a little More of New Mexico stuff

 When I came into Eagle's Nest, I spied a visitor's center and decided to check it out. Unfortunately, the parking lot had a lot of loose gravel. I tried to back the bike up to turn around, since it was closed, and that was a mistake. My Road Queen decided to take a nap in the parking lot. The bike I used to be able to pick up myself suddenly seemed unbelievably heavy and, try as I might, I could not get her lifted! You can see where I picked away the gravel to get better traction, alas, to no avail! And so I called AAA and requested service that was going to be a couple hours out and totally rearrange my plans for the day. While waiting, a little white car passed by (a lot of cars passed by but  nobody gave me any notice...) and  turned around and pulled in. I met Clay from the Scouting America facility in the Cimarron canyon, who offered to help. He appeared to be about my age and I wasn't sure if he would be able to assist, but he did an awesome job giving me just the extra "oomph" to get the kick stand down. So, thank you to Clay!!

Then on the way back down the canyon towards Raton, a bear wandered into the road a couple hundred feet from me and stopped! I slowed down, shifted and twisted the throttle. And apparently, it startled the bear enough to lumber up the hill on the other side of the road! (sorry, no bear pictures!)

And finally, I saw this Buffalo in Taos.

New Mexico!

 Wednesday I worked my way from Oklahoma to New Mexico. I saw a whole lot more of those windmill farms in Oklahoma, running US 60 to route 412, heading northwest to Raton, New Mexico. As I got closer to Raton, a rain storm was brewing over the

mountains. Any motorcycle road warrior knows the look of far off rain, an apparent wall of water ahead can be an unwelcome view ahead. It is about that time that you say to yourself, screw the speed limit...get to your destination  as soon as possible. 

I actually made it to Raton too early for check in at my lodging, in the start of the rain,

but I did find a Denny's a half a block from my hotel, where I settled for my first full meal since leaving the Kid's place. Surprisingly, Denny's has a teriyaki chicken and vegetable plate that was super good and very, very generous.. enough to provide two more meals later from left overs! Oh yeah, and a shake made from real ice cream! 

This was my first time staying at a Wyndham Microtel. It was the best "value" when I was searching lodging so I wasn't sure what to expect. They had guest laundry facilities, which I used Wednesday after I got settled in. The room wasn't bad...just not quite what I had experienced at other hotels. Thursday morning at 4am I was woke up by a fellow traveler who apparently got locked out of his room that he was sharing with another individual and a dog. When he started knocking on the room door, the dog went crazy barking. The person in the room must have been sleeping soundly  because the banging and hollering increased, with the guy in the hallways claiming he was with the fire department! And that's what got me out of bed! By the time I was awake enough to look out into the hallway, they were gone. And...I was awake. WTF?

So I got up and waited for the 6am breakfast before heading out for my day ride. I

was looking forward to some twisty mountain riding working my way up to Eagle's Nest, a valley community with a huge lake. Before getting to Eagle's Next, I took a very straight two lane highway to Cimarron. Along the way, a roadside historical plaque and sign to the Dawson Cemetery caught my eye. Dawson was a community that grew to a population of 6000. At it's peak it was the largest mining town in New Mexico. Workers were primarily immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe and Mexico, with two schools, two churches, a hospital, store, hotel, golf course and other modern
amenities. The town was abandoned and razed in 1950 when to coal mines closed. I never knew there were coal mines in New Mexico!

The road I was on, route 64, is on the Santa Fe trail and in the middle of nowhere, I came over a rise to Cimarron. Once frequented by Jesse James and Buffalo Bill, the town maintains some of the old west feel and is the gateway to Cimarron Canyon State Park. The park is located in a canyon popular with campers hikers and fly fishing, and is an awesome winding road to Eagle's Nest.

In Eagle's Nest I turned off and headed towards Taos. But my more important stop was the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial at Angle Fire, about 10 minutes away. The location is high on a hill that Victor Westfall had purchased to develop houses and a golf course. In May 1968 Victor and his wife learned their son, David, was killed in Vietnam with 15 others in an ambush and changed course. The project started with a chapel and a memorial museum. The DAV helped with the project over the years. The  museum, chapel and grounds are no cost, other than the piece of your heart you will probably leave there when you are

done visiting. The flag in the photo is a rare North Vietnamese  Army flag tattered in a firefight - the stains are blood from a wounded service member when the flag was used to wrap the serviceman during the battle. During the war, 226 native Americans were killed, 36 of them from New Mexico. I have some photos here and will include a link to their website if you are inclined to learn more. The last time I was there was probably 35 years ago and it affected me as much today as it did back then. There is a movie that tells the story of how our country got involved in Vietnam (we were not the first country to try to help South Vietnam). If you are ever in the area, I strongly encourage a visit. 

As I walked out of the museum, I met Dale, a local veteran who visits the memorial occasionally. We chatted at the water feature outside about service and war and the importance of maintaining this memorial so that people never forget, as veterans are slowly starting to pass away. BTW, Dale's walking stick caught my eye and I complimented him on it. He said he had carved it from his canibus plant he had grown! 

As I left the memorial, I headed towards Taos. More twists and turns for the ride and

when I got to Taos, I was reminded of when my sister had taken me to Laguna, in Southern California the last time I was there. Taos was super crowded Parking was a challenge. I stayed long enough to walk a couple blocks, have a cup of over priced ice cream, then turned back towards Raton, with another afternoon thunderstorm forecasted! 

Mother Nature cut loose about five miles out of Raton, not really justifying stopping to suit up. Of course, it's New Mexico, so there was no place to do so anyway! Let's hope the "fireman" idiot doesn't come back tonight or I might have to stab him. 

Please and Love all. Tomorrow I head to Colorado!

Bobbi

https://www.vietnamveteransmemorial.org/about-the-memorial/

Oklahoma!

Yesterday I made my way from Missouri to the east side of Oklahoma. The weather has been brutally hot, with temperatures over 100F degrees and a "feels like" of 110 to 115. Sunday evening I spent the night in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. The hotel

was a challenge to locate and I thought when I made the reservation, since it wasn't on the main highway like other hotels, I wouldn't have to deal with traffic noise. I was wrong. The road it was on curved around to put the hotel on a rise... right above the highway! Fortunately, I was so spent from the heat, and slept soundly. But woke in the morning to the sound of truck traffic. 

Monday I worked my way to Miami, Oklahoma. This is my first venture into Oklahoma. I was't sure what to expect from this fly-over state. Miami, OK is just over

state line so the exploration of "all" the state had to offer didn't really happen until Tuesday, when I left Miami and headed across the Oklahoma panhandle to Woodward, Oklahoma on the west side of the state. I was on a combination of route 60 and the infamous route 66 for a ways. In the small town of Afton, I came across a cute little place that I stopped to take a couple of photos of. I had hit the road pretty early to try to minimize the suffering of the wicked heat so nothing was open. 

But both Afton and Vinita, Oklahoma were on the combination route before route 66

split off to the south. I stayed on route 60 to Enid, OK then hit route 412 to Wooodward, OK. 

During the ride I saw one of the most extensive wind farms I think I have ever seen. The large windmills were as far as I could see for miles. With the amount of breezes and hills with nothing else for miles, it was an ideal arrangement. Both before and after the wind farm, I couldn't help but think about the herds of Buffalo that once grazed these prairie lands. I could easily picture them in my mind. I was going to stop at the Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve about 45 miles north of Tulsa. Started in the early 1900s by oilman Frank Phillips (yes, as in Phillips oil, more on that in a minute) features a 3700 acre preserve and museum. However, as I rode through Vinita, just before the turn off, the temperature was nearing 94F degrees and 10am, so I decided to keep moving.

Sometime down the road, I passed a HUGE Phillips petroleum facility that stretched for several miles on both sides of the highway. Apparently Phillips obtained an early productive drilling operation in Osage County. There was eventually multi-million dollar oil lease auctions that Phillips was successful with and, surprisingly, Frank Phillips was eventually adopted into the Osage Nation. 

The Osage Nation is prevalent across the northern area of Oklahoma. A later stop at a roadside rest gave me more information on the tribe and their customs. It also offered the rare shade and a spot to hydrate, which became more and more pressing as the afternoon temperatures continued to climb. 

I had a roadside stop about an hour out of Woodward for water and a break from the sun. Despite tons of sunblock, I felt like I was riding in an oven by the afternoon. I ended up finishing my water there. By then, I was stopping about every half hour to

hour for water and to get out of the sun. 

Tonight I am in Woodward for the night and head to Raton, New Mexico tomorrow for a couple of days. 

Peace & Love all.

~Bobbi

Missouri and On to Oklahoma!

 Greetings from Poplar Bluff, Missouri on what is going to be a steamy Monday. I figured that while my laundry was going, I would catch you all up on the wedding  Saturday and my ride here yesterday.

Jewel's wedding was at her future in law's home in Donnelson, Illinois, a township of about 150 out in corn country, about an hour from the Kid's place. The Covers have a beautiful home and property at the end of a dead end road. The venue was all set up with many of his family already there when we arrived. Jewel's sister Janae did a beautiful job on Jewel's hair and Janae's oldest daughter, Bella, did a fantastic job with her makeup. Kevin, the Kid's husband, stood in as the photographer and he did a fantastic job capturing the day. The food at the reception, in an adjacent building, was delicious. Some of the wedding photos are below. There were over 260 to choose from so I grabbed a bunch before hitting the road on Sunday.

In a blistering heat, I bid farewell to all and headed south to meet up with Justin and Janae for an afternoon day ride to Chester, Illinois where we had a nice lunch at the St.Nicholas. Built in 1830, the former hotel and stop for Mark Twain, it is now a unique venue that has the charm of history on its side. 

While Justin pointed their front wheel back north towards home, I crossed the Don Welge Memorial Bridge across the Mississippi River to run highway 51 south in Missouri to my next lodging in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. The heat index registered over 110F degrees for the day and this grandma was spent by the time I arrived and got settled in for an in-room dinner of iced cold bottled water, Pringles and a Snickers bar! Followed it up with a cool shower and catching up with phone calls. 

The ride down 51 was a nice ride through small towns with names I don't recall. Monday's ride in no less brutal heat will take me down Route 60 to Miami, Oklahoma for my next destination. 

Here are some photos from the wedding.  

~Peace and Love all.

Bobbi

My girls

Mr. & Mrs. Jon & Jewel Cover

Jon's family

Justin & Janae

Kevin & Shani

Grandma & the Kid (Shani)

Handsome boy Kayden

Beauty Bella

Quick Post so my friends & family don't worry!

 

Good Sunday morning!

Spent the weekend with the family and a wedding and really forgot to post! So I am going to do a quick Post before I hit the road this afternoon.

Saturday we spent the day hanging at the Long Compound and visiting with the grand kids. I was given a display of what Kevin's labs do for duck hunting, as he threw some training ducks into the pond and the dogs took off after them, grabbed them out of the water and returned them to him. It was quite impressive. The youngest of the three is only 12 weeks old and obviously has the natural instinct already, keeping up with the two older dogs in the fetch and return exercise. 

Later we met up with Savanah and Harley's two girls at the Troy park for awhile. Troy has one of the most impressive city parks I have ever seen. 

Sunday was spent in wedding mode, as my oldest granddaughter, Jewel, was marrying her soulmate, Jon Cover.

I will post a longer post with more photos tonight when I get to my next stop. 

Peace and Love all. ~ Bobbi

Harleigh and Aurora

Made it to Troy ... Illinois, that is!

 
Wednesday morning I watched the news reports of various levels of damage around northern Kentucky following the previous day's storm. Apparently, there were tornado touch downs in the area and a fair amount of damage to people's properties. My original intention was to ride two lane back roads over to the Kid's place in Troy, Illinois. However considering the likelihood of detours due to storm damage, and

against my preferred method of travel, I opted to hop on I64, which would take me just about to the Kid's front door. I usually avoid interstate travel on my bike trips for various reasons: (1) the amount of local travelers who are going to work can be intimidating at rush hour and (2) following signage through major metropolitan areas on a motorcycle can be challenging (especially for those of us who don't use GPS on the motorcycle). Taking I64 would require me to ride through Louisville, Kentucky. A large metro area I had never been to. 

Surprisingly, the metro area wasn't too bad, considering some of the other large cities I have had to navigate through on bike trips. But one of the views that really caught my eye were the bridges. Similar to Pittsburgh, another metro

area with a large river running through it, Louisville had several bridges spanning the Ohio
River. The river spans about 25 miles of the city's waterfront and reaches its widest point (one mile across) just north of downtown. One of the abandoned railroad bridges has been modified into a pedestrian bridge. The view was actually rather breathtaking. Unfortunately, it was not possible to just stop and take photos. I definitely would like to return there some time to get some photos of my own. And as I enjoyed the view, it brought tears to my eyes, thinking how much I wished my Buffalo was along for the ride so we could talk about it later, As you know, he rides with me in spirit these days, and I spoke to him as I choked up at the thought. 

The remainder of the ride to the Kid's place was uneventful, thankfully, with great weather and relatively light traffic. I will warn you that I64 has the wear and tear of constant truck traffic and the pavement is not in the greatest condition. To say that it beat the crap out of me

would be a good description of the road conditions. (And I asked the Kid what it was like to tow their 40ft plus fifth wheel on it, and she said it was a bitch.)

The afternoon was spent catching up with the Kid and visiting with some of the great grandkids. Treyveon was already at the Kid's place visiting and Bella and Elaina showed up with mom, Janae to visit for awhile. We sat out on the patio catching up and going over the plans for the wedding weekend. Yes, my oldest granddaughter, Jewel, is getting married on Saturday. Sadly, I missed one of my granddaughter's weddings during the Covid and I have always felt guilty about that. So I am relieved that I will be there for this one. 

Thursday is nail day for us gals and this grandma is actually going to get her fingernails done! Let's see how long I can manage to keep them on! hahaha.

Peace and Love all!

Bobbi

Kevin & Shani's place with their new 5th wheel

The pond at Kevin & Shani's place

I Survived the Storm!

 Tuesday was a day for me to out run a major storm that hit the Ohio valley.

I knew from the weather reports that it was going to be a sketchy day to get through. It was already terribly humid when I left out of Marietta, heading to Versailles, Kentucky. I threw on my jacket, which already felt like a sauna suite at 7:30am when I departed. I opened the vents on the coat, and once I got moving, it was bearable for a good part of the morning. 

Unfortunately, part of the ride I had mapped out had an unplanned detour that was poorly marked and I had to figure out a new route while I was rolling. Because of the storm I was racing, I had to bypass three Indian mound locations that I would have liked to stop at. But the huge gray clouds following right behind me kept me moving along. 

Meanwhile, in Ohio, a tornado touched down in the Girard / Youngstown area. By the time I got settled into my lodging, photos of the event were circulating on the internet. 

I managed to somehow get confused at the state line and ended up, temporarily, in Portsmouth...the home of the murals. And as I stood in a random parking lot, looking at a map and trying to figure out which was I needed to go to get back on track, I realized where I was and was truly tempted to wander around and shoot photos. Until mother nature started spitting on me, bringing me back to the serious nature of the storm I was out running. So I had to pass on the tourist act and keep moving. 

I eventually worked my way to Maysville, Kentucky but couldn't find the route I wanted to take to head south and, amazingly, stopped right across the street from the visitor's bureau, which was open and staffed by a knowledgeable gentleman who directed me how to get to where I was going. 

Along the way, I saw an unusual amount of dark brown wood fences on huge pieces of property. I am still not sure why everybody along the route had the same type of fences. Some were doubled up along the property line, almost creating a little buffer between the property and the road. Some were just installed in a circle around trees. Really weird. 

I got to my lodging just before the storm caught up. The desk clerk was kind enough to offer to let me leave my bike under the over way out front and by the time I got settled in, the full force of the storm hit. Fortunately, no tornadoes here, but it was the kind of deluge that totally would have sucked had I been riding!!

So no photos from the Tuesday ride, I am afraid. However the weather looks awesome going forward and I am hoping for a dry ride for a few days.

Peace and Love all. Hope all my friends in Ohio are safe this morning.

Bobbi

Follow up to the fence situation mentioned above...

Historically, throughout most of the world, domesticated livestock roamed freely and were fenced out of areas, such as gardens and crop fields, where they were unwanted. Over time, especially where crop agriculture became dominant and population density of both humans and animals was significant, livestock owners began to fence their animals in.

Wood—specifically oak—is the most popular material for equine fencing. It is more expensive than other materials but more durable. The typical construction of equine fencing is three or four rails of 6”-boards with posts spaced every eight feet.

In 2014, the state of Kentucky passed an ordinance called “Paint it Black.” It required that miles of white plank fencing—which had been in place since 1978—be painted black in order to lower maintenance costs. Now, the most common color for horse fencing is black.

Additionally, many Kentucky horse farms practice Double Fencing. The double fences serve multiple purposes. It allows groups of horses to see each other while keeping them separate. This prevents fighting or sparring. It also provides an extra barrier along roads to protect against thrown-out garbage, vehicles, or run-away horses. Double Fencing is extra prevention and protection.

With all the horse fencing in and around Kentucky, we have a dependable source and opportunity to reclaim the old fences, saving them from landfills.

Credit: https://evolutiamade.com/latest-projects/historical-information-our-kentucky-horse-fence-oak/

The Journey Begins

My first day ride was actually a little tame, only shooting to take some two lane black top and work my way south to Marietta, Ohio for the night. I ran south and hit OH route 800 off of route 22 and took 800 to OH route 26. I had never been on 26 before but saw a lot of curves on the trusted AAA folding map and decided that I needed to check it out. Of course, on the way, I managed to find roads that had recently been sealed with Ohio's trusted tar and chip method, always a joy to ride on with a motorcycle...NOT! Route 26 had at least three covered bridges along the way, however I managed to pass each of them before realizing it and with the road conditions a little sketchy from the tar and chip, I didn't stop to check it out. Going forward on this trip, I have to keep reminding myself that I chose shorter day rides to allow for those kind of stops without concerns for time.

Piedmont Lake

All in all, a good ride for the first day. Tuesday I head to Versailles, Kentucky for the night. I planned the route to try to avoid big cities and freeways, however the weather is going to be a little sketchy so we will see how the day progresses!

Peace and Love.

Bobbi

 

One for the road...

Greetings as I prepare to take off on a road trip again. I really wanted to run Route 66, the iconic Mother Road. However this year, besides being America's 250th birthday, it is also the 100th anniversary of Route 66 and there are a whole lot of folks who are making the most of it. Heck, there are people who are literally coming here from other countries and renting cars, RV's or motorcycles to drive Route 66 this year! The frustrating thing is that I intended to run Route 66 in 2024, right after I retired. And I made a pretty good start of it. Until my close encounter with an old Chevy pickup truck in Flippin, Arkansas. 

But we and my Road Queen are back together and we are going to make the best of it. I will be joining the Kid to walk my oldest granddaughter down the aisle on July 25th before pointing my front tire west. And, of course, I will be blogging as I go so if you care to follow along, I would be honored to have you as my virtual guest! 

In the mean time, I thought I would throw up a few photos from this year's motorcycle show at the Packard Museum in Warren, which ran from January through May. Enjoy and I will catch you down the road!!

Peace and Love All,

Bobbi