DAY 22 Monday, May 23, 2011

Another late night last night. I got to bed at 1:30 AM. My alarm sounded at 6:30 AM and Jan and I got up, dressed and packed. Remember...we are in separate beds for Christ's sake! We each took a bag out to our Motors. The weather was cool and it was cloudy. We took off our covers to our Motors and packed our bags. We went back in to the breakfast area. It was a nice breakfast. It was a full breakfast buffet! There was a cook there making omelets. That was different. Jan and I got a table for 6 and didn't wait for the rest. They wouldn't have waited for us! We were almost done with our first course when the others came in and sat. We all ate our breakfast and watched the TV about the tornado destruction in Joplin, MO. Four of us had been in Joplin a couple of years ago on our Route 66 ride. It rained hard on us that day also. We finished our breakfasts and went back to our rooms to get the rest of our stuff. I had noticed that Jan and I were overcharged. I went to the Front Desk and disputed the charge. I threatened the clerk with great bodily harm if he didn't fix the bill...then I woke up from my day dream! You all know I am not like that. Our bill, as well as Chuck and Bruce's, were corrected. We were ready to leave. We left at 8:34 AM.

Chuck led us away from Colorado Springs on I-25. We were headed to Gallup, NM. The speed limit was 65 and we rode at 75 mph. We rode for 80 miles and at 9:39 AM, we stopped in Colorado City, CO for a pit stop. After we took care of our pit stop, we reloaded our bladders and we were ready to leave. We left at 9:51 AM.

Chuck continued to lead. He still had gas in his little "peanut" tank. We rode for 23 miles and stopped in Walsenburg, CO for gas. After gassing our Motors, we bought some water and looked at the map. Chuck and Jan were looking at a different route that cut some mileage, however, didn't cut any time. It was off the Interstate and onto a two lane road. Instead of heading south on I-25, we were going to go west on Highway 160 to Alamosa, CO. We left at 10:27 AM.

Jan was up to lead. He took us through the Business I-25 into Walsenburg. We rode a couple of miles and turned onto Highway 160. Highway 160 was a two lane road that took us into the mountain road. The road was well maintained and it had TWISTIES! We passed by N. La Veta Pass, elevation: 9,413. Most of us had taken off our jackets and the temperature got down to 61 degrees. There was snow patches on the ground next to the road. There was Blanca Peak nearby with an elevation of 14,345 feet. It was a very scenic road. We rode for 77 miles and stopped in Alamosa, CO at 11:36 AM for a pit stop. We didn't stay long and left at 11:50 AM.

Jan led us through the city of Alamosa and then out, southbound on Highway 285. It was too early for lunch so we opted to find another town with a place to eat. As we rode south and rode through several small towns, we were thinking that maybe we should have stopped in Alamosa and ate lunch. We continued south and crossed the border of Colorado/New Mexico. We were NOW in New Mexico. Jan was getting concerned that Chuck was in dire need of gas. He told me later that he didn't really enjoy the ride because he was leading, Chuck needed gas and we couldn't find a gas station. He was thinking that Chuck would run out of gas. I told Jan that if Chuck ran out of gas, it would serve him right for not owning a Gold Wing! Jan thought that was funny. We had ridden for 96 miles and at 1:18 PM we stopped in Ojo Caliente, NM at a gas station. We all gassed up and Jan felt better. We had passed three small restaurants in this little town and we were considering riding back to one of them and having lunch. Chuck went back into the little store and asked the lady clerk if there were any restaurants to the south. The clerk told Chuck that there was. We opted to ride on and find a place for lunch. We left at 1:32 PM.

Ken, the Wild Man, took over the lead. His instructions were to find a place for lunch. We headed south on I-25. We rode for about 20 miles and turned onto Highway 84. As we turned, there was a larger gas station with three times the amount of pumps that were available at the little gas station in Ojo Caliente. We continued and after riding 24 miles, Ken pulled into a Blake's Lotaburger at 1:58 PM in Espanola, NM. It had been years since any of us had eaten at a Blake's Lotaburger. We had lunch and left at 2:46 PM.

We left the parking lot with Ken in the lead. Ken turned right and missed the correct road. We rode a couple of blocks and turned left. We continued on the road and it met up with the road that we needed to be on. We were on a new road. It was Highway 559. This was a very nice road and it helped us to by-pass the city of Santa Fe. This saved us time and mileage. We rode for 72 miles and at 3:53 PM, we stopped at a McDonald's/mini-mart in Bernalillo, NM. It was time for a pit stop. The mini-mart advertised 3 bottled waters for $.99. What a deal! We bought waters for all of us and we sat in the McDonald's and drank them. I got the map from my Motor and went back into the McDonald's. We looked over the map to see if we could by-pass Albuquerque. There wasn't anything available so we had to drive through Albuquerque in rush hour traffic. We left at 4:20 PM.

Ken led us on to I-25 and through the city of Albuquerque. The traffic wasn't that bad! We were out of Albuquerque after 7 miles and we were on I-40, westbound. We continued on and rode through some construction on I-40. It wasn't for very long. We made great time. We rode past several casinos, and no, we didn't stop at any of them! We rode for 77 miles and stopped at a Shell gas station/Truck Stop/McDonald's/Big Sky Casino at 5:25 PM in Acoma, NM. No, we didn't go into the casino, but we did gas up and made a pit stop in the mini-mart of the Truck Stop. We also went into the McDonald's and bought a small chocolate sundae. Chuck had coffee. We were done with our treats so I got up and headed to the Motors. It was my turn to lead, so the guys got up also and followed. We left at 5:53 PM.

I led the Group westbound on I-40. The speed limit was posted at 75 mph and I set my cruise control at 79. Jan was behind me, then Bruce, Chuck, C.E. and Ken. Soon after we started, Bruce and the others dropped back. They were back about a mile. They then sped up and caught up to Jan and me. Soon, Bruce and the others dropped back, then further and still further. Bruce and the others then caught up. They seemed like a yo-yo! We rode for 89 miles and at 7:06 PM, we stopped at the Best Western Inn and Suites in Gallup, NM. Jan, Bruce and C.E. went in, made the deal and checked in. This is a hotel that we have stayed before. We stayed here during the ride with our wives two years ago. The hotel has a restaurant on site. The pool was not working this time. We got our bags and took them to our rooms. We went back to the front of the hotel and to our Motors. We moved them to the rear of the complex and parked them next to our windows of our rooms. We tucked the Motors in for the night and went inside.

Well, another ride has come and now it is the last night of our ride. We had dinner in the restaurant and toasted our last night. We didn't talk much about next year's ride. Maybe we will leave it for our Wednesday afternoon, Denny's for coffee, or our "Tea Party" as our wives call it. I will post one more time...tomorrow night. Tomorrow we will be home. We have about 250 miles left. We rode 538 miles today. So, until tomorrow...