Monday, June 15, 2009

Tucumcari to Texas......Day 3

Sunday morning came on clear and hot. Had 90 degrees by 9:00AM. We hit the local Tucumcari McDonalds for a (Ha) nutritious breakfast and a tank of fuel next door. I swapped the main jets back to the #160's before firing up. We're still at 4000 foot elevation but don't want to chance running the bike too lean. We watched the local weather and it appeared that the currant storms were to the north of us. With that in mind we figured a longer route to the south and then back up to Amarillo.
Leaving Tucumcari we were surprised to see some nice scenery for the first hour or so. A lot of red rock areas and the ever present red dirt. We could see some threatening clouds in the distance but nothing too serious.


Darian caught a glimpse of an old ornate brick arch ruin along the road. We saw a lot of old adobe buildings today. Couldn't get photos of everything. Following route 209 we headed for the Texas border.
Miles and miles of straight roads through farm and ranch lands. We saw a solitary Doe Mule Deer sitting in the ditch. She looked out of place and lonely. Dozens of old abandoned farm houses. We saw many old ruins over the weekend. Just can't stop to photo everything....I always tell Darian to try to catch the old stuff passing by. I picture a time back when someones dream home / farm was in operation. Quite a solitary existence out here now....much less 60 - 80 years ago.


We passed through Canyon Texas, where we had been a few weeks ago. Again had threatening skis and the clouds spit a few raindrops over a 50 mile stretch. Not enough to even make the road wet. We could see heavy rains off in the distance in a few areas. Our timing was great. Normally the wind issues are a crap shoot with a sidehack. Wind has a lot more impact on three wheels than on two . All weekend I either had a tail wind, or a right side wind. These directions are the preferable angles when on three wheels. I've been worn down on trips where we fight head winds and left side winds for days. Sometimes we're lucky, sometimes we're not. This trip we missed all bad weather and mother nature was on our side.


The main part I like about arriving home after a trip is that now I can start planning the next
one!
A few random photos from the trip................
another farm / business ruin
Bikers in Taos N.M.
Old cemetary
old cemetary

stuff

2 comments:

Hawktane said...

That's a beautiful bike you've got there. I always wondered what it would be like to have a sidecar. I've just come across your blog and I'm enjoying reading about your journeys.

Keep it up.

BMW HACKER said...

Going to a sidecar was kind of a whim....just got bored with what we were doing and hated riding two-up due to restrictions on gear. Side car riding slowed us down (I was already slow)a bit and is enjoyable, although a lot more work!

Gila Mtns.

Gila Mtns.