Day 4/5 - Santa Fe

June 8/9, 2008 - Santa Fe - 0 Miles


Murial across from the Santa Fe downtown transit center.










Well, it's zero miles today if you don't count the ride to breakfast and the laundromat this morning. The plot got us. Whenever Bobby J pulled into Santa Fe his rear break pedal went "to the floor." No rear brake at all. Of course, this isn't the end of the world since 70% of stopping motorcycles rests on the front brake. But, it's not something one overlooks either. So, while he drove his bike to the Harley dealer I had breakfast and did needed laundry. (See, these trips are exciting.)

The bad news on the bike was that he'd somehow managed to pick up a pinhole sized leak in the brake lining. Sounds easy to me. But, of course, not to your average Harley dealer. He didn't have the brake lining in stock and "had no one to run down to Albuquerque to pick it up." So the bike stays in the shop and the part will be in sometime around 11:00 am tomorrow and he'll "get on it right away." That's Harley-speak for whenever and you can bet it'll be around 5:00 pm.

It's not too big a deal, though, because we'd planned to spend the day around Santa Fe anyway. Looks like we won't be able to make any of the two scenic loops I wanted to make to Taos and around Hwy 4 through San Ysidro. So, we'll have to make lemonade...or something that goes well with Tequilla.

So...it's Santa Fe today. Took a taxi down to the Plaza (it's not called the square here...they're pretty adamant about that...don't know why; it's a square). There is an open trolley tour route which passes by all the areas of interests and we'd originally planned to take it to get our bearings. According to the schedule it left the La Fonda Hotel at 12:30pm. We got to the La Fonda at about 12:15pm and took up stations at the pickup point (no, not the one in the hotel bar, the one for the trolley).

View from the front of the La Fonda Hotel toward the plaza. The two-story building directly across the plaza has a very good restaurant an excellent lady pops singer.

Amy D-W: You'll remember it. We had BBQ Salmon there one Sunday afternoon a few years ago.


View to the right from the hotel. The beautiful St. Francis Cathedral. Pretty stuff. Yesterday they had some colorful ceremony going on with people in interesting costumes. Still don't know what it was, but it was neat.

By about 12:45pm I'm thinking the plot's at work again so I called the trolley service. The lady said it was supposed to leave from there and that she'd have the manager come out to see us. Sure enough, about five minutes later, this guy comes out and tells us the trolley was full so it had already left. We were sort of incredulous, and said, "Full? How? We've been standing here for thirty minutes." He reiterated that he'd sold out early and so they left, adding, "You don't expect us to wait around full do you?" We told him no, but asked how were we supposed to know it as potential customers. He mumbled something and started walking away, so I just said forget it, we're not giving any money to this operation and we left.

Service: it's just not what it used to be. Is Tom Peters still alive? If so, he's out with Diogenes on a futile mission.

Trolley? Trolley? We don' need no stinkin' trolley! We took off on our own.

First stop, Loretto Chapel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretto_Chapel). Amazing piece of carpentry, and I know two things about the story behind it: 1) I know enough to know I don't know everything, and 2) wasn't Jesus a carpenter? Hmmmm.



It's a beautiful church.




















The vestry.












The "Stair"

It's really a work of art. And equally impressive is the skill with which the carpenter put it together. The banister was added much later. And steel supports were added at the top where it meets the landing and at a couple of other places. But you can see how it was a free-standing, almost free-floating stair and absolutely a work of art.


This view gives a little of the magic effect the carpenter used in curving and molding the wood into the shape needed for such an enclosed space. I think of shipbuilding carpenters when I see wood warped in such ways. They would generally have been the only ones used to performing such acts with wood at the time. But then, there's that other theory too.









The lounge at the La Fonda hotel. A lot of mahogany, dark, cool interior. And excellent Mexican food. Bobby J had the chili rellenos and I had shredded beef enchiladas. Both meals came with the usual refried beans and, a treat, posole. Not the hominy soup usually associated with the name, but hominy cooked down to almost pasta-like consistency. They were excellent...but, it turns out, problematic.



Caught the "M' line public transit to Museum Hill. Ironically named route, huh? These Marketing/PR people must have IQs approaching 20, maybe even 30.


Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

Lots of really great weaving exhibited, both cloth and basket weaving. Additionally, there is a lot of pottery, something these folks can really do. They carried all the usual Indian subjects, bows, arrowheads, arrows, etc. Good stuff, but the pottery and the weaving is really special. I know that because I watch Antiques Roadshow.





They had a show going on about Indian comic art. One was a take off from the famous America Man pictograph in Utah, showing him as Captain America. I snapped this shot before asking if we could take pictures. We couldn't. The point here is I can understand why this is in a museum; sort of a take off on modernization of ancient art. (The original pictograph dates back to the Anasazi.)

But there are always exhibits I just can't figure out for the life of me why they are spending money and wasting my time with such stuff. This (illegal) photo is of an exhibit showing what Indian trading posts looked like 50-60 years ago.














For cryin' out loud, using this as a guideline I'm a museum piece! (For those saying, "Well, Duh," you can kiss my Texas butt.)

It was about 3:30pm when we got there, and they close at 5:00pm so our time was limited. The guy selling tickets was a decent sort, though, he post-dated our tickets for tomorrow so we can go back for more. This was a really nice thing to do and I hope he doesn't regret it. It turns out, with refried beans the posole is absolutely a deadly combination. And museums are so quiet. We'll understand it if they stop us at the door tomorrow.



By 5:00pm I'm tired of walking and ready for some quality time with a Lazy Boy recliner. More later.

Day 3- Santa Fe

June 8, 2008 Carlsbad to Santa Fe 270 Miles


My internal clock doesn't recognize Mountain Time. Actually, on most of these trips it often doesn't recognize night time. Woke up at 6:30am my time. Just happened to be 5:30 in New Mexico. By the time I'd packed up it was 6:00am and the hotel breakfast bar was open; breakfast being a relative thing. A bowl of cereal, coffee, and orange juice pales miserably against Jim's Chili and Eggs. The songwriter was right: What a difference a day makes.

On the road by 6:30, north bound on Hwy 285 for Santa Fe. Didn't get too far. Saw a good looking breakfast place in Artesia and pulled in for something that'd stick to the ribs. No chili and eggs on the menu but they had eggs and assado. Meat stew and eggs? Works for me when there's no chili. (After all, what's chili if not a meat stew?)

They must have a hardier bunch of Mexican ancestors here in New Mexico than our standard Texas compadres. The carne assado I'm used to in Texas is an extremely flavorable beef (or pork) stew with little heat. In New Mexico it practically jumps off the plate and bites you. Good flavor though. (Memo to Dr. Leachman, cardiologist: I'm trying to be good...it's just so hard to do.)

From Carlsbad to Santa Fe you are essentially going up, from 3300 feet to 7000 feet. The difference makes a difference. The ride was nice and cool the entire way. In fact, when I intersected I-40 at Clines Corners, I pulled over and donned the riding jacket. The temperature here is 10-15 degrees cooler than I've been experiencing so far. And that is a good thing.

Just north of Clines Corners I spotted a couple of pronghorn antelope. A few miles further on there was a small gathering of about eight grazing away about a hundred yards off the highway. I decided if I saw another I would try to take a couple of pictures. That is sometime problematic with Betsy big mouth. (Yeah, I know, I liked her pipes yesterday...but this is today.) Sure enough, a few miles down the highway I spotted a male off to the right, sort of hunkered down, as if bedding down for the day. I pulled in the clutch and let Betsy come to a stop behind a small mound next to the side of the road, grabbed my big camera and walked toward the crest of the mound. I stopped when my head had cleared the mound and I could have a clear shot of the antelope.



Evidently, he had heard me and stood up. I activated the zoom, focused, and took this picture.










Then he amazed me, he started walking directly toward me. Bobby J reports that is how they hunt them. They are very inquisitive so hunters will tie a little piece of colored cloth, or something unusual to a fence or piece of terrain and the antelope will be curious and check it out. Very believable story. I stood very still and he walked to within seventy-five yards of me, easy shooting range. All the while, looking as if he was saying, "Who the crap are you, and what are you doing out here interrupting my nap?"















Pulled into Santa Fe about 12:00 noon and located the Residence Inn and Bobby J. Bob's outdone himself, spending some of the million or so Marriot points he has acquired over the years to get us a two bedroom suite with living room, kitchen, etc. Sure a long way from that Travelodge in San Antonio the other night.

Made two trips for beers, snacks, ice, and other junk food possibles. Required two trips because I forgot the beer. Boy, that's how you know you're getting old. You forget the beer. Oh well, once acquired, I remembered how to drink it.

Bobby J and I have just relaxed this afternoon and soaked in a cool Sunday in Santa Fe, vegging out (oh, if it were only vegetables) awaiting this evening. I think I have a taste for BBQ Salmon. And I know where to get it.

Tomorrow? Don't know for sure. But I'm pretty sure it'll have something to do with Indians, museums, and food and drink.

Day 2 - Carlsbad, NM

June 7, 2008 San Antonio to Carlsbad, NM - 522 Miles


Geiger's Third Postulate supposes that God isn't a mathematician. Why? Easy, He didn't make enough horse's heads to go around.

Latest proof is the people who checked into the two rooms adjacent to me last night in San Antonio. The first load, and I mean load, came in around 2:30am and emptied what seemed to be a 40 foot van out of a pickup crew-cab. The noise wasn't all that bad, it was the fact that it took four or five trips and, with each trip, they had to lock the truck's doors. And that was accomplished with that paragon of technology, the key fob...you know, the one that blows the damn horn to tell you it's locked. How obtuse can you be?

At 3:30am, approximately fifteen minutes after I'd finally been able to get back to sleep, the next caravan came in. They didn't lock their car doors after every trip, they just stood outside the door and talked very loudly for twenty minutes. This in spite of me opening the drapes and then the door and looking out. One lady looked at me and just kept talking. First class members of the Royal TOOP society. A TOOP? Someone who is The Only One on Planet.

Have I ever mentioned Betsy's pipes? Great pipes, loud Vance & Hines. Practically capable of breaking class if you rev it high enough, close enough. I didn't break their windows at 6:30 this morning. I came close though. Unfortunately, some innocents were caught in the action too, but that what happens to innocents, isn't it?

Pulled into Jim's Restaurant for the best breakfast on the planet. For those who don't recognize it, it's chili and eggs. I know it sounds terrible, but it definitely isn't.

Perhaps, in order to understand it, you might begin as I did. Go to Jim's about 2:30 in the morning after lots and lots of beer and/or young scotches (12-14 year olds). That works. And well. From that point on, it's the best breakfast on the planet.

Had to pass on the refried beans, though. They get a little intense down the road and generate terrible questions dealing with the various states of matter.


Pulled out of Jim's on I-10 about 8:00am bound west. Stopped in Sonora, TX to collect yet another courthouse.

Sutton County CH, Sonora, TX.


Note: Click on any picture to enlarge











I took this route for two reasons. First, I've been out the Ft. Worth-Amarillo-Dalhart route. And the Abilene-Lubbock-Clovis route. Needed New Road. Bad.

The other reason for this route is I wanted to see the Castle Gap area. I'm sure not many are familiar with this topographical feature, but it is a key location in early Texas history. The Castle Mountains are a north-to-south, low-ranging collection of hills west of San Angelo rising to heights of between 2,000 and 3,200 feet. Given today's road-building capability, especially thanks to Mr. Nobel, they are barely a technological gnat to our westward expansion fly swatter. But to early Texas settlers, the Spanish, and the native Americans before them, they were a serious blockade in any journey west and south through Mexico. Difficult even for a man on horseback, they were insurmountable by wagons. Between the towns of McCamey and Crane off highway 385 north, stands Castle Gap, a gap between Castle and King mountain low and flat enough to drive herds of cattle. It was the historic "roadway" for the Comanche in their raids south to Mexico, and the way of Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving in driving cattle into New Mexico to supply Indian reservations.

The usual route west was the Middle Concho River out of San Angelo. It peters out about eighty miles out, but points almost directly to Castle Gap. Unfortunately, no roads run this route these days, so I took Hwy 277 North out of Sonora to Hwy 190 West at Eldorado. This route parallels I-10W, but at least it isn't interstate. It was pretty easy to imagine cowboys in the 1880s driving herds through the area to Castle Gap and on to Horsehead Crossing on the Pecos river. It's pretty interesting history, but I'll leave you to that research yourself if you're interested. I can feel some going to sleep already. Turned north on Hwy 385 at McCamey.

Modern solution to the rising hills of the Castle Mountains.












Pulled into McCamey about 1:00pm. Folks do have a sense of humor out here.















Castle Gap











Yes, it isn't exciting. And I wasn't about to ride down six or seven miles of calieche road to see if it got more exciting. It's the history that happened around here that matters. And this was an important place in the history of Texas.



Betsy - on a drive through west Texas.













On many flights westward to New Mexico and California I'd noticed some rather strange looking features in this area. Having spent some time in Utah it looked almost like the storage bunkers used at the Dugway Proving Ground to store chemical and biological weapons. Each "pod" is a little site off by itself, but, from the air, it looks like a lot of empty housing plats. I obviously didn't think that's what this was, but it certainly looked like it. I had an opinion and stopped in Crane, TX for a late lunch and to prove it out.

This is how it looks from an airplane at 28,000 feet or so.

This is the famous Permian Basin and each little white dot is a "location." That's oil speak for a well. And with oil at $138 a barrel, you can bet damn near every one of them is pumping away.

After lunch I took Hwy 385 north to Odessa, then I-20 to Pecos, and then Hwy 285 north to Carlsbad. Got a little hot out here, but, as they say, "It's a dry heat." Yep...it is...and it's hot! Ran through a couple of small rain showers and didn't mind the minor relief.

Noticed a lot of dead animals off the side of the roads today. Don't understand why, but they're out there at night attacking bumpers. Couple of possums, two very large coyotes, and a bunch of raccoons. Must have been a big raccoon meeting last night and everybody tried to come. Quite a few didn't make it. Made me wonder if Ralph and Norton made it through the night. (If anyone gets that reference, drop me a comment.)

Tomorrow, Sante Fe and meeting up with Bobby J. who is, I think, there already. After that, we'll see.

Day 1 - San Antonio

June 6, 2008 Spring to San Antonio - 215 Miles


First day luck is holding fast and firm. A friend, Roger R., relates his father's belief that the fickle finger of fate lies in wait to take a poke at all of us. Whenever anything goes awry his dad would attribute it to fate's plot. "The Plot got him" he'd say.

Packed up Thursday night ready to pull out to work Friday morning and leave from there. I did some minor electrical work Thursday night and, imagine my surprise when I opened the garage door and saw a brilliant red glow from Betsy's taillight. Yup, the Plot got me. I left the key on accessory all night long. The battery was low and, for the first time ever, Betsy failed to crank. I flooded her before she caught and the battery just didn't have enough left to do the job. I tried charging it but it wouldn't work. I even changed out the spark plugs and she still didn't go. So...I left her on trickle charge and drove the car to work not knowing if I was leaving for my trip or not.

The good news is they ran me out of the office about 1:30pm and when I got home Betsy fired right up and said, "Let's go!" We did. Drove to San Antonio and stopped for the night. Why San Antonio? Breakfast, of course.

Headin' Out Again

Well, I'm pulling out again. Leaving Friday afternoon heading for New Mexico and Arizona.

The main impetus for this trip is to visit Canyon De Chelly in northwestern Arizona, my interest spurred by the the book 'Blood and Thunder' by Hampton Sides (http://www.randomhouse.com/doubleday/bloodandthunder/). My buddy, Bobby J, and I, are enthusiastic fans of western Indian culture, especially those in the Four Corners area written so eloquently of by Tony Hillerman. Additionally, I'm a big fan of Kit Carson, one of the most underrated overachievers in American History.

In any event, upon reading Mr. Sides I learned of Canyon De Chelly and its importance to the Navaho. So...to shorten the story, Bobby J and I decided to check it out, and we are meeting in Santa Fe on Sunday the 8th. We'll check out the northern New Mexico area then ride over through Gallup and up to Chinle later in the week.

Since I can't for the life of me avoid history, I'm taking a sort of longer way out so I can visit a couple of key sites associated with the history of western Texas. I'll fill that information in as I go. So...see you on the road.

Jerry