Left the Big Texan at about 9am. Weather, sunny and warming up. Distance to cover, about 305 miles.
First stop was a short drive away, at Tripps, the Harley dealership. A few people had expressed an interest in buying stuff and checking out the bikes. To be honest I could have given this a miss. OK the bikes are nice but I was never going to buy anything, I’d rather be riding.
When we left Tripps’ we made our way to the Cadillac Ranch. This is, I suppose, art. A farmer one day decided to stick his old Cadillac nose down into the ground in one of his fields, leaving two thirds sticking up, as something for the public to come and look at. Subsequently there are about 10 such cars buried in line. Today it is a famous landmark and attraction. People come from far and wide to visit and to spray paint the vehicles. Legalised graffitying! Gary being the guy he is produced a can for us to have a go. More can be had from other visitors who have got bored and are heading back to their cars. We all had a good go at creating something and Gary took photos, some of which may be posted online.
We left the Caddys and rode to the Mid Point Café for a mid morning snack. This is the place where you are exactly 1139 miles from the start of US66 in Chicago and from the finish in Los Angeles. There is a big sign to mark the fact and group photos were duly taken. The café has a little garage alongside it with an old pickup truck on the forecourt. This is covered in writing. The café owner provides a paint pen and invites people to leave a message or just their name. Most of us had a go, though it’s not easy finding room to do it. I manage to secure a piece of front tyre rubber for my name.
The land in Texas is very flat and featureless for the main part, this is after all, the Great Plains. Just to underline this we saw a prairie dog close by to where we had parked the bikes. They are about the size of a chipmunk, so quite small and they sit up like meercats, cheeping if they sense danger, before scuttling into tiny burrows. I got a few photos of the little critter. The temperature was on the increase and rose 3 degrees whilst we were stopped at the café, 92 when we hit the road once more.
Next up we stopped for some lunch at Kix on 66. I apologise for not knowing the names of the places we have stopped at but I’m struggling even to remember what day it is. It’s so easy to lose track of time when you’re caught up in such an incredible experience. We sat down to a very nice lunch, all lined up on stools along the counter, just like you see in the movies. Lunch for me was a large (what else in the US?), chicken salad, washed down with ice cold raspberry lemonade. More ice than drink in the US but they do free refills for as long as you stay, so not so bad. We had a little while to head up the road and take a few photos. There are a number of motels here, the ¾ of a square, single storey jobs you see in the old movies. Some of these are pretty old and carry a fair bit of history from when the road was still the main drag.
The weather was beautiful, very hot, maybe too hot for pounding up and down on foot taking pictures. Then Gary appears in his van, shouting (or was that his normal voice?) that we need to get moving as there is a storm brewing. In these temperatures, I think I’ve said before, these storms come out of nothing, move very fast and are very severe, in both the rain, wind speeds, thunder and lightning they produce. It’s best not to get caught in one. Like a cowpoke Gary rounds us all up and we head out onto the road again. This time we are trying to catch a gap between the first storm and another that is brewing to take its place. As always, this guy Gary does his thang and we are deposited outside the R66 Motor Museum, as dry as a bone. We’d encountered some strong winds but nothing too serious.
The motor museum is made up almost entirely of vehicles that the owner has bought and lovingly restored. From 1930s Auburns to 1970s muscle cars, pickups, sedans, etc. We have an ice cream and a look round, take some more photos and then it’s back onto the bikes once more.
It’s not long before we pull over and Gary jumps out to tell us that this next piece of road runs straight to our next fuel stop, without any turn offs, so we are free to go at our own speeds, go fast (within the limit), go slow, stop to take photos, do anything so long as we meet up at the petrol station by a certain time. We’re being let loose! Barely has he finished speaking than I’m off down the road. It soon occurs to me that I need my camera for this experience, so I pull over and get it from the pannier. Two of the others, Bill and Pat pass me. As we bowl along, I set the cruise control and start taking snaps. The road is so straight, you can see for miles. As I catch up Bill, I get a shot of his rear., the bike that is! Next I get alongside Pat and manage a shot that just about gets him in the picture. I’m leading on the road once again. This is one beautiful ride. I don’t think I’ve been anywhere with roads quite like it. Maybe some of the Poplar lined avenues in France come closest for straightness. As I’m cruising along I catch site of a R66 sign. OK, so I’ve got photos of those from each state (though Texas is somewhat different) but this one has a pre 1937 sign as well, so this is a really old part of the road. They have what they call different alignments. Basically as a town grew and businesses grew up, they would re-route/re-align the road to bypass parts. This then is a pre 1937 alignment. I spot the sign too late to stop, so have to turn round to get my photo, by which time almost if not all the others have gone by me. It’s only another few miles to reach the fuel stop. Gary rolls up and I think is somewhat surprised to find I wasn’t the first to arrive. He half expected me to have been there for half an hour twiddling my thumbs. It’s good not to be too predictable.
After fuelling up we had about a 60 mile ride into Santa Fe and unfortunately directly into the sun. It did prove problematic for some, even with sunglasses on.
So here we are in Santa Fe. We’ve just been out for dinner at a nice rooftop restaurant and now I’m looking forward to my bed and more importantly a rest day. Yes, were are at leisure. In the morning I’ll take a walk round the town, then in the afternoon we’re all going shootin’. Gary amongst his many talents (and I’m not being sarcastic there) is as it turns out, also a qualified gun instructor, so he’s taking us all down to a range to experience that, which is the right of every American citizen, to be able to blow the shit out of summat with a great big gun!
Come back soon to check on whether any of us manage to shoot ourselves in the foot or even hit target!
Neill
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