Day 34. 3677 miles travelled todate.
We were surprised just how much you could smell the Texas oilfields, there were mile after mile of wells nodding away. At one point there was a large windfarm on the opposite side of the road to the wells, good to see the Texans are looking at alternative energy! With the amount of sky and sun they have they could generate heaps of power with solar panels.
The grave of Buddy Holly in his home town of Lubbock, Texas, it was very modest. Note the spelling of Holley, the change in his stage name came about because of a spelling error in a recording contract he signed
There was also an interesting museum, he certainly wrote and recorded a huge amount of material considering he died at 22.
We were in Lubbock for 3 days (2 longer than we planned) as a couple of miles before we arrived John suspected we had a rear puncture but when we pulled over there was a large bulge in the tyre wall. As we have mentioned before the temperatures we had been travelling in were causing pretty bad cracking and the tyre had now delaminated. By sticking a knife in the tyre and getting it back to a normal shape we were able to limp into Lubbock at 30 miles an hour. We ordered a new tyre through the local Yamaha dealer and when it arrived we went along with shower gel from the hotel and the tools John had packed to change a tyre and expected to have to do the job outside the dealers premises.
As it turned out the team at Watts Yamaha could not have been more helpful, John was able to use their workshop facilites to do the job. So no struggling to get the old tyre off and the new one on outside in the heat! They were fantastic guys, we highly recommend them. A big thank you from us to Ken Matlock, Dennis, Tom, Bobby, Matt and Drew.
An example of how big everything in Texas is, this train had 4 engines and was 2 miles long!
Our first stop in New Mexico was an overnight stop in a very small place called Fort Sumner, we stayed at the Billy the Kid County Motel and visited the Billy the Kid museum and Billy the Kid's grave. No prizes for guessing what the place is famous for.
By chance we arrived in the beautiful town of Sante Fe on their busiest weekend of the year when a huge Indian market takes place. Way too many shopping opportunities, it was torture! We camped outside the town and spent a great evening chatting and drinking beer with Ralph and Lisa. John found a kindred spirit in Ralph, another man who needs to know how things work, has good taste in music and rides motorcycles.
Recuerdo de le Mision in Abiquiu, this tiny little village is famous as the final home of American artist Georgia O'Keefe. A lot of artists love this part of New Mexico for the quality of the natural light.
FOR SALE some modernisation required, quiet neighbourhood.
A view of the wild west but no cowboys or Indians, not a bad photo as it was taken from the bike at about 50 mph.
The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, this picture does not do it justice it's another one of those places you have to go yourself!
We had a great chat with this guy, his name is Jim Morrison (yes really) he has clocked up over 125,000 miles on trips all round the US on his Heritage Soft Tail Harley. The location was the Old Timer's cafe in Red River a quaint little ski resort that was on a route known as the Enchanted Circle, 80 plus miles of beautiful mountain passes around Taos NM. The highest elevation we rode at was 9820 feet, it' was lovely to ride in the cooler mountain air after the oven that is Texas!
We have now arrived in Taos, it has a great live music scene, more tales to come next week.
We were surprised just how much you could smell the Texas oilfields, there were mile after mile of wells nodding away. At one point there was a large windfarm on the opposite side of the road to the wells, good to see the Texans are looking at alternative energy! With the amount of sky and sun they have they could generate heaps of power with solar panels.
The grave of Buddy Holly in his home town of Lubbock, Texas, it was very modest. Note the spelling of Holley, the change in his stage name came about because of a spelling error in a recording contract he signed
There was also an interesting museum, he certainly wrote and recorded a huge amount of material considering he died at 22.
We were in Lubbock for 3 days (2 longer than we planned) as a couple of miles before we arrived John suspected we had a rear puncture but when we pulled over there was a large bulge in the tyre wall. As we have mentioned before the temperatures we had been travelling in were causing pretty bad cracking and the tyre had now delaminated. By sticking a knife in the tyre and getting it back to a normal shape we were able to limp into Lubbock at 30 miles an hour. We ordered a new tyre through the local Yamaha dealer and when it arrived we went along with shower gel from the hotel and the tools John had packed to change a tyre and expected to have to do the job outside the dealers premises.
As it turned out the team at Watts Yamaha could not have been more helpful, John was able to use their workshop facilites to do the job. So no struggling to get the old tyre off and the new one on outside in the heat! They were fantastic guys, we highly recommend them. A big thank you from us to Ken Matlock, Dennis, Tom, Bobby, Matt and Drew.
An example of how big everything in Texas is, this train had 4 engines and was 2 miles long!
Our first stop in New Mexico was an overnight stop in a very small place called Fort Sumner, we stayed at the Billy the Kid County Motel and visited the Billy the Kid museum and Billy the Kid's grave. No prizes for guessing what the place is famous for.
By chance we arrived in the beautiful town of Sante Fe on their busiest weekend of the year when a huge Indian market takes place. Way too many shopping opportunities, it was torture! We camped outside the town and spent a great evening chatting and drinking beer with Ralph and Lisa. John found a kindred spirit in Ralph, another man who needs to know how things work, has good taste in music and rides motorcycles.
Recuerdo de le Mision in Abiquiu, this tiny little village is famous as the final home of American artist Georgia O'Keefe. A lot of artists love this part of New Mexico for the quality of the natural light.
FOR SALE some modernisation required, quiet neighbourhood.
A view of the wild west but no cowboys or Indians, not a bad photo as it was taken from the bike at about 50 mph.
The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, this picture does not do it justice it's another one of those places you have to go yourself!
We had a great chat with this guy, his name is Jim Morrison (yes really) he has clocked up over 125,000 miles on trips all round the US on his Heritage Soft Tail Harley. The location was the Old Timer's cafe in Red River a quaint little ski resort that was on a route known as the Enchanted Circle, 80 plus miles of beautiful mountain passes around Taos NM. The highest elevation we rode at was 9820 feet, it' was lovely to ride in the cooler mountain air after the oven that is Texas!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - JANE!!!!
ReplyDeleteFor tommorrow I think, I hope I've got that right.
Great last blog the best yet, we are both thinking about you. Summer here disapeared a week ago and is currently pissing down for the bank holiday weekend. What's with the blue gloves, what a gay!
Happy birthday Jane xxxxxxx
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