wall of comics dedicated to the UFO incident. I'm a huge fan of "The Jetson's" and loved this cartoon.



The UFO Museum provides lots of information about the 1947 UFO incident where an alien ship with four aliens crashed in the Roswell desert. It's interesting to read all the information about the government coverup. When you see the contrast of the Roswell resident's stories about the UFO crash versus the government explanation, it's clear that there is a government conspiracy to hide the truth. After seeing all the displays and reading the personal accounts of Roswell residents, I'm a believer that something "alien" happened in Roswell.


A side note, we originally were going to go to Carlsbad Caverns which would have taken us west a little out of our way. Southern New Mexico and Texas was experiencing a major heat wave and we just couldn't stand the thought of riding an extra few hours in weather that was over 100 degrees. So we made the decision to bypass Carlsbad Caverns and save it for another trip. We were disappointed but sometimes you just can't do it all!

Billy the Kid Musuem

On Friday, June 6, we left Roswell, New Mexico, early in the morning to avoid the sweltering heat, and we headed north to Fort Sumner. New Mexico to the Billy the Kid Museum.

This museum wasn't completely about Billy the Kid as we expected. Instead, it was an eclectic mix of vintage and historic collectibles that the owners, the Sweet's, have been collecting for years. The Sweet's opened their museum in 1953 and the family has been operating it ever since. The Sweet's wanted to help modern day people have a better understanding of the challenges that people of the 1800's and early 1900's endured in their struggle to stay alive and provide for their families. The Museum is filled with amazing finds from the last 150 years.

We pulled up and parked out front, and I thought our "steel horses" looked great in front of the museum.


Randy's brother works at Camp Chef, makers of dutch ovens and these dutch ovens were used by Billy the Kid. We wondered if Camp Chef made these or were these dutch ovens the inspiration for Camp Chef? Hard to imagine Billy the Kid eating out of these ovens.



We were also surprised at the size of these horns. That is one huge bull! Makes my head hurt just to think of carrying these around on one's head. Imagine getting butted by this beast.

Billy the Kid was truly a kid, leaving home when he was 15 and dying at age 21. He's considered a notorious and misunderstood outlaw but learning more about him, it seems like he was a charming kid who got mixed up with the wrong crowd. History repeats itself over and over and I start to think that some teenagers today are like Billy the Kid; good kids hanging with the wrong crowd. The museum had his rifle, see the picture below and few things that belonged to him and lots of information about his life and much about his death.

After our quick tour, we headed North to Santa Rosa to visit Historic Route 66. Which again turned out to be a fabulous ride! We're liking the roads in New Mexico more and more!

San Angelo, Texas

After leaving Austin, we headed out to the Cowboy Harley Davidson for an oil change for Randy's bike. In planning this trip I hadn't really thought about bike maintenance but now, I'm much more conscientious of the importance of a well maintained bike! Check out the huge Texas flag they have flying - everything is big in Texas!


Upon a recommendation from one of the Harley customers, we headed north to San Angelo stopping at Cooper's Pit BBQ. Another food adventure, that I'm not likely to repeat. Thank goodness most of our food adventures have been amazing.

Before going into the restaurant, you pick up your meat from the huge bbq "pit". They slice it right there and dump it on a tray. I'm seriously hoping that the tray has been sanitized and I try not to think about it. Randy orders 1/2 chicken and I have turkey. We proceed inside to a deli counter where they weigh the meat and we pick up our drinks and sides. Interesting and typical (we're finding out) for bbq in Texas.





Inside the restaurant are lots of picnic tables back-to-back and we find a spot. The condiments on the table include hot sauce, ketchup, mustard, salt, pepper, a large tub of pickled jalapenos and Parkay margarine, along with a large loaf of white bread. Near the soft drink counter are beans and vinegary bbq sauce. Randy wonders who still eats margarine? He also wonders in restaurants that serve real butter, do people request margarine instead of butter?





The chicken and turkey are just ok, a little dry, the beans bland and the bbq sauce is icky. We weren't overly thrilled with our meal, but the place is packed and everyone else looks pretty happy with their meal. Giant rib eyes, chops and brisket seem to be their speciality so perhaps we ordered wrong.

My smile is huge because I know this is the very LAST bbq I'm eating on this trip and maybe ever!


After lunch we cruise into San Angelo on a highway that is a little nicer than most through the towns of Pontotoc and Brady, Texas. The highway is fabulous, lined with small towns and more ranches. The best part though, is that it's lined with beautiful Texas wildflowers all in vibrant red and yellow. I keep thinking that I should stop and take pictures but I don't. Bad decision! We cruise through the ghost town of Pontotoc and see the most amazing ruins peppered with gorgeous wildflowers. Should have stopped! Because the rest of ride, although nice, there wasn't any wildflowers. I found this gorgeous photo online by wanderingyew2 and just imagine instead of blue wildflowers, vivid red. We were too late in the year to see Texas bluebonnets, they are usually out March through May. The vivid red was amazing!


Arriving in San Angelo was a little disappointing. The town wasn't very friendly and we decided to swim at our hotel, order pizza and watch the CMT Awards show. Exciting night in San Angelo! We picked up a growler of beer from the local brewery, Joe's.

There were lots of cool, old buildings in San Angelo. We found Randy's favorite store "Blls Man Shop" and an awesome mural that depicts the sheep and wool industry of the area. If you look closely it says that in 1943, Texan's sheared over 10 million sheep. That's has to be more sheep than people and that's a lot of wool!






The next morning we got up early to beat the heat. Our destination was Roswell, New Mexico and the weather was forecasted to be 107!!!