Part two.
Amerillo to Texola and back to Amerillo.
A lovely warm sunny morning to start with today but I felt a bit groggy after last nights events, but ham and eggs with 4 cups of black coffee soon perked me up. Apart from in LA and Las Vagas we haven’t booked anywhere to stay in advance so we’ve decided to stay another night in our ranch in Amarillo and go out for the day and explore this part of Texas. Over breakfast at Denny’s a lovely lad had a chat with us. He said in other US states they climb mountains but in Texas they go underground in caverns and canyon’s and about a 100 miles away is the second biggest canyon in America, so that’s where we’re heading today. We left Amarillo on Route 66 heading towards Oklahoma City. 66 on this part is like a roller coaster and goes up and down. Along the way we stopped at one of the old historic abandoned towns on Route 66. It was so eerie with buildings just left to rot. It’s sad to think a whole community grew up in this town but now it’s completely silent apart from the wind and creaking doors. Along the route today we passed lots of cotton fields. We stopped and picked lots up and the cotton bud still had the seeds in them. The roads just get better and better each day and still with almost no traffic at all. We rode for around 7 hours on some of the best roads that I’ve ever ridden on and all in great condition. We stopped off in a town called Turkey and I wanted to see small town America and we’re certainly doing that. The hospitality and friendliness of the people we’re meeting is absolutely fantastic. We’ve met the husband and wife who spend 3 months living in their truck delivering to the 4 corners of America, Tony and Trinity who are riding across the states coast to coast riding 650 miles per day, and so many more great characters and we’ve only been riding 6 days. The weather today has been incredibly hot today, in the 90’s and the wind very strong and dry so it’s a relief to get back to our ranch with air con and the bar just a few feet away from our rooms so it’s beer and steak night again tonight. The girl in the last photo is doing the 72oz steak challenge in under an hour.
309 miles on the bike today.
309 miles on the bike today.
|
|
Amerillo to Deming, New Mexico.
We were up at 6am today and out on the road before sunrise. We have 460 plus miles ahead of us today and wanted to get a few miles under our belt before the days heat got to us. Leaving Amarillo and the flat plains of Texas behind us we were well on our way towards New Mexico passing huge grain warehouses every 5 miles or so. When the sun eventually came up, we stopped for breakfast and burritos and fuel in some small town. We followed the railway line for hundreds of miles today and the amount of freight theses lines carry is unbelievable and extremely busy. We passed through many small towns on the way, some very poor and others quite affluent. We rode one road into Roswell that was at least 100 miles long with no buildings on at all, just the road and the railway in the desert, my tank was showing only 15 miles before I ran out when we reached the petrol station. As we crossed over into New Mexico we rode through the national park of Llano Estacado and climbed over its peak at over 8,000 feet. Up until now the heat was battering us but that climb up through the forest brought the temperature right down and was very refreshing, and the scenery was fantastic, but then we dropped down again and the stiflingly heat was back with us again. We stopped off in Roswell for fuel and food and had a chat with some guys on BMW’s who were traveling the country. Leaving Roswell we passed through White Sands national park, 275 square miles of it and it’s the missile testing base for the NASA and their space program. Started to see huge dust storms now and these stayed with us right until we reached our next motel for the night in Deming. New Mexico is our favourite state that we’ve passed through, it’s mountains and forests and deserts are fantastic. The wind and sun have been strong and dry all day and we’re all looking forward to a beer or two tonight.
472 miles today in 9 hours.
472 miles today in 9 hours.
Deming to Tucson.
Doug sadly caught a bug yesterday and was unwell during the night, but he still managed to join us on time this morning. Bill went his own way today and met his son in Tuscan for the day. Doug and I left Deming at 9am in the sunshine and headed south for the Mexican border. We stopped at a small Mormon town called St Davids on the way to Tombstone and were welcomed by the locals. It’s great seeing the real small-town America. The ride to Tombstone in Arizona took just over 2 and a half hours and again the scenery was stunning. We have been around 4000 feet above sea level all day in the desert and mountains of New Mexico and Arizona and riding through and surrounded by large dust storms that just whip up out of nowhere. The ride this morning was refreshing but once off the bike the heat was rising again. Tombstone was great fun and if you like cowboys then this is the place for you. We watched an enactment of the gunfight at the OK Corral. By the time we left Tombstone the heat was brutal again and in the mid 90’s so with this in mind we headed to Tuscan for the night and another Motel and more importantly air con in our room.
263 miles today.
263 miles today.
Tuscon to Yuma.
We left Tuscan and called into Walmart to pick up fluids and snacks ready for another ride through the Arizona desert. We stayed in the mountains again today and it was perfect riding conditions all day. The temperature didn’t go above 70 degrees and the air felt cool and refreshing. We rode south and followed the Mexican border. We met another great character today called Wayne in a run down petrol station and he told some great stories, everyone thinks we’re Australian here. We rode through cowboy country again and in the land of the giant cactus for around 3 hours and again we had the roads to ourselves for most of the way. The dust devils continued to follow us today and it seems they’re matching us for speed. We also passed through immigration check points but on bikesthey just wave us through but cars and trucks they always stop. We eventually reached our overnight stop in a town called Yuma in Arizona. It’s been another fantastic days riding through amazing scenery but tomorrow we head back into Los Angeles to traffic and the smog. Great steak tonight.
292 miles today
292 miles today
Heading back to LA.
I got knocked out by a bug on Tuesday evening and spent the whole evening in bed with a high temperature and upset stomach. Anyway our last day started in Yuma, because I didn’t feel well we rode directly back to LA. First part through desert and we we neared LA the landscape got greener. We hit the 7 lane highways over 50 miles outside LA and to see 14 lanes of traffic moving around you is amazing. Got to the hotel around 4pm and I went straight to bed while bill and Doug went out for a burger. 290 miles today and again the weather has been the best. It’s been an amazing journey these past 10 days and Bill and Doug have been fantastic riding buddies. We have rode 3076 miles on this trip and the Harleys have done there bit too, but I won’t be buying one soon.