Monday, June 12, 2000
Gordon Booth and I left Asheville on our Goldwings on Monday, June 12, 2000. We rode out of Asheville on I-40 only as far as US-74, then to US-64 and into Tennessee. One of our goals is to avoid interstate highways as much as is practical.
Our first sightseeing stop was at Lookout Mountain at Chattanooga. We rode to the top just for the view. Our first overnight stop was David Crockett State Park near Lawrenceburg.
I have a new Mountain Hardware backpacking tent and a sleeping bag from The North Face and a Thermarest self-inflating mattress; all lightweight gear that will work well for future hiking trips. All the gear is fine so far, but the couple in the next campsite was noisy (mostly, they wouldn't stop talking, but that wasn't all) and kept us awake for much of the night. Around two o'clock in the morning, Gordon finally told them to knock it off.
Tuesday, June 13, 2000
We rode the Natchez Trace Parkway to Duck River. We intended to take a meandering route to US-70 at Waverly and find breakfast along the way, but ran low on gas. Gas and food are hard to come by in that area. We finally found gas in Centerville and discovered we were on our way to Dickson instead of Waverly, but that was fine as it still took us to US-70. At the gas station, I discovered my Discover Card was missing. I traced it back to Sarge's Shack restaurant near Pulaski, Tennessee and gave them a call. They agreed to mail it on to Mom's where I can pick it up later on the trip.
We followed US-70 as far as Jackson. On the way, we toured Bruceton, where I lived until I was twelve years old. I found our house, the grandparents' house and the homes of my uncles and aunts, Thomas and Nancy and Bob and Bernice. The town seems smaller now than when I lived there; the blocks are shorter and everything seems closer together. Downtown is mostly boarded up—no grocery stores or anything. Since the HIS clothing factory closed, I think the population has gotten smaller, too. We headed west past Hollow Rock and through Huntingdon.
I didn't intend to go to Jackson, but I didn't get us off US-70 soon enough. Once I figured out where I was, we continued northwest to Dyersburg, then just about due west across the Missouri Bootheel into Arkansas. We campled overnight in the Lake Charles State Park campground near Hoxie, Arkansas.
Wednesday, June 14, 2000
Gordon's next goal was New Mexico, so we didn't do much today except ride US-62 west across the northern part of Arkansas through Mountain Home to Bentonville. From there, we worked our way up to Afton, Oklahoma and US-60.
Our motorcycle jackets and rain pants kept us dry through a couple of hours of rain that started around lunchtime. My gloves were soaked, but it was warm enough to be comfortable, if a bit squishy, so I didn't bother with my waterproof gloves.
There is lots of nice scenery in Arkansas, especially through the northwestern part in the area south of Branson, Missouri. We rode later than usual into the night, so we stayed overnight in a motel in Blackwell, Oklahoma.
Thursday, June 15, 2000
We continued on US-60 to Pond Creek, then US-64 the rest of way across Oklahoma, including the panhandle. Once you've seen the first couple of hundred miles of Oklahoma, the rest looks much the same. We did see some oil wells and lots of plains and cattle. We made it across the state line to a motel in Clayton, New Mexico.
Friday, June 16, 2000
Rocky Mountains
Palisades Sill
Until today, I hadn't remembered to even take the camera out of my Goldwing's trunk. Last night when I called home, Melody told me if I didn't take some pictures, she might think we never even left North Carolina. Starting today, I'm taking pictures. I'll also be sure to get myself in some of the ones that show verifiable landmarks. The first is yours truly at the official edge of the Rocky Mountains in northern New Mexico. Click on any of the pictures to see a larger version.
We continued west on US-64 through Raton, New Mexico to Taos. The scenery became lots more interesting once we started climbing toward Taos, especially in Cimarron Canyon State Park, where tall cliffs line both sides of the road. Palisades Sill is a steep cliff that rises 600 feet above the canyon floor. There's no way to get a good picture of it, so here's a picture of the roadside marker. The white Goldwing is mine, Gordon is standing next to his red one.
We did some souvenir shopping in Taos, then rode south on Highway 518 to Las Vegas, New Mexico (that's not the better-known one in Nevada). There was a threat of rain, so we stayed overnight in a Kamping Kabin at the KOA. The cabin is a small log structure with just a full-size bed, two stacked bunks and a desk and chair. Simple, but comfortable.
Saturday, June 17, 2000
Interstate Scenery
Gordon Relaxing
Today's plan was to ride in to Santa Fe and do some souvenir shopping. I had become concerned about the way my Goldwing was acting, so we bypassed the shopping trip and diverted to the nearest Honda dealer, which was in Albuquerque. Beginning just before we entered New Mexico, I could feel something shifting very slightly and hear a soft click whenever I used the front brake. The service manager assured me my brakes were working properly. Still, something's a little different from before, so I'll check it further when I return home.
[After I returned home, I found out that the the upper steering bearing adjustment was slightly loose. The service manager in Albuquerque did check for play in the steering, but the front wheel was on the ground with about a half ton of Goldwing and baggage contributing to its stability, so the steering showed no sign of looseness. With the bike elevated so the front wheel was off the shop floor at Schroader's Honda in Hendersonville, NC, the movement showed up right away. Over the past few weeks, I had begun to sense a hard-to-define vagueness in the way the bike felt when turning, but it came on very gradually and I couldn't put my finger on exactly what was wrong. The bearing adjustment took care of that, too.]
Between Las Vegas and Santa Fe, we visited Pecos National Historical Park. This is the ruin of a pueblo and the adobe church the Spanish Missionaries had the Indians build so the Indians could be converted to Catholicism. The church was destroyed during an Indian uprising, and then later rebuilt. The newer, smaller church is still there. There was an excellent presentation about the site at the visitor center.
While touring the ruins, we saw a large lizard, a couple of feet long, possibly an iguana. There were lots of small lizards there, too.
The only practical way to go between Las Vegas, Santa Fe and Albuquerque is on I-25. That's the most interstate miles we've done in one day, so far. Even on the interstate, the scenery can be amazing.
After Albuquerque, we returned to Santa Fe, where we stayed in another KOA Kamping Kabin. That's Gordon catching up on his reading.
Sunday, June 18, 2000
Santa Fe Plaza
Indian Jewelry
IAIA
New Mexico Scenery
Construction Zone
We did our laundry at the campground and rode into Santa Fe. On the way there, we saw several prairie dogs in fields within the city limits. Near the plaza, we visited the Saint Francis Cathedral. The largest part of the cathedral was built in 1886, but an older section is reputed to be the oldest church in the country.
We shopped for souvenirs at the plaza. Indian artists display their work in sliver, copper, brass, turquoise, coral and more on one side of the plaza along the wall of the Palace of the Governors, the oldest public building in the United States. The other three sides of the plaza are a mix of unique shops and nationwide stores, such as the Gap. We ignored the stores with the well-known names and visited several of the others that specialized in Indian weaving, jewelry, and such. Gordon stocked up on birthday and Christmas gifts for his wife and three daughters and their families while I bought jewelry for Melody and tee shirts for Mom and my sister, Beverly and her husband, David. It woudln't do to show up empty-handed.
The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) trains students who integrate ancient artistry with modern techniques. The IAIA Museum is updated periodically with the works of the graduates. Gordon had toured the museum on a previous visit. He said he was more impressed with the items on display that time.
Gordon grew concerned about how well his sleeping bag would insulate against the cold night air at higher elevations, so we went shopping for thermal pants. They are a little hard to find in June, but K-Mart had some. I wasn't too concerned about the cold, but I decided to get some anyway, just in case. It wasn't until later that I discovered that, after rummaging through the jumble of packages, the one I finally picked up was a thermal shirt instead.
We rode north from Santa Fe. There's lots of wonderful scenery in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. There's also lots of road repair going on this summer. That's Gordon in the construction zone picture. We had to wait as long as twenty minutes in a couple of places. That can be really uncomfortable if your next planned stop is for a restroom.
Just after crossing the continental divide at the Colorado state line, a large bear ran across the highway about a hundred yards ahead of us. He (she?) must have looked both ways before crossing, as there were no cars near at the time.
It rained lightly on us a couple of times. There were lots of thunderstorms around, but we skirted them by simply staying on the highway. It was too wet to tent, so we stayed at a motel in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. It also rained more overnight. We're camping whenever it's practical; we're not fanatics about it.