DAY11

When we got up this morning we went outside to check on the weather. NO! I know what you're thinking. We didn't go outside in our skivvies. We got dressed first! Can I finish now? The sky was clear and it was cool. We started to pack up our Motors to get ready to leave. After last nights rain, the Motors were very dirty. We went to the lobby area and had breakfast. After breakfast, we had a little time to spare so we cleaned up the Motors a little. After we were done, we got on our Motors and rode down the street and gassed them up. J.C. was still with us. We left at 8:28 AM and it started to get cloudy again.

Jan started to lead us westbound. We followed 66 and it was a two lane road with farmland on both sides of the road. There were cows, baby cows, horses, baby horses and even "low rider horses." (Donkeys for those who don't know.) As we rode, Jan was leading, Jim was next, Chuck was third and I was next. That may not seem important, however, as we rode, there were several cows next to the roadway, on the other side of the fence. As Jan and Chuck passed them, because of their LOUD PIPES, it scared several of the baby cows. Damn those Harley's for scaring the poor little, baby cows! It was cloudy but the more we went westbound, the better the sky became. It started to clear up and we actually saw and felt the sun.

At 9:28 AM and 59 miles later, we stopped in a town named Clinton, OK. We stopped at a Route 66 Oklahoma sign to take pictures. We continued and stopped about a mile away at the Route 66 Museum. When we stopped at the Museum, the sky started to get cloudy again. We went in and spent some time going through the museum and remembering the "good ole times." After the tour, we walked into the gift shop. Who would have guessed? Yes, we bought some stuff. We left at 11:10 AM. If it was lunch time we would have been lucky because there was a Subway across the street. It wasn't lunch time so we continued westbound. As we were on 66, traffic was very light and at one point, we could see down the road for about 2 miles. I was behind Jan on the right side of the lane. I moved to the left side behind Jan and scooted up behind him. I was riding about 1 foot behind Jan's Motor "drafting" him. I had my camera out and took a picture. It was cool! Jan told me later that he was wondering what I was doing behind him. He saw me in his rear view mirror and was puzzled. That is one of the fun things to do when one gets bored. :)

Jan led us westbound and we stopped for lunch at 12:30 PM after riding 85 miles. We enjoyed a good lunch and relaxed for a while. We rode next door and gassed up. We left at 1:50 PM with J.B. leading. We got on I-40, which ran next to 66. J.B. stopped at Vega, TX. 128 miles later, where we gassed the Motors and had a pit stop. We left at 3:57 PM.

Jim led us and our next stop was going to be at Adrian, TX. Adrian is the midpoint between Santa Monica and Chicago. We stopped at the Midpoint Cafe. We learned that as we were riding westbound on 66, there was a school bus eastbound. The bus driver was also the waitress at the Cafe. She got on her cell phone and called the owner of the Cafe, Fran, and told her that 6 Motorcycles were headed her way and not to close the Cafe. Fran has already turned the "closed" sign on and locked the door. She unlocked the door and turned the "open" sign on and waited for us. At that point, we rode into her parking lot at 4:10 PM after 14 miles. We lined our Motors in front of the Cafe and took pictures. There was a sign across the street and we took pictures in front of it also. We all lined up in front the the sign across the street while Jim set up his camera in front of the Cafe. Jim joined us in front of the sign while Jan started the timer of the camera and ran to the sign. Jan ran at full speed for about 50 yards and got to the sign with about 1 to 2 seconds to spare! Of course you realize that Jan is the oldest of the group and in the best shape. It was windy and Chuck and Jan both had hats that blew away from them. As they tried to chase after them, we yelled, "Run Forest, Run!" You had to be there. We went into the Cafe and were greeted by Fran. She is a very nice and personable lady. She is the owner of the Cafe. One half of the Cafe is a gift shop. We thanked her for reopening the Cafe for us and we insured her that we would make it worth her time. We all had apple pie ala mode and bought stuff from the gift shop. She told us that we "made her month on sales." She had an old Ford PU parked outside covered in writing from visitors. She gives visitors paint pencils to "sign" her truck. We also wrote on the truck. After taking more pictures, we stayed a while and spoke with her. We told her what we were doing and where we were going. She suggested that we stop at the "Blue Swallow" Motel in Tucumcari, NM. Her good friend, Bill, owns it. J.C. called the motel, spoke with Bill and made reservations. Bill was able to call his friend at the Pow Wow Restaurant to make reservation for us for dinner. We were set.

Jim led us to Tucumcari and we arrived at 5:30 PM after riding another 43 miles. When we crossed the Texas/New Mexico State line, we gained an hour. We arrived at the Blue Swallow Motel, an early 50's deco motel. The lobby was a separate building from the rooms. There were 12 rooms and most of them had their private garage. As we pulled into the front parking lot, Bill met us at the door. He told us that he had the rooms ready and told us also that not more that 10 minutes after J.C. reserved the rooms, a group of bikers from Brazil had arrived at the motel and tried to get rooms. Bill told them that the rooms were already reserved for us. Bill told us that he had called his friend at the restaurant and the General Manager would come and pick us up at 7:45 PM and take us to the restaurant. After we eat, the General Manager would bring us back. How is that for service? We parked our Motors in our garages, unloaded them and tucked them in for the night. We later went to dinner, enjoyed it and returned to the motel. J.C. was kind enough to, again, pick up the tab for our dinners. We like J.C. What a guy! Tomorrow morning, J.C. will leave eastbound, back to the Dallas, TX. area and we will leave westbound. The weather is supposed to be clear for the rest of the week as we continue on our journey to Santa Monica and back to Phoenix. Until tomorrow...