West to Albuquerque

Day 3 Monday, April 19, 2010



My alarm went off at 6 AM. It was still dark outside. I got up, washed up, dressed and starting packing my bags when Ken woke up. We waited for it to lighten up outside and we drank some coffee in our room. It finally got light a little after 7 AM so we went downstairs for breakfast. The breakfast room was deserted. We were the only ones there. We had a quiet breakfast and, eventually, Chuck and Bruce entered and joined us. After a while, Jan joined us and then C.E. walked out to his Motor and prepared it for our departure. We all slowly ate our breakfast and one by one went out and got our Motors ready. We got all of our bags, loaded the Motors and checked out of the motel. It was overcast and it was cold. The humidity was high, as we can see our breath as we spoke. It was 50 degrees and we thought that we were ready to ride. We left at 8:59 AM with C.E. in the lead.



C.E. led us north on East US 60 and at Amarillo, we turned onto eastbound I-40. When we were about to get onto I-40, there were two on-ramps. The left on-ramp had a sign which read: "East Oklahoma." The right on-ramp sign read: "West Albuquerque." I was looking at my navigation and it was showing that we should go on the right on-ramp towards Oklahoma. It was discussed at breakfast that we were going to get on I-40 for a few miles and get off at US 335. At this point, we would avoid downtown Amarillo, stop and get gas and we would be very close to US 60 to continue towards Enid, Oklahoma. As we approached the two on-ramps, C.E.took the left on-ramp. The left on-ramp took us WEST towards Albuquerque! We all put our brakes and hesitated. We were expecting C.E. to take the right on-ramp headed for Oklahoma. We all followed C.E. WEST to Albuquerque. Ken was behind C.E., Chuck was next, then me, then Jan and bringing up the rear, Bruce. Chuck dropped back even with me and we both thought that C.E. would get off at the next exit. Mistakes happen. The next exit came and went. We continued west. Chuck accelerated quickly catching up with C.E. and stated, "Follow Me." Chuck accelerated and took the lead. Chuck got off at the next exit, turned left and the got back on I-40 eastbound. Chuck led the group to US 335 and exited. We were in Amarillo and arrived at a Pilot Truck Stop at 9:54 AM after riding 57.4 miles. It had been drizzling and it was 52 degrees. We got gas and took a pit stop. We all went inside and sat in the restaurant for a while. We left at 10:43 AM with Jan in the lead.



Jan led us on US 60 through farm land and it remained cold and drizzling. We rode for another 76.2 miles and stopped in Miami, TX at 11:52 AM. It was 52 degrees and we all went inside the mini-mart. We all made a pit stop and stayed inside because it was nice and toasty warm! Bruce went back to his Motor and returned inside the mini-mart with his flannel-lined jeans. Smart move! He changed and we were soon on the way again. We left at 12:23 PM.



The towns in this part of the state are very small and Jan was looking for somewhere to stop and eat. We rode through two little towns, which didn't have a Subway, Wendy's or anything that we would feel comfortable to stop and eat. We rode into a town called Canadian, TX where we rode slowly down their Main Street. We really didn't find any place to stop and eat, however, Jan slowed into the center lane and made a u-turn. We all followed and we stopped at a Dairy Queen. It was 12:49 PM and we had ridden 35.1 miles. It was still cold, however, the sun was peeking through the clouds from time to time. It was 54 degrees. We had lunch and then left at 1:40 PM.



We rode for 90.9 miles and we stopped in Seiling, OK at 3:08 PM. We made a pit stop and while were were there, we gassed up our Motors. We took a short break and left at 3:35 PM with Ken in the lead.



Ken led us at a good pace and we arrived in Enid, OK. We rode through the city and saw a Honda Motorcycle Dealership as we rode though. On Saturday, our first day, we noticed that the right headlight on Ken's Motor had burned out. We noticed today that the left headlight was out also. He had to ride with his bright lights on. We made fun of Ken but he took it well and laughed with us. Ken is going tomorrow morning to get the headlights fixed. We arrived at the Best Western at 4:55 PM after riding 76.1 miles. The temperature had warmed up to 64 degrees. We checked into our rooms, got our bags out and took them to the rooms. We returned to our Motors and tucked them in for the night. The good thing about this Best Western is that it had an on-site restaurant and lounge. We didn't have to ride to eat and drink. There was no fear of us going out drinking and riding back to the motel drunk! (Like we do that all the time.)



Today, we rode 325 miles and it was cold most of the day. It drizzled on us for a while and, for a short time, I thought that our trip was ending as we were headed west to Albuquerque. We had a good day, saw some great scenery and had some good laughs. Let's see what tomorrow brings...