Day 6: Albuquerque, NM to Amarillo, TX

The morning blessed us with sunshine and hot air balloons floating on the horizon. We hoped it was a good omen. It was another bad hands day for G and we had about 300 miles to ride.

About now we realized that the tour was pretty ambitious. It is humbling to see so much country and beauty day after day. It is a veritable smorgasbord  of opportunity and we know that to make it to the end of the meal we are going to have to nibble selectively. To be strategic we are alternating between highways and back roads to cover the miles. 

The morning was cloudy and cool but pleasant. We started with highway miles just because we have so much to cover today. The scenery has largely been low-lying with scattered brush. With our throttles/cruise control set and music playing it is easy to let the mind wander about what we are seeing– it's a neat thing. But with all that time to think we cannot help but think appreciatively about our supportive spouses who have helped us toward this bucket list dream– now that's REALLY neat!

Another neat thing,

BEEP BEEP!

T was tooling down the road at about 65 miles an hour when a critter scurried across the road in front of him from right to left. When it reached the road on the left side ( why DOES a chicken cross the road) it got confused or scared and quickly darted back in front of T's bike. How it wasn't roadkill we do not know other than the after-the-fact realization that it was a road runner! And the roadrunner never loses.

A bit shaken we continued on to Tucumcari, New Mexico for lunch. Next stop, the Cadillac Ranch ( Cadillacs half buried in perpendicular fashion) just before Amarillo,Texas.  We didn't see any Subarus buried nosedown at the ranch-they must all still be on the road. This rates up there as one of the most unique"landmarks" we have seen on this trip.

We then traversed the remaining miles to our hotel but passed a Harley dealer on the way. We made a mental note and after checking in at the hotel we circled back so that Tcould get his tail light replaced- it is been out since Kingman. And, of course, he came out of there with a shirt. We beat the rain clouds back to the hotel successfully and then a short walk for some good Tex-Mex food. 

Technical Notes:

We are now on central time.

We have now completed over 1500 miles on the trip.

Pictures are being added at the end of each day's blog but usually one day in arrears so you need to go back to that day after the fact to see the pictures.