New Mexico to Texas

After leaving the Navajo Nation I headed for New Mexico. I really need to get the oil changed in my motorcycle and figured I would find something easily in Albuquerque. I was wrong. The address I had for the Honda dealer was easy to find but the building was empty and no forwarding address was posted, I tried another address and ended up driving in circles. Since it was lunch time I figured I would fuel my stomach and ask for directions. My waitress was of little help, she had no idea where any motorcycle shop was, or how I could get back on the interstate. She also did not know that it was possible to ride a motorcycle from Canada to New Mexico. That’s what I get for eating at Hooters.

Fortunately they had wifi at Hooters and I discovered that there was a Honda dealer in Roswell, only three hours away. Roswell was a smaller town so finding the dealer was easy. I pulled into Champion Motorsports at 4pm, expecting to make an appointment for the morning. They were able to service the bike right away, impressive. Since the Varadero is not available in the US, it got a lot of attention at the shop, I think everyone had a look at it. It seems that everyone was impressed and had lots of positive comments. While waiting for my bike to be serviced I ended up in a conversation with another customer and local resident, Pete. Pete was riding a little 250cc Yamaha, was soon turning 70 and was heading for “out for a ride” to the Canadian border. It turns out that he also rode to Ushuaia, just a few years ago. Pete is an interesting guy and we ended up talking to each other there in the parking lot of the dealer until dark.

From Roswell I headed to Carlsbad where there were some underground caverns that I wanted to explore. A $6 entrance fee was all it cost to explore some of the most fascinating caverns that I have ever seen. I had been in similar caverns in Halong Bay in Vietnam but the Carlsbad Caverns were much bigger. It took me 2.5 hours to walk the entire underground route, but I was thankful for the experience and the exercise.

From New Mexico I heading into Texas. The ride through New Mexico into Texas was one of the most boring rides I have ever had. There were only long straight roads, few curves and police everywhere. It was so boring that I started to sing in my helmet, painful even for me. At one point in Texas I spotted a large lone Vulture sitting atop a fence pole, I slowed down to get a better look. He was staring at me; he had a smug look on his face. It was like something out of a Looney Toon cartoon. Checking my fuel and realizing that I had 2/3 of a tank, so I gave the stupid bird the finger. The heat and the long boring highways must be getting to me.

Reaching Langtry Texas I stopped at the “Judge Roy Bean Museum” and information center for a break in the day and perhaps a sanity check. The Museum was interesting and the conversation with the one other tourist made me feel sane again.

Today is September 24, 2011, I have been travelling solo for two months.

Links

Carlsbad Caverns http://www.nps.gov/cave/index.htm is place definitely worth stopping at. A person could spend the entire day here if they wished. Very few places on earth like this.

Judge Roy Bean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Bean an interesting character