What we did on our summer vacation

[Sagebrush]

As some of you know my wife and I attended Roady's Pig Out in Mulberry Grove. But what you may not know is that was just the start of our trip. We figured since we've already traveled across half the country, well almost, that we might just as well continue west and see what we could see. After leaving Roady's we rode to (in order) Tulsa OK, Amarillo TX, Roswell NM, Silver City NM, Alpine AZ, Albuquerque NM, Santa Fe NM, Durango CO and Colorado Springs before returning home through KS, MO, IL, KY, TN and back to NC.

While entering NM (The Land of Echantment) through Clovis my wife made the comment that she wasn't very enchanted due to the fact that Clovis looked just like the desert we had been riding through across the Texas Panhandle. From that moment on the joke became how enchanted was she at any particular moment. Thanks to Roady I have an Enchantment meter that I'll be applying to various segments of our trip in order provide a sense of how good (or bad) we felt that particular place or event was.

Here's the meter that I'll be using throughout the thread.



Well on to the trip and lots of pictures.

Once we arrived at Roady's and met new friends and reacquainted ourselves with old ones the trip definitely took a turn for the better after the nearly 200 miles of rain that we rode through to get there. The Pig Out was great but once at our hotel we looked out our room window and spied this guy.



We took this as an auspicious omen for the rest of the trip.

After the Pig Out broke up we left Mulberry Grove for Tulsa. Riding through Missouri on I-44 you cannot get away from the Route 66 references. We pulled into a rest stop just east of Springfield for lunch and discovered this.



This rest stop was fully equipped. First there was a diner. To paraphrase a famous member of this board "We could eat"!



Then a spot to get some shut eye.



And of course gas for the bikes.



It even had a Burma Shave style poem on signs along the on ramp to merge back onto I-44 as we were leaving the rest stop. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of those as I didn't know they were coming up.

We made it to Tulsa and when returning to the hotel after getting something to eat we spied this guy giving away oil rigs. We had him box one up, unassembled of course, and put it in the trailer.



Considering that this was a travel day without any specific stops planned I would say that overall this day rated a

The next day found us on the super slab again heading for Amarillo via I44 and I40. Another 400+ mile travel day. There isn't much to say about this day other than it was long and a little windy. We did find another Route 66 landmark in Shamrock, TX. I remember traveling between OKC and Amarillo numerous times in 1978 and 1979 when I40 was still under construction and you would have to detour between 66 and I40. I due remember driving past this station many times although I don't think it was open for business then.



Shamrock isn't a very big town, you can see both ends of it when standing at this station. Other than this landmark and the filthiest Dairy Queen I've ever been in there wasn't much remarkable to this day so it gets a rating of.

Well from Amarillo on to New Mexico, our real destination. After miles and miles and miles of this terrain..



We finally spied something a little interesting on the horizon just east of Roswell



Well, I agree it wasn't all that interesting.

As I mentioned before, we entered NM at Clovis but our real destination was Roswell. Because if you go to NM you have to visit the ..........



Once inside we were astounded by the displays





Yeah, I know, I know. At least we got a sticker of a green alien to put on the back of our trailer.

Overall this day gets a

After getting our alien fix and eating the hottest chipotle salad dressing ever (burned at both ends) at a Mexican restaurant adjacent to the hotel (I'm sticking with ranch from now on). We started out to see what we really came this way for. We climbed the mountains to Ruidoso and detoured to Cloudcroft via NM 244 from US 70 to US 82.

This was a very pleasant ride across the Mescalaro Apache reservation. The only draw back was it was raining lightly nearly the entire detour and due to the cloud cover and elevation was pretty chilly. At least we were out of the desert if only for a short time.



Exiting Cloudcroft heading east is very scenic but also very dicey for trying to get a great picture due to lack of turnoffs and the amount of traffic. We did manage to get a few shot though.

This is part of the valley we were descending from Cloudcroft, we had already passed through the best views. If you look at the foot of the mountains in the distant background you can see the White Sands.



We passed through Alamogordo on the main drag mainly to stop at the city park and have our daily picnic lunch.



Alamogordo and the valley it resides in form part of the White Sands missile test range. They've been using it as such for a long time. Evidence of this use is in the junked missiles laying along the rail road tracks adjacent to the park.





After lunch we toured the White Sands National Monument. We parked my bike and took Terrie's trike in to the park. Glad we did part of the road is paved but much of it isn't and has quite a lot of loose gypsum sand lying on it. Even the trike pushed its way through the worst of it. It would have been quite an adventure on a heavy bike like an 1800.





After leaving White Sands we headed southwest in the valley towards Las Cruces. Up to this point the ride rated a

But once we descended the mountain into Las Cruces and picked up I-10w to Deming things went down hill in a hurry. Flat seared desert, 30-35mph head winds, dust devils and heavy truck traffic all combined to give the rest of the ride a and really blah doesn't sum it up. Descent into the 10th level of hell would have described it up better.

Coming up.........................

Gila Wilderness, AZ 191 from Morenci to Alpine, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Durango and Colorado Springs.

[ritalz]

Great write up. It was good to meet you both at the Pig Out.

[05c50]

As always Dean, great pictures. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

I like the rating meter too!

........Paul

[Roady]

Great write-up so far, Dean. I'm looking forward to the future installments.

(BTW, some of your pics are not showing up.) .... ummm, fixed already?!

[CYBORG]

great write up. old fogey and me may be crossing some of those roads on our trip, and this will be helpful

[Whiskerfish]

Fantastic Stuff Dean!! Always look forward to your trip posts

[Placerville]

Very nice. Great that both you and your wife ride together. (Love the look on the kids facing as he encounters the aliens.)

[Sagebrush]

Thursday May 16th found us in Silver City, NM ready to ride north on NM-15 to the Gila Wilderness. Its only a 45 mile ride but it takes a solid two hours to ride it due to the twistyness of the road. This was a grand ride and if you ever find yourself in the vicinity its worth it to make time to ride it. Once we climb out of the valley that Silver City is situated in we hit Ponderosa Pine forest. A welcome relief from the windy gritty ride we had the day before. Once we broke out of the dense forest we were treated to veiws such as this.



At one point Terrie tried out her mountain goat skills.



Although the ride is very spectacular the following idyllic view rated a on Terrie's personal meter.
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Once we were refreshed it was on to the Gila River



As beautiful as the ride is we didn't come this way just for the ride. We came to view the Gila River Cliff Dwellings. Built in the 1200s it hosted a single generation of Mogollon culture who built and inhabited the dwellings for approximately 25-30 years. Archeologists were able to determine this by dating the tree rings in the wood used in the dwelling's construction. Our first view of the caves that the dwellings are situated in.



As we continued to climb the path to the dwellings they became better defined.



We were able to make the once daily at 1pm ranger guided tour which is well worth waiting for.











The view from inside one of the caves.



The ride back on 14 was just as good as the ride up. Overall this was our best single day and it rates a




Friday morning found us heading west to hook up with the Coronado Trail one of the nation's premier motorcycle roads. But first there is a little more NM to ride through to get there. Along US-180.





We hooked up with 191 in the desert south of Clifton and rode north into Clifton. This was the first sign of civilization we came across since leaving NM. Fortunately for Terrie we came upon the visitors center equipped with public restrooms in the center of town.



Clifton borders Morenci home to the second largest copper mine in the world. This mine goes on for a couple of miles on both sides of the road. There are a couple of different pits and because of the layout there isn't any good way to get a picture of the complete mine so we had to settle for fragments.





Once clear of the mine the road climbed its very twisty way into the mountains north of town.



When we climbed high enough to get back into the Ponderosa pines we found a little turn off with picnic tables for lunch.





As well as being a very twisty road particularly just north of Morenci 191 offers many long range vistas such as this one.



Later in the afternoon we eventually climbed to 9000 ft.



The road eventually evolves into Alpine meadows about 30 miles south of Alpine. Here we are in our semi-rustic lodging at the Tal-Wi-Wi lodge.



The view from our room looked out on one of the meadows. One of the locals told us that last fall they counted 150 elk crossing the grassy area more unseen in the woods to either side.



To validate 191 being a good bike road the motel was filled for the weekend with bikers.



Overall this day rates a

Coming later, the road to Albuquerque, Sandia Mountain and the scenic back way to Santa Fe.

[Roady]

You took 191 the correct way. The first time I rode it we went South from Alpine and arriving at the mines was a real let down.

Great pics and commentary.

[CYBORG]

great pictures, and yet another ride to add to the bucket list

[Oldewing]

Big thanks to the Spalding's for taking us all along on this great ride(I ain't got no fancy meter).........

[HOTT]

Just great stuff there Dean. Photos and story makes it tough not to drop what I'm doing and GO!

Big thanks to the Spalding's for taking us all along on this great ride(I ain't got no fancy meter).........

X2


HOTT

[sunnbobb]

Great pics and story, and I be darned if that isnt a V-1 rocket in that one picture...

[Lefty]

Had I known you were coming to Durango I'd have met you at Durango Joes for a cuppa and some convo. I am eager to see what your meter shows for SW CO. I have lived here 10 years as a retired and very happy camper. Worked at Basin Motorcycle Works in Mancos. Did you notice the red /2 on the roof of the shop on your way to Mesa Verde?

[Sagebrush]

Saturday May 18th Alpine to Albuquerque.

Leaving Alpine north on 191 isn't overly remarkable and once back into NM its nothing but huge cattle ranches on marginal grazing land for miles and miles until you get to the Malpais National Monument.

When you enter Malpais on NM117 heading north on the left are huge areas covered by black basalt lava flows left from ancient volcanic eruptions that cover hundreds of square miles. On your right are remnants of Jurassic era sand dunes that have compressed into Zuni sandstone and have weathered into cliffs. Overall a very unique landscape.

Black basalt lava flow.



The terrain during the Jurassic here resembled the present day Sahara desert. These are the remnants of those ancient sand dunes.







Once out of Malpais we hit I40 then it was east to Albuquerque. We arrived in Albuquerque with enough time to tour the National Museum of Nuclear Science. They have very interesting displays in the museum covering the development of nuclear technology from the first early experiments to the Manhattan project and the peaceful uses nuclear energy including power generation and medical devices. Its all done very professionally and has very sophisticated displays but out on the back lot they are assembling artifacts that have a little more grandeur considering their size. Since the museum has only been in existence since 2009 they are very much in the acquisition stage and have not gotten to the restoration phase yet.

Images from the back lot.

B-29


B-52



This is of personal interest to me as I made three submarine FBM deterrent patrols with this missile loaded in our tubes.

Polaris A3



The one outside item that they had restored to museum quality was Von Braun's Redstone Rocket mounted upright at the entrance. Take the nose cone off and replace it with a mercury capsule and this is the combination that launched Americas first space pioneers.



Overall this day gets a



The next morning we took a 14 mile ride to the east side of the Sandia mountain and visited a little piece of Americana. A tribute to one man's vision and passion the Tinkertown Museum. His displays ran to several different themes from the old west to circus to the underworld and more. Its hard to capture the scope of his work in a few pictures. If you're close and have $3.50 to spare you should stop in.























The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, restocking the cooler and generally goofing off because we both needed a rest. Traveling is hard work! However, that evening we booked reservations at the High Finance restaurant located on the peak of Sandia mountain which lies just to the east of Albuquerque.

The only way to the Hi-Fi as its called locally is via this tramway, a fifteen minute ride on the longest tramway in the world.





The ride up provides spectacular views of Sandia Mountain and the city of Albuquerque at its feet.



On each of our trips out, of the hundreds of pictures we take, we only get one or two that I consider good, or dramatic enough to professionally frame and hang on the wall. This trips two candidates follow. Which do you prefer?





At the top with with the Hi-Fi behind Terrie. The tramway was built using helicopters, once completed all materials for everything else including equipment, materials and workers were shuttled up on the tramway, there is no road.



While we were dining night fell and we watched as the Albuquerque lights came on.



This was a great day and rates a............



Coming up the ride to Santa Fe, the historic Santa Fe Plaza, the ride to Durango, Durango and Silverton narrow gauge RR and the million dollar highway (US550).