Four States!

Day 2, Monday, May 1, 2017

The alarm sounded at 6:30 AM.  The bed was so comfortable and I was tired last night.  I slept well!  I got up and changed into my clothes and packed my bags.  I was ready and Jan woke up a little after 7 AM.  He said that he slept very well also.  I looked outside our window and all of the Motors had not been touched.  Jan and I figured that the other guys were going to take their time to get up and go to breakfast.  As Jan was getting dressed, I went outside and took the cover off of the Motor and folded it.  GOOD MORNING MOTOR!  After I packed my bags into the Motor, I got my towels and cleaned my Motor...it was filthy!  As I was finishing with my Motor, Jan came out and packed his bags into his Motor.  We were done and decided that we would just go and have breakfast and wait for the others.  As we walked into the breakfast area, we were surprised that the rest were already having their breakfast.  There was no rush, as we had decided that we would leave at 9 AM.  We finished our breakfast and returned to our Motors.  The others packed their bags into their Motors and we were ready to leave.  I was still in the lead and we had decided that I would lead the Group a few miles and stop for gas.  As we turned onto the street and rode to the first traffic light, Jan was next to me and the others pulled into the Alon Gas station, at the 7-11, to the right of us.  We made a u-turn and went and gassed up also.  After we all gassed up, we left at 8:45 AM.

It was now C.E.'s turn to lead.  C.E. led up north on I-25, with directions to turn on US 60.  C.E. led us and we got to the turn at US 60 in short time.  We followed US 60 eastbound.  The road was well maintained and it was cool.  There was a slight wind but not bad for riding.  After about an hour of riding, we rode through a small town named, "Mountainair."  There was a small gas station with a mini mart there and I thought that we were going to stop...we didn't.  We continued on.  We rode for another hour, going through small towns with nothing to stop at.  After 2 hours of riding, we entered the town of "Vaughn."  The very first place to stop was an apparent abandoned old Highway 54 Grill Restaurant.  The parking lot was all gravel with a large cement pad.  There didn't appear to be any facilities.  C.E. pulled into the parking lot.  I understand why C.E. pulled in, we were tired and needed a break.  Everyone stopped next to him and told him to continue.  C.E. led us back onto US 60 and about 1/2 mile further was an Allsup's Valero gas station with facilities and a mini mart.  This was a much better stop.  As I said earlier, we rode for exactly 2 hours and 136 miles before we stopped.  We took a much needed "pit stop" and stretched.  Of course, Chuck and Jake had some coffee.  Did I tell you, maybe I didn't, I didn't have any coffee.  I LOVE coffee, but I'm NOT allowed to drink more that one cup of coffee for breakfast and NONE during our daily ride.  Why you ask?  Because one cup equals 5 trips to the restroom and the guys were tired of having to stop every 10 minutes for me to take care of business.  Hence, NO MORE THAN ONE CUP AT BREAKFAST! We had a nice break and C.E. topped his gas tank.  C.E. needs to top off more that the rest because he is riding a Trike and his Motor goes through more gas.  We were ready to go and left at 11:10 AM.

C.E. led the group again.  Behind C.E. was Ken, then Jake, Chuck, Jan and Me.  C.E. rode onto US 54 northbound.  Again, the road was good and we saw snow on the mountaintops.  We continued north on US 54 and after riding 102 miles, we stopped at 12:39 PM in Tucomcari.  We all gassed up at the Love's Truck Stop.  Since we were there and there was NO Subway near, we decided to have lunch there at the Arby's on the property.  With our gas tanks full and as were our bellies, we left at 1;38 PM.

Since we gassed up, it was time to change leaders.  It was Chuck's turn to lead.  I was behind Chuck, then Jan, Ken, Jake and C.E.  As we rode on US 54, we soon crossed over into Texas at 2:27 PM. Since we crossed into Texas, we lost another hour because it is a different Time Zone.  It was actually 3:27 PM.  We continued north.  Since we were in Texas, the speed limit on a two lane road was 75 MPH.  This made it better for us to pick up on some time lost.  We road by some huge cattle stockyards.  I'm talking HUGE!  The smell was awesome...yea, right!  We rode through a town named Delhart.  OMG, this has to be the "Pothole Capital of the World!"  There were numerous pot holes of varying sizes.  There were also some DEEP potholes.  We came to a stop at a red light.  I asked Chuck if we were going to stop and take a break.  He told me that that was his intent.  After we left the light, we saw nowhere to stop and take a break.  So we continued.  We rode for 130 miles and at 4:30 PM, we stopped in Stratford, TX.  We took a much needed break at a Love's Truck Stop.  We were headed to Liberal, KS where we were going to meet up with J.B.  I know, I know.  I said earlier that we were going to meet him in Dodge City.  Chuck had spoken with J.B. and J.B. told Chuck that the hotel prices were much too high.  They found that the hotel prices were better in Liberal, KS.  We were done with the break so we left at 5:00 PM.

Chuck was still in the lead and we rode out of Texas and into Oklahoma at about 5:27 PM.  We continued through Oklahoma and exited Oklahoma and entered into Kansas at about 6:07 PM.  After riding for 85 miles, we stopped at the Day's Inn at 6:25 PM.  After parking our Motors, we entered the lobby and spoke with the man at the front desk, Rick.  He knew who we were and told us how he really respected and Backed the Blue. I gave Rick a "Thin Blue Line" wrist band and PPD Patch. As we were talking with Rick, J.B. walked down the stairs and greeted us.  We all checked in and unloaded our bags and went to our rooms.  After putting the bags away, we met just outside and talked about dinner.  J.B. had spoken with Rick about a recommended restaurant.  We grabbed our helmets and off we went.  We had a good dinner and good conversation. We finished dinner and returned to the hotel...in the dark!  After we parked our Motors, we tucked them in for the night.

We rode for 453 miles today.  I'm not sure where, exactly, we are going to be tomorrow.  We shall see...

I hope you don't mind, but I want to give a "Shout Out" to Patti Ballentine and the Ladies of the 100 Club of AZ.  Patti has told me that she hurries to work every morning so that she can read my Blog and then tells the other Ladies what is going on with us.  Thanks Patti!