Day 2 of 3 "500 Milers"

Tonight, I exhaustively sit in a very nice hotel room in Oklahoma City, OK.....

Today we finished our 2nd 500 mile day.... yesterday, we rode through Arizona and stopped in Santa Rosa, NM, Right off of the Historic Route 66..... we ate at an original R-66 diner.... but it was pretty well modified to today's needs & comforts.... The food was great, but the atmosphere, just wasn't what I had imagined it would be for an Original Route 66 diner.

When we were getting on the bikes & ready to leave Hobo Joe's in Cottonwood Restaurant (the place we ate breakfast), I was asked to lead the pack out and through to Santa Rosa.... I felt pretty honored and pretty cool! Me, The Leader, riding Front Left in the pack.... how sweet is this ride gonna be..... See when you ride "front-left", its you that determines the speed, where & when we get gas & food.... basically you are the Road Captain", the Leader of the pack..... I graciously accepted.....

Now, when you are in a pack, you can only go as far as the Smallest Gas tank will allow. This particular bike can get about 70-80 miles per tank of gas... depending of a few things (traffic, head winds/tailwinds, etc). So being the leader you have to watch the odometer and speedo, and keep a mind's eye on where we are in reference to when we need to get gas and how far away the next gas station may be....

So, Here I am all proud to be up-front & left.... and I signal to exit for gas and the pack pulls into the Station like we've done it 1000 times before... we all fill up, some smoke their cigs, get the energy drinks, candy bars, stretch, etc.

It was all really cool! Then the fella with the small gas tank comes up to me and says "Boy I'm glad you are with us on this ride! Nobody else has a speedometer on their bike!"...... to say the least, it was a bit if an internal humbling experience.... thank goodness that I wasn't bragging about being up front! hahahaha!


Yesterday we left Cottonwood, AZ at 07:00 am.... right on time..... the weather was perfect for a nice long ride..... by the time it was 11:00am and we were in the high Sierra Desert, the air was thin (a lot thinner than Michigan's), and the air was Hot.... have you ever been in one of those Dry Saunas? Do you remember what it feels like to take a deep breath through your nose? It Hurts..... imagine that with every breath..... not so much because its hot, but because its dry!... See, that's what I love about riding a motorcycle.... you'd never be able to experience that in a car.... not to mention all the different smells of the desert.... the sage.... the dust.... the sunscreen & chap stick..... the exhaust of the bike in front of you, the faint smell of the spring flowers coming into bloom.....

I have never really thought that you could see the horizon like you can along I-40 in Texas and Oklahoma... LOL.... man you can see FOREVER!!!!! I've heard some people say that its boring and there is nothing to see.... PEOPLE, OPEN YOUR EYES!!!! LOL I wish object could talk.... like the old cars/trucks/tractors/fences/worn down & abandoned shacks that you can see out in the fields. I'd love to hear their stories!

Today, we had the same schedule..... breakfast at 6am and on the road by 7am.... I woke up a bit later than I wanted, but I still had plenty of time to get ready..... I looked out the window and the sky was overcast, but it didn't look too bad.... I got ready and was carrying my things down the hall when I turned to corner to walk out to my bike and the parking lot was soaking wet..... It had rained all night and was still raining!

by the time we finished breakfast it was done raining, but really foggy and it was misting pretty heavy.... we donned out rain gear and left at 7:00..... luck for us, it only misted about 60% of the day, mostly all in the morning.... but it never got warmer than 62 degrees all day..... who was complaining about the heat? LOL

We pulled into Amarillo, Texas to get gas..... of course I'm still leading... LOL.... everyone filled up and was ready to leave.... and my battery was D.E.A.D..... the good thing was it was lunch time and there was a MacDonald's right next to the station and an Auto parts place on the other side.... so I ended up buying a new battery, everyone else went to eat and when they were done, I had the new battery in and the bike up & running ready to roll out!....

Now my bike wasn't the first causality of the road..... of the 6 bikes in the pack mine was the 4th to have a Problem.... 2 are out and riding in the trailer.... One ignition system wend bad, and the other was a super bald tire and very unsafe to ride!


It rained a lot today so the camera stayed packed away where it was dry...... Tomorrow should be a better day! I'll do what I can to get some good shots!

Until next time..... keep the eyes open & your knees in the breeze!

---STOGIE---
.....o~`o