Robert Johnson made a deal with the Devil. Sold his soul to play the guitar. I took a ride, almost made a deal with God to keep me alive.
Thumbs up to those writers of the reports that inspire and motivate and get others on the road. Its an effort, though when pushed by mood, it starts to roll.
The winds of maybe roll over us
The Things you run into
Restores your soul.
The Things you run into,
Put a Tiger in your Tank.
Thou prepareth the table before me,
And Free Glasses with every Full Tank.
My Cup runneth over
Many Prizes to choose from
And Over and Out of Here.*
And to get Over and Out of Here, here being New Orleans, requires crossing Texas.
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So, I am going to arrive in Texas around where Brno, Czech Republic is, and exit beyond Amsterdam, way beyond Amsterdam.
Texas, of course has no Alps, but does have
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Western Boots
and
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More Western Boots
and
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Exemplary hygiene
I choose to leave on the day after Mothers day, because leaving before is not good in either the long, and most certainly not, the short run.
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This was before the boys in Wacco had that dustup. It appears copying a patch and Bogarting a parking place is just as offensive as drawing Mohammed. With similar results. Maybe The Bandidos and ISIS can get together for a BBQ, minus the pulled pork.
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or maybe not
Minus Mo, minus Bandidos I did cross the Lone Star State twice during the Biblical Weather they had. One time went fine.
I leave at 430 am to outsmart the weather. I am teased into thinking maybe its gonna be ok because for the first 150 miles, it is. Outside of Alexandria, La the sky falls and continues to fall for the next 3 hours, and when I get to Texas, dry roads await! Did I outsmart the weather no.
Day 1 was a day to make tracks and tracks I made, though mostly interstate, I 10, US 190, I 49 and I 20, I 35 and up to Wichita Falls. Riding the panhandle of Texas is about as bad as wide open sparsely populated riding gets. Its arrow straight, often hot, and always windy. And dusty too. This is Gods country for tornados and I catch it on a good day. Dust devils and straight line red winds.
I lean into the warm cross winds and plow through, ever closer to my goal of Trinidad, Colorado for the evening. Making tracks on day 2 is on the agenda also. Eventually I get to the scenic parts of my route through Texas.
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Before any Texans chime in let me say this.
Some of my best friends are Texans.
I admire Texas; its got charm, and history, and the Texans love it for reasons that are easily apparent to me. Ive traveled all over the state and I realize that this particular route is the worst way to cross the state, but it is the quickest for me, so I endured. Yes, I know Palo Duro is right over there to the left.
Yes, I know that I couldve gone through oozing-with-culture Lariat or Muleshoe or Levelland and felt the true west. BTDT and yes it is far better.
Didnt have the time though if I was going to make it to the Bay Area, and the Corbin place and Ted Porters Beemershop in the 2 weeks I have.
So, I rode and compared notes with fellow travelers mostly about the rains to the east and how they fared. In short, everybody got wet, some worse than others.
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I rode the gap between the rains, but only for a day.
Trinidad, Colorado is the gateway for those coming from the south and east. The good riding is in full swing here, having begun somewhat earlier in New Mexico.
from wiki
In the early 1900s, Trinidad became nationally known for having the first woman sports editor of a newspaper, Ina Eloise Young. [12] Her expertise was in baseball, and in 1908, she was the only woman sportswriter to cover the World Series. [13] During the same period of time, Trinidad was also home to a popular semi-pro baseball team, which was briefly coached by Damon Runyon.
It is also the birthplace of Ed Wolff, actor and circus giant
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Ed Wolff on the right. Alfred Nobel on the left.
At 74 Ed was 3 inches taller than Shaquille ONeal and 8 taller than LeBron James. Yao Ming would look down on Ed being 2 taller than Ed. But whos counting
Ed was often typecast, and here_
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_he is seen with a (very) young Elizabeth Warren dressed as Will Robinson in an outtake from Lost in Space. Bill Mumme had a clause in his contract about circus giants (ix-nay on the iant-jay). EW was an actor as well as a Native American. Bet you didnt know that!
I decided that I would cross Colorado on US160. I have done it a couple of times, but I dont think I ever did it from as far east as Trinidad. A beautiful road that crosses Wolf Creek Pass, el 10,857 ft. Problem is I got to do it in rain and sleet and snow. Looking back on it now it was a great ride and though the pass was covered in thick layers of snow, the road was clear and I was warm in my modified rain suit and gerbings liner.
To get to US160 from Trinidad you could just go up I 25, but the preferable way is following the wonderful Co 12 route. First time I rode this, years ago the aspen were turning gold and this was one of the first roads I encountered that i told myself, this is my favorite road ever. Many times that has happened since, but having the chance to ride it again, now years later, did not disappoint in spite of the weather.
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oryou choose
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The weather changed my route EVERY day, and all the planning of the routes out to Menlo Park, was only a source of information, and disappointment. Everyday I had to go to Plan B or C, and often there was no Plan B until the morning I would leave, choosing the route that seemed the least problematic. Checking the weather at the last moment to make the final plan. It changed that quickly and never for the good.
A motorcycle trip cross country is often an experience in compromise. Riders know this, but I have never had to make so many. And it was good though exhausting on old bones. Now, 2 and a half weeks later, I am rested enough to write about it.
When youre in that part of the country-Colorado/Utah/NM/AZ, are there bad routes? Not likely just some better than others. So, dealing with rain/snow/hail/sleet became commonplace for the next two weeks.
I land in Monticello, Utah on day three.
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more to come
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