The Galloways

These are my good friends, Marc and Ellen Galloway and their daughter, Emily. They live in Oracle, Arizona which is just north of Tucson. They were very kind to me during my visit, feeding, housing, and entertaining me with gracious hospitality.

Tucson Arizona

These are just some photos I took from Big A Mountain overlooking Tucson. Nobody I know.

US Highway 191

I picked up US 191 at Springerville AZ and rode it 97 miles south to Clifton. It was a beautiful ride with lots of curves, switchbacks and scenery. At the end, it turns into a big copper mine, where Phelps Dodge Corp. is turning mountains into money.

Alpine, AZ

After a long days travel across the Chihuahuan Desert I began the ascent into the mountains of the Gila National Forest. I camped at a campground just north of Alpine, AZ. I got pretty cold overnight and have pretty much abandoned the idea of camping again. Between the shivering cold and the concern for bears, I didn't sleep well here.

I had brought a spare one gallon gas can with me in case I found myself too far between gas stops. Having decided that this was an unnecessary extra bulk item, I abandoned it on a picnic table. Someone will enjoy a brand new $10 gas can. Even though I over-packed, and carried many useless items, I still found myself in need of certain things. Like a battery charger for my camera. I'm about to run out of battery.

I ate dinner at the Bear Wallow Cafe in Alpine, and the food wasn't bad at all. The owner at one point, announced to the customers that: "The music you are hearing is none other than your very own waitress!", and proceeded to crank up a series of recordings that apparently the waitress had sung during some drunken karaoke night. I couldn't tell if he was proud of her or was trying to embarass her, but it was pretty awful. She seemed nice, but she can't carry a tune in a bucket.

Very Large Array

At Socorro, I got on US Hwy 60 (Hey!) and headed west. There are very few towns along this road between Socorro NM and Springerville AZ, so I filled up every time I saw a gas pump.

50 miles west of Socorro, I came across the VLA or Very Large Array. This is an astronomical radio observatory made of 27 huge antennas, each one 82 feet diameter. Here's a link: http://www.vla.nrao.edu/

This is an incredible place, and I took the full walking tour. You may remember the movie "Contact" with Jodie Foster? Part of that movie was filmed here at the VLA. I enjoyed my visit. It brought back my faith in human potential which I had previously lost at the roadside "petroglyphs" earlier in the day.

Unfortunately, the bookstore was closed, so I cannot mail you a postcard. However, they have a shop online at the above link. Go to it, buy a postcard, and pretend it's from me. In today's world of advanced technology, nothing is impossible.

Cuidado

I found this shady spot west of Socorro. The sign has a picture of a rattlesnake.

Moron Petroglyphs

Highway rest stops are few and far between in New Mexico. This makes it doubly disappointing when you find them disfigured by sad little persons of no imagination. This example is somewhere southeast of Socorro.

Valley of the Fires

I camped out at The Valley of the Fires National Recreation Area northwest of Carrizozo NM. This park is just off US 380. I had never heard of this place and had no idea what the facilities were like, but was pleasantly surprised. It is a beautifully well-maintained park in a lava flow area. According to this website, "the park has many square miles of buckled, twisted lava, part of an extensive flow up to 50 meters thick and over 45 miles long that originated from several volcanoes, including one vent now known as Little Black Peak, 9 miles northwest of the dusty, windswept town of Carrizozo. The lava is called the Malpais (Spanish for 'badlands'), a name also given to several other flows in New Mexico..."

My neighbors were a nice couple in an aging Chevy camper van who indicated that they were professional campers who spent the winters in Scottsdale AZ making enough money to live in campgrounds during the other 9 months of the year. Their names were Lea and Barry, and they shared their coffee with me. I didn't bring any coffee supplies with me. They were good company, free spirit types a little younger than me, and pretty bright. Barry knew what "Malpais" meant. I should have taken a picture of them, but I forgot, so I made a small sketch of them the way I'll always remember them: with coffee.

This was a great place to camp, but I'll bet it's unbearable in the summer.

Lincoln County New Mexico

Still heading west on US 380, I took a break at this rest stop somewhere between Lincoln, and Capitan, NM.

Bottomless Lakes State Park

This park is just east of Roswell, NM. I thought it'd be worth a look, but I didn't stay long.

Goodnight-Loving Trail

Continuing west, I crossed the Goodnight-Loving Trail and the Pecos River. The local custom is to pay homage to this famous trail by depositing empty beer bottles and dirty diapers near the marker. Having brought neither item with me, I swatted at the flies and moved on.

Tatum, New Mexico

I set out for my solo journey to Arizona on Sunday, first riding down to visit Barbara in Brownfield. She spoiled me and fed me well. Fully rested, I finally peeled away on Tuesday morning.

Leaving Brownfield, I went west on US Hwy 380. My first foreign port of call was Tatum, New Mexico for gas and corn dog at Allsup's. Tatum is a non-descript little town whose main thoroughfare is under construction, and whose high school mascot is apparently an evil, one-horned, weiner-chewing sock puppet.

Day One

And two.

Packing my bags.

"Books. I don't know of any other cyclist who takes books with him. They take a lot of space, but I have three of them anyway..." -Robert M. Pirsig

I missed another one

And this one was pretty close to home too.

My old friend Oz

A couple of weeks ago, an old Navy buddy of mine was in Oklahoma City on business, and I was in Wichita Falls on business so I drove up to OKC to visit him. His name is Arthur R. Osborn ("Oz"), and he's from the Boston area and now works for Raytheon in Washington DC. He is a terrific guy and was a great sailor/supervisor/engineer/mentor/friend. It is a testament to the incompetence of the US Navy that they pissed him off and let him get away, because Oz is exactly the kind of people that need to be running the US Navy and for that matter, the US Government. And after that, the Galactic Federation.

Near the end of our visit we mentioned motorcycles and it turns out he's got a pretty good one and sent me a picture of it. So by virtue of this post, I hereby welcome him as the newest member of the Middle Finger Yacht Club Motorcycle Auxiliary. I hope we all get to ride together some day.

Ride to Vega & Restaurant Review

Bill, Ron & I took a Thursday after work cruise to Vega via Boys Ranch Road. We stopped in at the newly opened Boot Hill Saloon & Grill in Vega. This restaurant is owned by Rory Schepisi, who was the runner-up in a big Food Network show which I never saw, but was told by my wife that it was a very big deal and that Rory got hosed. I did not take the attached picture of Rory, but stole it from the Amarillo Globe-News site (photo by Steve Lewis).

The food was quite good, but a tad pricey. You get what you pay for I guess. Ron got the Jack Ryan burger which was a big-ass burger with mushrooms and fries, $8. Bill got the Filet Mignon Chili, $9, and I got the Green Chile Chicken Won-tons, $9. My main complaint was that they seemed stingy with the ice tea. Especially after charging $3 for it.

Also, you would think that the Resistol-and-Starched-Wrangler crowd that this place attracts would be better at controlling their screaming children. Next time, I'm springing for the $5 three-day private club membership, and eating in the Saloon end. And drinking a beer as well, motorcycle safety not withstanding.

I give it 3.5 stars out of 5. They need to dump the smelly oil lamps too.