Amarillo, Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico

Today we have a long ride 315 miles.  Leaving Amarillo, Texas we travelled first to the “Cadillac Ranch”.  What a site just off of Interstate 40.  It is in a field about 500 feet from the road.  It seems almost impossible to see it from the road; however all the bikes parked on the side of the road led us to our destination.  Some people brought spray paint so we could make our mark!  Indeed I put my initials on one Cadillac – I am not sure how long it will last until someone else comes along and puts something else over top but for at least 5 minutes my mark was made in the history of the “Cadillac Ranch”. 

Next stop was in Landergin which hosts the “Mid-Point Café and Gift Shop” which is the mid-point geographically of Route 66.  Of course picture opportunity for everyone which included a bus tour from Europe of which the people were very excited to talk to Harley owners about their motorcycles!  Taking pictures and asking questions.  It was fun – celebrities’!!

Heading towards New Mexico we travelled down a nice portion of Route 66 for a very short time and then we headed back onto Interstate 40 which follows alongside of Route 66 which is a dirt road and not very friendly to Harley’s!

Arriving in New Mexico under road construction we were able to pull over into a construction marked area to take a picture of the border!  In New Mexico Route 66 is mostly unpaved but again we were able to travel the Interstate 40 West so we can arrive at our destinations.  Each time we thought Route 66 started up again off of a turn off we were disappointed to find out it just went through the downtown and back out to Interstate 40.

Well Bob and I lost Jerry as we got turned around one too many times and Jerry wanted to go down another dead end road and I just decided that it was time to head back to 40.  At one point Jerry led us down the on ramp to 40 east instead of 40 west and as another group of two bikers were following us we all ended up doing a U-turn on the on ramp!  Not very productive however thankfully there was no traffic coming behind us.  One poor guy his buddy took off on him and I was stopped on the side of the road in order to tell Jerry that we should head back to Hwy 40 west and not try another way to get to Route 66 when his bike tipped right over.  I quickly put the kickstand down!!  And ran back to help him.  That would be the time that I thought okay enough of this!  I headed to 40 west and looked for Jerry who had gone down another road so I headed out on my own.  Not too long did I see Bob riding up behind me as he had decided that my route was for the best at the time as well.

The traffic is a little heavier on 40 than on Route 66 with all the trucks.  There were signs for wind gusts and they obviously have those signs for a reason.  The wind was moving from south to north and we were pushing through heading west.  A lot of this area was just like the movies very desolate and dusty looking.  It is hard to figure out where all the farmers live as there was livestock here and there but you couldn’t see any homes for miles.  

Santa Rosa was our stop for lunch and then we headed onward to Albuquerque, New Mexico.  We had great luck when we stopped and asked for directions to the hotel – a very kind lady drove ahead of us and took us right to our hotel.  People are so friendly.  Jerry was pulling in at the same time as we were and said all was good as he realized that we couldn’t turn around again.  He had hooked up with other -riders and was glad that we all arrived safely.  – A biker did have an accident on Hwy 25 on the way to the hotel and I heard he was okay but his bike had to be towed away.  I am not sure of all the details but as long as he is fine that is all that matters.  

We are staying two nights in Albuquerque which is nice – however we still get up early tomorrow for a breakfast and another speech from Michael and Suzanne Wallis.  Another dealer party tomorrow night but we have the day to do as we please so I think some are going to take a ride up to Santa Fe.  I heard tonight that it was one of the nicest rides up a mountain.   The weather was great today until about 7:00 where we had a thunder and lightning storm.  Everyone had already checked into the hotel so hopefully tomorrow the weather will be clear again! 

Mileage today is on the bike again.  I just have to get my act together I tell you.  When you don’t have someone helping you up with all the luggage I am easily distracted from my task of getting the mileage and by the time I sit down and do my blog I am sitting here in my pj’s and I don’t want to get dressed again just to get the mileage.  But I will tomorrow for sure as I am curious how far we rode today!