LONG DAY!

Day 20, Friday, May 19, 2017

My alarm sounded at 6:30 AM, as usual.  I got up right away and started getting dressed.  Ken finally woke up as I was packing.  I finished packing and Ken was getting dressed.  I took my bags out to my Motor and packed them away.  I also game my Motor a little cleaning.  Ken had made it out to his Motor.  I went in to have breakfast.  Jan and Jake were already there eating.  The others slowly came in.  We all ate and milled around until it was time to leave.  Ken came in a little disappointed and told us that it was raining.  I looked outside and saw that it was only sprinkling.  I assured him that we would be alright.  We all went out to our Motors and rode around to the front of the Hotel. Chuck came out of the Hotel with rain pants on.  He told us that just want to make sure that his pants wouldn’t get wet. We left at 8:54 AM.

Jan was leading and I was following and next was Ken, C.E., Chuck and Jake.  Jan got us onto US 54 and headed south.  It was overcast and 54 degrees.  We were still dodging the rain.  We rode for a short time and at 9:25 AM we crossed over into Texas.  When we crossed over into Texas, the same road we were on went from a 65 MPH road to a 75 MPH road.  It was a good road.  We rode for 78 miles and at 10:03 AM we stopped in Delhart, TX. For a pit stop and C.E. topped his tank.  We went in and took care of business and a couple of the guys drank coffee.  I’ll give you one guess…it wasn’t me!  We left at 10:36 AM.

The last time we were in Delhart, TX., we came in from the south.  There were so many potholes, we dubbed Delhart the “Pothole Capital of the Nation.”  Today, we came in from the north.  There was construction, however we didn’t have to avoid any potholes.  Jan led us east out of town.  We rode on US 54 and soon turned onto US 385.  This was a very good road.  We looked around us and saw some very dark clouds, but not in the direction that we were going.  We rode for 68 miles and at 11:34 AM we stopped in Vega, TX. at an Allstop gas station.  It was 59 degrees.   Jan thought that someone would need a pit stop by this time.  WE ALL DID!  As we were about to leave, there were two guys parked in front of the store.  They had Harleys, one was a chopper.  They told us that there was construction further down the road.  We left at 11:44 AM.

We continued south on US 385.  We were still looking at the clouds and we looked good.  It was 63 degrees.  We rode for 30 miles and stopped at 12:11 PM for lunch at a Subway in Hereford, TX.  This Subway was very busy.  As we were going in, Jan told Chuck that he needed to take off the rain pants or he was not allowed to sit with us.  Most of the patrons were buying food to go.  We were finally served and sat to eat.  Chuck took his rain pants off and later secured them in his Motor.  Now, he looked like he was part of our Group.  We left and rode a couple of blocks to gas up at a Love’s Truck Stop.  We all gassed up and then left at 1:03 PM.

It was Ken’s turn to lead.  C.E. followed and then Chuck, Jake, Me and Jan.  As we were riding on US 60, we crossed over into New Mexico at 1:47 PM.  Since we crossed over into New Mexico, we gained an hour.  It was actually 12:47 PM.  As we were riding on US 60 the temperature started to get warmer.  We rode for 86 miles and at 1:24 PM we stopped in Melrose, NM. And it was 71 degrees.  We took off our heavy gloves, inner jackets and neck warmers.  We went into the mini-mart and used the facilities.  We left at 1:45 PM.

Ken continued to lead us.  We rode west on US 60.  The road was nice and we rode through a few small towns.  We usually ride for, maybe one hour or an hour and a half and take a break.  We could have stopped in Vaughn, NM and that would have been 91 miles.  Nope! We continued on.  One and a half hours of riding is generally my MAX at riding.  My leg and hip start to get pain, from a prior injury.  We rode for 145 miles and at 3:54 PM we stopped at a roadside rest area named, Laguna Del Perro.  This was 2 hours and 9 minutes between breaks.  This is 6 miles from the next town of Willard.  It was painful for me to get off of the Motor.  I walked around a lot to try to work out the stiffness and pain.  It took a while, and a lot of walking.  It was feeling a little better so I returned to my Motor and got ready to leave.  We left at 4:06 PM.

We rode a little further and after riding 23 miles, we stopped at 4:32 PM at a 7-11 for gas in Mountainair, NM.  After I gassed up, I parked my Motor and went for a little walk.  I was still experiencing stiffness and pain.  There were only two pumps so it took a little longer for all of us to gas up.  We left at 4:46 PM.

It was my turn to lead.  We continued on US 60 westbound.  Jan was next, then Ken, C.E., Chuck and Jake.  We rode for about 21 miles and we turned onto SR 47 north.  This was a new road and it was very smooth and very little traveled.  We continued and then entered the City of Belen, NM.  This is the City that we were headed for.  We knew that there was a Holiday Inn Express there and we were going to check it out to see if they had vacancies.  We rode for 54 miles and at 6:01 PM, we arrived at the Hotel.  Chuck entered to “Make the Deal.”  Chuck came out and gave the “thumbs up.”  We went in to check in and get our rooms.  We took our bags to our rooms and then went back outside to secure our Motors and tuck them in for the night.  We had the option, for dinner, to ride a few miles to go downtown to a restaurant that served alcohol, or walk across the street to a 24 hour Diner.  We opted to walk across the street.  We walked to Penny’s Diner.  There wasn’t a table big enough to seat six so we all sat at the counter.  This was a first!  It was fun to watch the cook work his magic and talk with him.  We ordered and watched him make our dinner.  He was very professional AND the food was good.  Chuck asked the waitress about the desserts.  She described the “Mud Pie.”  Chuck ordered a light dinner and ordered the pie.  We finished dinner and Chuck ordered the pie.  IT WAS HUGE!!! Since we all had cookies at the Hotel before dinner, we opted NOT to help Chuck eat his HUGE dessert…except Ken.  Chuck and Ken ATE THE WHOLE THING!  We all left as they were eating the pie.  We returned to the Hotel.  It was too bad that there was no Hot Tub here at the Hotel.  After the 2+ hour painful ride, I sure needed it.

 

Today we rode 484 miles.  We are getting close to home.  We wanted to get as close to home as possible.  The change in Time Zone helped.  We gained an hour.  Tomorrow we will enter Arizona.  Chuck was looking over the map to try and figure a route to take to get us close to home.  We still have well over 400 miles to travel to get home.  He is hoping to get closer so that we can finish the ride on Sunday morning.  We shall see… 

So far on this trip, we have ridden approximately 6,017 miles.  I know that I need a rear tire for my Motor.  I told Chuck at the beginning of the ride that we would probably have to stop and get me a new tire.  I have been very fortunate that my tire has held up.  I pray that it gets me home safely.