DAY 12

We got up this morning and, again, the weather was nice. I went for a little walk and then Bill, the owner of the Blue Swallow, popped out of the office door and told me that he had fresh coffee available. That was all it took. I went inside and served me a cup. J.B. was not far behind and came in also. We enjoyed a "few" cups of coffee with Bill and he told us some stories of some of the people, both famous and not, who have stayed at the motel. He told me that at one time, Billy Bob Thornton stayed in the same room that J.C. and I stayed last night. Speaking of J.C., he also came in and had some coffee with us. When we were done having coffee, we returned to our rooms and packed up our Motors and got ready to leave. We said our goodbye's to J.C. and he left eastbound before we left westbound. We had a nice visit for a couple of days with J.C., but now that he is gone, we will do what we normally do...we will talk about him. We will also talk about the "vinyl jacket." :) We decided to ride for a bit and have breakfast later. We wanted to get in some miles. We left at 7:51 AM.

Jim was still up as the leader. We rode for 59 miles and stopped in Santa Rosa, NM. at 8:45 AM. We stopped for breakfast at a restaurant that you would never guess that it had. It had a lot of Route 66 memorabilia! What else would it have? After breakfast, we stopped and gassed up. We left at 10:02 AM.

I was up to lead next. We rode on and headed west on I-40 and then north on Highway 84. As we were going northbound, I saw three antelope to the west of us. We continued northbound and eventually stopped in Romeroville, NM at 10:54 AM and after riding 60 miles. This was a much needed pit stop for J.B. and me! I guess we all needed the pit stop because we all went. Just before we left, J.B. told us that he needed to go and "take the Browns to the Super Bowl." After putting that thought in my mind, the power of suggest came to me and I needed to go too. I went into the stall next to J.B. As I was in the stall, I checked in my jacket pocket, which had Velcro and a snap, for something. J.B. heard the snap and Velcro and figured that it was one of the group. He asked me if I could "spare a square" of paper, as there was none in his stall. I gladly passed him some and asked him, "Didn't your mama ever teach you to check before you sit down?" He told me that he had been sitting for a while and was about to use his cell phone and call Jan to tell the clerks in the Circle K to bring in some paper. It was very hard to hold in the laughter! I didn't. We discussed this incident again later and all of us couldn't stop laughing. What would we do without J.B.? Probably talk about him, what else! We got back on our Motors and left at 11:32 AM.

We continued with me in the lead. We arrived in Santa Fe, NM. after 70 miles and at 1:04 PM. We were lost and hungry. We stopped along side of Rodeo Street and looked at the map. We didn't know where we were. We decided that we would just go and eventually we would find the interstate or a Subway for lunch. About two blocks later, I spotted one and we pulled in for lunch. We left at 1:51 PM.

We continued and then stopped in Santo Domingo, NM. after riding for 23 miles and stopped at a gas station at 2:18 PM. We gassed up and now it was Bruce's turn to lead. We left at 2:37 PM.

We rode on I-25 and passed through Albuquerque, NM. and stopped in Los Lunas, NM. at 3:28 PM after riding 57 miles. This was a good time for a break because some of us were getting sleepy and some tired. We all got some snacks and Chuck, J.B. and I got some coffee. We left at 4:00 PM and we were wide awake. That makes Motorcycle riding safer!

Chuck and Bruce discussed the route and they decided that we would take Highway 6, which was a stretch of road that was once the Historic Route 66. This stretch was 33 miles long and connected with I-40. Approximately one mile before getting to I-40, we made a stop by the side of the road for a photo op with a Route 66 New Mexico sign at 4:30 PM and after riding 32 miles. We took several photos and left at 4:49 PM.

Bruce continued to lead and we rode for another 81 miles and stopped at 5:56 PM to gas up at Continental Divide, NM. There was also a large gift shop and guess what? We bought some stuff. We left at 6:18 PM.

Chuck started to lead but tried and failed to weasel out of it. It was his turn and no one else wanted to lead. Chuck led and 23 miles later at 6:39 PM, we arrived in Gallup, NM. We checked into the Best Western, parked our Motors and unloaded them. Chuck, Jan and Bruce went for a swim in the indoor, heated pool. Kathleen was complaining of a sore hip so Jim ordered pizza for them and he did a load of laundry. J.B. and I stayed in our room recapping today's ride. When the guys came back from their swim, we rode about two miles away for dinner at Earl's Restaurant. We were seated right away. While we were waiting for and eating our dinner, we were approached 12 times by people trying to sell us stuff like jewelry, trinkets, Indian pottery, etc. We told them, "no." After dinner we rode back to the Best Western where we parked our Motors and tucked them in for the night. Jan and Bruce had an adjoining room with J.B. and me. We had the door open so we could visit. Chuck complained because he was alone in his room. Boo Hoo! It was his turn to be solo.

We had a great day for riding today. As we got closer to Gallup, NM. it became colder. At the Continental Divide, it has an elevation of more then 7,200 feet above sea level. We rode 409 miles today. What a great day! Tomorrow, we hope to ride through Arizona. We'll see...