The Border.

 I'm in El Centro, CA after a great Thanksgiving in Nevada and a night in Blythe, CA.. Today's ride was nice. I passed a big sand dune area and there were hundreds of 4-wheelers and dune buggies and an occasional dirt bike cruising around. I'm about 10 miles from the border and will hit it tomorrow. A mixture of nervousness and excitement. Hopefully, by this time tomorrow, I'll be eating a fish taco in San Felipe.

Kirby taking care of the turkey.

Yummy appetizers. Notice the napkin arrangement. 

1st class all the way.

Somewhere in southern California. It's very dry here but irrigation canals from the Colorado river (I'm guessing) makes some of this area agricultural. 

Boulder City

 I'm hunkered down in Boulder City for a few days making preparations for crossing the border. Presently, I'm house-sitting for friends who went to San Diego. Dunbar (dog) and I have had a good time. Leaving Flagstaff, I finally found a nice stretch of Route 66 to ride in western AZ. I then headed north toward Boulder City and bucked a brutal crosswind for a couple hours. This town was created for the people who built Hoover Dam and has a very interesting history. Jason bought a deep fat fryer for the turkey and I'll have Thanksgiving dinner here. Hoping to tour the dam tomorrow after I get the Beast serviced.

Hostel in Flagstaff.

Nice motel/cafe on Route 66. Delicious green chile cheeseburger.

View of Lake Mead from Boulder City. I haven't seen much water for the last couple weeks.

There are mountains everywhere here.

Life at 7000 feet

I'm in Flagstaff, AZ. This is a great town and a guy told me yesterday that it had more snow than anyplace in the U.S.. No snow now although it was very cold last night. The ride from Silver City to Springerville was beautiful, as was the first 1/2 of yesterdays ride here. Unfortunately, I made another attempt at a Route 66 ride from Holbrook to Flagstaff. Once again, the highway did not exist for the most part. Holbrook had some sweet old motels and I tried to visit Winona, but there wasn't much to see. Eagles running through my head due to Winslow. Take it easy.

Hotel in Silver City. Nice old 19th century place but I didn't get to park in front of my room for the 1st time on the trip.

Somewhere near the NM/AZ border.

Petrified tree.

Moon over Flagstaff.

Truth or Consequences?

I'm in Silver City, NM now after spending 2 days in T or C with Blair and his wife Linda. They showed me around and the town has much more than it appears to on the surface. The art walk on Friday was great and their restaurant, Happy Belly Deli, had excellent food. Got to watch some 2-steppers on Saturday night. Today's ride was only about 90 miles but much of it was winding through the Gila National Forest. One pass I went through was at over 8000 ft.

Obligatory "bike in front of motel" photo. This one in Carrizozo.

Lava field near Valley of Fires park.

Roadside table near Trinity Site, where the first atomic bomb was detonated in 1945.

Turtleback Mountain as viewed from T or C.

Blair & Linda in front of their restaurant.

The healing waters of T or C (formerly Hot Springs, NM) have been famous for centuries. I toured several spas in town and took a soak at this one. 

This is the soaking room. Felt great after 1700 miles on the bike. Geronimo purportedly soaked in the waters in this area. 

View from Emory Pass. You can see some of the road I rode up on. 

Chino Copper Mine.

 Check it out on Google Maps if you want to see how massive it is.

In the hills.

Today was a nice ride. It was slushy when I woke up and I waited around until noon to go. It was still chilly. Wore the balaclava for the 1st time since the first day (Thanks Mr. Forster). After days of flat riding, I saw a mountain when I was getting near Roswell (El Capitan). Lots of cool Billy the Kid stuff a few miles back but I'm staying in "Zozo". Here are a few photos, mostly of this sweet little town. I asked several people where to eat and they all listed a couple but each said that Willie was the best although his restaurant is called Elsie's.

Cemetery near Lincoln.

Everything's big in Texas

Well, I was only in the panhandle. I left Oklahoma in cool drizzle. I tried to follow Route 66 but it is actually pretty difficult as the original highway was swallowed up by the interstate. I did see lots of buildings whose heyday was 50 years ago. I decided to switch and follow a highway that actually was in use and saw similar scenes although some of the businesses still exist. It stopped drizzling and the sun actually came out so I decided to make a run for the New Mexico border. The last stretch was very flat with cotton fields and lots of cattle.

Rainy start in OK

The Beast near Dawn, TX.

Lots of old motels. Some interesting stories if the walls could talk.

It's supposed to get chiily, windy and wet here late tonight. I'll figure out what to do tomorrow. If it's not too bad, I'll try to head somewhere between here and Truth or Consequences, my next visit with old friends.

1000 miles from nowhere.

That's the title of one of my favorite songs (Dwight Yoakam) and I just passed the 1000 mile mark for the trip. Today was the nicest weather and I probably could have gone further but I'm pretty bushed. I'm staying in a western Oklahoma town. The dirt here is red and there a lots of guys with cowboy hats and Natives. People have been very friendly. I stopped for breakfast in a little diner west of Tulsa (it was Jim Thorpe's hometown) and the people working there were very sweet. I'm going to try to get some pictures on. I have taken very few so far and didn't take any in Tulsa yesterday. It's been great catching up with friends. The last two nights, I stayed with friends that I hadn't seen for 14 years.

Hitting the road.

My nephew Arlo raking. I supervised.

My brother Ted and his daughter Mae.

Mike and Sandy in Missouri.

Headed for Tulsa

I haven't been near my computer much but wanted to let people know that I'm in Marshall, MO this morning and headed toward Tulsa today. I had a good visit with family and friends in Iowa City and last night with an old friend and his family. It's nice to catch up. Pictures in a few days.