This was my first trip on a bike going to New Mexico. I have riden to Montrose and surrounding areas in the past but the Land of Enchantment was new to me on a bike. Me and my brother and sister-in-law road down in the blazing heat to St. Louis to meet up with the group from the East which included the Doug and Jane Scott, Dan and Davy Stocker, Ray and Nancy Perez and Keith Andrews. Great group of people for sure. We narrowly missed getting dumped on by some big storms moving thru southern Illinois and St. Louis area but the swiftness of the Valk we were able to slide on by the rain drops and lightening that was on our fender tips. After arriving and cooling off in a nice cold shower we were off to Ruby Tuesdays for some eats and refreshments that hit the spot after a long hot day of riding. The next day we took to the pavement and lack of pavement by following Rt. 66 from Missouri, Kansas and down into Oklahoma to Vinita, OK a small community that holds a rodeo every year in honor of Will Rogers. We all cleaned up and headed to the only restuarant in town that was actually open at 5:00 in the afternoon and had some good grub and liquid refreshments mainly consisting of ice water. The pool at the Holiday Inn Express was a Huge welcome and some of us enjoyed the pool and whirlpool to cool off and relax. The local VFW hall provided some night time entertainment for acouple of us while the Super Wal-Mart provided shopping oppurtunities for the ladies of the group. The next day some of us took to the highway to make some time in the heat while others continued down Rt. 66. The crosswinds provided us with some exciting times the next couple of days as it blew us all over the lanes and never let up for a minute. Our next stop was Armarillo and they had a great outdoor pool there which was nice and cool and really felt great after a long day of hot and windy riding. This was the first time I had been to Texas and Oklahoma and the sights and heat make me speechless for as far as you can see there is normally nothing at all to look at except sagebrush and a sign saying there is a town somewhere way out there past your sight limits. We did have a great beef rib dinner at the Legend which Freddy Flintstone would have loved and others went for some tasty food at Bennigans. The next day we stopped in Las Vegas, New Mexico for a great lunch at the Plaza Hotel enjoyed the wait staff there and then made it to Sipapu by early afternoon.
The mountains of Northern New Mexico I was very impressed with and the road conditions were great. Micah West led us on most of the roads we were going to travel throughout the week and I was in heaven with them. Rt. 64 which goes crosscountry and actually runs right by my house in Chicago was great fun and 434 was just as exciting to ride. As for all the Elk and Cow crossing signs I only saw 1 cow which was propped up against a fence post I believe to make passers by really think there were cows roaming around loose by the roads. Not that I wanted to see a Elk up front and personal I did want to see one from a distance but no such luck. The steam engine narrow gauge train ride which I decided to go on at the last minute was a real blast. The scenery was awesome and the people running the ride really knew their stuff about the train and the area. The lunch stop was excellent and provided some of the best food I had while out in New Mexico and there was plenty of it too. There is a road that runs along side the train route which is Hwy 17 off of Hwy 84 and that road provided some great riding acouple days later. It provided some long sweepers, high climbs and big dives and some thunderstorms to try and out run along with acouple dirt storms that provided some anxious moments not knowing if me and Keith were going to get blown off of our bikes or what besides not being able to breath or see as we went through acouple walls of thick dirt.
The best time of the trip was seeing awhole lot of great people from all over the country, some I know, some I didn't know but soon did, this is always the highlight of my time spent at the ride-ins. The friendships you make over the years with these great people are priceless and being able to see most of them only once a year makes it all the more special to me. I got to see abunch of people who live out west that I haven't seen since Montrose which was great and sorry to say because of serious illness Eddie and Judy were not able to attend. I met alot of new folks and this one of 3 or so valkers from Oklahoma I believe came up with a gaslid cover which I sure hope he starts making because its easy to put on and very much needed to keep the sun from blinding me on sunny days.
The week went very fast and before you know it the time had come to head back and as normal I was bummed out at having to say good bye to a great bunch of people once again. I guess it doesn't matter how long it is it just never seems to be long enough when the Family is in town for it's annual reunion. But I always go away with great memories of yet another fun and memorable time with some of the best people I have ever met and long for the next one to do it all again. A special thanks goes to Keith Andrews (it was great seeing you again) for putting up with me for a week both as a roomie and riding some of my not so short but interesting rides and also leading the way down the gravel road to the bottom of the Rio Grande GOrge which was alot of fun even if we didn't have to share the road with a herd of cows like the sign warned of! Mike and Pat for having to play catch up in the hills some of the time and when I pushed the throttle a whole lot to avoid the rain drops and Kent for somehow losing you on the way to the memorial in Angel Fire.
And most important thank you everyone from coming out and making this a great time for me and you and all the others, great time for sure!
TAZ
