Day 23 Tues. Oct. 7, 2008

From Magdalena, NM to Springerville, AZ
At the High Country Lodge breakfast was served starting at 7:30. I like to be on my way by about 7:00. The darkness, however, still lingers and I’m cautious about riding in the darkness, and besides Pam won’t allow it.

Interestingly, a cold wave, the effect of a Pacific storm has climbed the divide and deposited moisture on a very extensive portion of the southwestern region resulting in very cold weather and snow on the mountains.

I was forced to ride with 2 tee shirts and my bright orange jacket and a pair of long warm up pants. I do not have long riding gear. I’m hoping that riding south will eliminate the need for warm clothing. I’m aware that semi desert territories are cold at night and the sun delays its ascent to perform its warming up duties.

The roads were cool and friendly, the hills are a bit provocative. That is they give you the appearance of being level. They stretch out for miles and as you try to reach the end you see another level of miles ahead of you. That’s why I don’t look ahead. I’ve been tricked enough. I look for antelope and jack rabbits and deer and other game. I refuse to play games with the road. No, I’m not angry. I just want to know that the miles come much quicker than the road is ready to admit.

The New Mexico Dept of Transportation has a nasty habit of sweeping the gravel onto the shoulders and spraying oil over it. Sometimes you think you think you are riding on quick sand. If you observe very closely you would see portions of grass or weed growing through the gravel. What makes matters worse is that they do not know when to stop the repairs on the road. They go on for miles and miles, up hill and down.

On the road to Datil, which was our planned stopping place, I stopped at a rest stop that was a viewing place for the National Radio Academy Observatory. They just call it VLA, Very Large Array. There are 27 huge radio telescopes on the Plains of St. Augustin. While there Pam caught up with me. A few minutes later a couple on motorcycles stopped. They are from Alberta, Canada, and are on their way to Phoenix for the winter. Their names are Karen and Don Moench. We all had a great time getting acquainted. Their daughter and son in law have lived in Grand Cayman for about 4 or 5 years and just had a baby boy 4 months ago. Don and Karen are going down there in a couple of weeks to meet their first grandchild.

They very generously contributed to the scholarship fund before they left. Karen said they make about 200 to 250 miles a day. That’s a whole lot more than 50. Pam left to go to the Visitor Center at the Observatory and I continued my ride to Datil.

I met Pam at Datil, where we began the search for sleeping accommodations. We try to find a motel that has a refrigerator and microwave and high speed internet connection. The refrigerator has become more important as we have added more items that need refrigeration on the road. We have a 12 volt cooler in the van, which has been wonderful. Another of Jeff’s great suggestions. But we have to take everything in at night, because we can’t leave the car running all night to keep the cooler cool. The only motel in Datil was only 3 months old, but didn’t have refrigerators in the rooms and cost $65. We have never had to go over $60 and didn’t want to start now. They were the first place that offered no discounts, such as AAA, AARP or just plain Senior Citizens discount.

We decided to move on. We also try to schedule our day so that we arrive at a place to stay by mid afternoon, so I have time and energy to clean up and write for the blog and Pam has time to type it in. Finding the right place at the right time and the right cost is just not always possible. Although we have been very lucky. I think this was only the 2nd time we had to move on to the next town. We had to go all the way to Springerville, AZ to find a motel. There we found a place for $49 plus tax with what we needed and right on Hwy 60 which I will be riding on again on Thurs. Since we arrived late in the day and we were behind on the blog and both were quite tired, we decided to take a day off for R and R. And for healing my bottom.

We enjoyed a meal at a Mexican restaurant, caught the rest of the Presidential Debate and got to bed fairly early.