Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

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Dr. Strangelove
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by Dr. Strangelove »

For those of you who have not yet reached that pina colada, I mean pinnacle, of the human experience, let me share.

When your bloodline becomes of a certain age, there are many things in which we all dip our beaks to drink of the human experience.
One of those is having grand daughters young enough to be still babies in the grand scheme, but old enough to be MICE in The Nutcracker. My two oldest have reached that. Though I insisted to them and they vehemently denied that I smelled a rat, they still wore the mantle of rodent in the seasonal ballet. Living in different parts of town and having moms that worked different schedules mean that there were TWO Nutcrackers to deal with, so for the past two weekends I have been on Nutcracker duty.
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Mariella arm outstretched

It has been hectic and fun, but I know now that Pete Tchaikovsky, a grim man
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was decidedly tongue in cheek when naming his ballet, knowing full well the pain that countless dads and grand dads would endure for ages to come, attending.
No, I exaggerate, it is beautiful and there is a swell of pride and timelessness seeing your daughter watch her daughter in a role she performed, that is timeless and has been repeated for well over a century, generation after generation, and will for years to come.

But, damn, all that takes time...time that could be spent finishing a ride report, right?
So, back at it before something else, like a urology appointment back burners it.

First, last time I had left Chloride and visited Bosque del Apache

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and was now heading west on a cold clear New Mexico Sunday morning.

Heading out US 60 I see it coming. The last time I was in this neighborhood was about a dozen years ago driving back from a meeting in Phoenix. I had just seen "what she could do" and was slowing down and to my right, unexpectedly it was suddenly there. The VLA...The Very Large Array Radio Telescope
"The Very Large Array, one of the world's premier astronomical radio observatories, consists of 27 radio antennas in a Y-shaped configuration on the Plains of San Agustin fifty miles west of Socorro, New Mexico. Each antenna is 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter. The data from the antennas is combined electronically to give the resolution of an antenna 36km (22 miles) across, with the sensitivity of a dish 130 meters (422 feet) in diameter."

ON those plains they are the only thing around. They are far enough away that they look small, but they are not.

an iPhone video
http://vimeo.com/33945207

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If you enlarge this, on the antenna second from the left, Jodie Foster is doing a "round the world" with a Duncan yo-yo as Jake Busey "walks the dog." I thought Jake was Gary's brother and could only imagine under the tree at Christmas in the Busey household, but, turns out Jake is Gary's son and that is unfathomable to consider.

It was after this that the brake light went on whenever I applied the brakes. Although Stella! performed just fine, the light was troubling and bummed the rest of the ride. It stopped me from visiting Magdalena on the way back. It stopped me from having pie in Pie Town, how can you eat pie when your steed is telling you the brakes could be faulty and you're two thousand miles from home, as a drunken crow would fly. Now I had to plan the rest of the trip around the brake light.
I checked the usual suspects, like bulbs, and fluid levels and they looked ok, but a trip to a dealer was in order, as well as less "spirited" riding.
I still did the ride I wanted to do that day, but did so watching the the light, feeling no decrease in braking and listening to the Saints lose to St Louis...ugh. I lost my appetite for pie.

Pie Town does exist. It is not a hallucination. It consists of a few buildings spread like buckshot along a mile or so of US 60. As best as I could tell there were two pie shops, the more westerly had more cars, but, you know, that probably means nothing about the quality of the pies in these two confectionary establishments. It could be that Sal and Judy were riding along on their way to points west and discussed should they stop, not reaching a decision passing the more easterly shop, and coming to the inevitable, for them, conclusion by the second shop. Yeah, Judy, I want some pie. Me, too, Sal.
And my brake light was on, otherwise I, breaking with Sal and Judy, would have gone to the other place and had the, hell, I don't know. I wasn't there! I was watching my damn brake light and thinking do I want to go to Santa Fe or Albuquerque (Santa Fe) and is she behaving ok, Yes, and what if there is really something wrong...86k miles, 56 parsecs from home. I might have to trade her in. The things that run through your mind when exposed to Pie Town with no appetite and a girl that may be acting up. And why are motorcycle shops closed on Monday. No answers coming my way from my brain or from the ether
Come on, man!
I post my situation on this board.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=24082&hilit=brake+light

I get back to Socorro and check her out again, now dusk, no way for the Capitol Bar tonight
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The next am, Monday, now lots of light and I check her over again. I pull the cap off of the rear reservoir, is it a little low? maybe?
I stay in sections of town where it is very common to have a NAPA across the street. I avoid the O'Reilly parts of town. I do have standards.
NAPA: Dot 4 and a funnel, 7 bucks.

I put a few ccs in the reservoir, close her up and the light never comes on again, but I do not trust my diagnosis, nor my treatment, as I await the worst, but in truth feeling better with each passing light free mile.

Sandia BMW is a combined motorcycle and car dealership. Of course, the automobile side is wide open for business on this beautiful Monday afternoon, so having checked out location, I decide to stay close, a couple of blocks away and set up a time to bring in Stella! and get a rec for dinner, the aforementioned Horseman's Haven with their green chili cheeseburgers (no pictures of food).

When life gives you lemons, make chicken salad, or maybe I have that somehow screwed up, but I am in one of my favorite cities, Santa Fe, and while Stella! gets attention and I await the phone call from Greg, Thanks Greg and all you guys at Sandia, I visit.

Santa Fe is a great city and has what I have decided I think important in a city: history, food, music, culture.

Santa Fe's got that and more.
It's a very pretty city, easy to get around, a concentrated downtown area and a real nice feel, a vibe that is at once cool, but welcoming and comfortable, it could be pretentious if it wanted to be, but it doesn't. It is the kind of city, I think, where "airs" are unimportant, just be yourself, no one to perform for, or standard to meet. Behave and it will behave back.
It is an adult place, but not in any sense other than it has adult tastes, though with the green green square, children can run around and make noise and climb on the bandstand and be children. And that's cool. It is the kind of place where art shops and native crafts flow into the street, but there is not a huckster in sight and tourists do not wear "I'm with Stupid -->" T shirts.
Red chilis abound, but this is New Mexico and they look in place, and in truth the red is such a rich color that it matches and warms even more the golden adobe walls.
It is a city for the eye and the ear and taste. In a sense it is much like New Orleans, but where New Orleans is Catholic and French and creole ( and that is a real gumbo of a term ), Santa Fe is Catholic Spanish and Native American and forms its own gumbo. There is a unique comfort to a city that is hundreds of years old.
I like it tons.

I take the bus downtown
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no idea what this is, but my first thought was "get a room."
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so good
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so good
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I get the call back from Greg. Stella! lives to ride another day. They could not find anything wrong with the brakes or ABS. (They continue to perform fine).
We replace the rear pads as they were getting thin. They have trouble believing that a minimally low fluid level on the rear triggered the warning. I get a new PR3 for the rear, New sidestand switch, new clutch switch, and a general going over and by Wednesday afternoon I am on my way out of Santa Fe and heading for a couple of ruins and beyond.

more to come
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by Boxer »

So the Santa Fe police are using BMW Thumpers. How cool is that?
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by Dr. Strangelove »

Boxer wrote:So the Santa Fe police are using BMW Thumpers. How cool is that?
yep, and cool cases, too. Black looks good.
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by Ric »

Great stuff Dr. Stranglove. Thanks for the RR.

Oh and...

ROLL TIDE !!!!

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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by scootrr »

Thank you for the wonderful ride report and beautiful pictures Dr. Strangelove!
You really captured the region with your photos.
What lenses and editing software have you used for your photos?
Looking forward to reading/seeing more!
-Scootrr
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by Dr. Strangelove »

Ric wrote:Great stuff Dr. Stranglove. Thanks for the RR.

Oh and...

ROLL TIDE !!!!
I guess the Tigers have to beat Bama TWICE to be champs. If LSU loses is it best 2 of 3? or 3 of 5?

It will be exciting down here for that game. I am taking those days off. I will say that of all LSU fans I've ever known there has always been respect for the Alabama team, always. And it is usually a cleanly played game. Some people hate Saban, some don't (I don't). But, we all like Les Miles.

Geaux TIGERS, EAT 'EM UP!

and thanks, more to come though
Last edited by Dr. Strangelove on Fri Dec 23, 2011 7:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by Dr. Strangelove »

Nikon D700; Nikkor zoom 16-35 f4, mostly; and some with the 24-70 nikkor; oh and a very old nikkor 80-200 F4
Lightroom 3 for post

thanks
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by Ric »

Dr. Strangelove wrote:
Ric wrote:Great stuff Dr. Stranglove. Thanks for the RR.

Oh and...

ROLL TIDE !!!!
I guess the Tigers have to beat Bama TWICE to be champs. Is LSU loses is it best 2 of 3? or 3 of 5?

It will be exciting down here for that game. I am taking those days off. I will say that of all LSU fans I've ever known there has always been respect for the Alabama team, always. And it is usually a cleanly played game. Some people hate Saban, some don't (I don't). But, we all like Les Miles.

Geaux TIGERS, EAT 'EM UP!

and thanks, more to come though

Well.....it is what it is, you can't blame Bama for that. And in the game of football LSU will have to beat Alabama once to be NC.

LSU is not going to do themselves any favors going around making the arguement that they've beat Alabama. It will show a huge lack of class. I don't believe Les Miles has said he's beaten Alabama. The reason Bama is there and only dropped one place in the poles after playing LSU is because in the regulation 60 minute football game neither team won. They have to have someone fall in the polls so they come up with an over-time event after the game.

I hate OT ! Football was fine for what 150 years with W-L-T. Having an OT tie-breaker just isn't the truth as to what happened in the game of football. I wish they'd get rid of it. They use to go by other stats in the game to make a poll determination. Who knows, if it were still W-L-T LSU might have been the one to slip in the polls. Of course we'd still be where we are today and rightly so.

ROLL TIDE !!!!
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by Dr. Strangelove »

Well.....it is what it is, you can't blame Bama for that. And in the game of football LSU will have to beat Alabama once to be NC.
First,this should be in OFf topic
But, the overtime system is what it is
And they did beat bama once already, in November , in Tuscaloosa. Remember? If bama plays Charleston Southern enough times they could lose maybe.
Certainly if LSU plays Bama enough they will lose some win some. Alabama has a great team. LSU fans know that. It is not a lack of class that they do not want to play the same team twice. What may be though is all the whining that the "best" team lost back in November. Even tho admittedly LSU and Alabama may be the best two teams in the country there were valid arguments to have LSU play someone out of conference whom they had not played.
The game will be played and it will be good I suspect. But it is just a game. Class dictates that that is remembered.
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by Dr. Strangelove »

Back to the show...and sincere thanks for the kind words.

I got a little ahead of myself jumping to Santa Fe.
Remember my brake warning light issue that occurred in Socorro/Magdalena/Pie Town? Remember that the light seemed to stay off after I put that teeny bit ofDOT4 in the rear brake reservoir? Well, the distance from Socorro to Santa Fe is not that great and there's some stuff along the way, if you do not take the beaten path, called I 25.

As the miles mounted, with no brake warning light, and with the promise of slower speeds on backroads, that is how I made my way from A to B, from Socorro to Santa Fe.

But first...there are often threads about what to take on one of these trips and everybody has a different must have list, whether that is foldable torx wrenches( yes) or a picture of all your "gear" laid out (no), but there is one item that in my view is always INDISPENSABLE, and that item is duct tape. It can be carried in creative ways--i.e. don't take the spool. I carry mine wrapped around a bottle of rubbing alcohol, probably wrapping about 2-3 yards around the body of the bottle.

I use it to reinforce the hold of the cork on my companion bottle of scotch, because climbing would cause the cork to pop out, ruining my day and making most of what I carry smell like a distillery, a good single malt distillery, but that may not be appreciated at check in at the St James in Cimarron.

When Stella! tumbled over at 0mph outside the St James, the only wound was the turn signal lens came off. But with some duct tape, ah-ha

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When I was in Silver City and I heard a clicking/rattling sound coming from under the dash, I found that the horn bracket, having held for 7 years and 86,000 miles suffered a fatal break, the horn continuing on the "journey" held only by the hot and the ground wires and flailing apoplectically between the forks. Duct Tape, Kemosabe!

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I prefer white. Actually, I HAVE white. Any hurricane fearing home has duct tape, it's right up there with VisQween and plywood, but the duct tape does double duty.

So, taped, secure and no lights I head north, east then north to Santa Fe.

I 25 for a bit gets me to US 60, where I head east toward Abo, the Abo ruins. Don't blink or you'll miss it. I missed it and had to turn around and I hate to turn around on a well crowned two lane highway with Stella! having as much heft as she does and with my inseam getting no longer.

also, you want to do this at the right time of the year. Seems a blizzard just went through there and Google maps right now shows this warning for the area:
"DIFFICULT DRIVING CONDITIONS. U_S 60 FROM MILE MARKER 174 EAST TO MOUNTAINAIR IS SNOW PACKED AND ICY WITH ZERO VISIBILITY AND HIGH WINDS. TRAVEL IS DISCOURAGED."

I'll bet. That sounds awful.

During more benign times though it is beautiful.

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The Abo ruins

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and quiet

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and over 500 years old

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having a human presence you could feel

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and today visited by that Bechstein of automobiles

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a 1965 Thunderbird, the one with the "sequential" turn signals.

It was wandering to its new home, starting off life beyond Detroit, in Wisconsin, the environs of Milwaukee, but on her way to Perth.

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where Bill, her new owner tells me, there is a Thunderbird Club and parts are pretty readily available. It is where she will be taken apart and put back together. It is where she may get a facelift.
Bill and his wife were driving the T-Bird to Los Angeles where she will board a ship for transit. He tells me that at first she was losing about a quart of oil every hundred miles, and pulled terribly. An alignment corrected the pulling to a great extent and a new gasket, somewhere-cannot remember, made the girl no longer incontinent.

That, friends, is a journey. Milwaukee to Perth in a 1965 red Thunderbird, and they deemed to stop in Abo, to see even more formidable ruins than their means of transport.

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Some places you visit are strange feeling, but this was not. So, away from everything, it had a solitary dignity that demanded respect. I found myself in what was the nave of the church trying to picture and hear Midnight Mass, the Spaniards, their priests, the Native Americans, converts still clinging to ways and histories as old as these hills, huddled in the cold, the smell of smoke from warming fires, and song in the dark of a Christmas Eve, Ave Marias, Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring comingle with songs of their Land, of their ancestors, echos of Kivas, and reflections of grain and Mother Earth.
It was a pretty cool place. I had it almost to myself and the T-Bird was icing on the cake.

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Down the road, US 60, you come back to the 20th century, but not the 21st in Mountainaire, NM.
It is a poor town, but neat, seemingly an artsy type place, been there forever, old hotels, murals, but poverty around every corner. It had a feel of come-back-here-when-you-have-a-little-more-time about it. Stop for a burger, Maybe spend the night and then move on.

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Hell, I don't know, maybe these were the only three spots in town, maybe I found the pictures to suit my mood, or maybe there was something there. That's the way New Mexico is for me. It's subtle, but knows exactly what to say and how to say it. At least to me. But on my way out of town I found myself looking backward, reminding myself to remember this town. One other time that happened was in Duran, New Mexico. That ghost town I mentioned a while back, but I didn't have time to stop. You can't stop for everything, but you grab what you can and hold it and remember it. It's like that. You just take pictures with your brain of that which the camera does not, can not capture.

I tip toe Stella! in a gravelly 180 degree U turn and head back to US 60, pass through Mountainaire, and then north on 55 and left on 542 to the Quarai Ruins, another old mission that dates back to 1610. It had more the feel of a historical site, not a spread out as Abo, but still very interesting. by the way, the women built this. Yep.

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on the way in, a very typical New Mexico scene

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Feeling good, no lights, Stella! performing well, I tool into Santa Fe, visit Sandia BMW, set it up for tomorrow, and retreat to the Comfort inn with visions of a Green Chili Cheeseburger, dancing like sugarplums in my head.
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by Dr. Strangelove »

I wait and wait for Stella! to be ready, but I dare not hurry things along. Finally around 2pm they call and the girl is ready to roll. I say my good-byes to Greg, the service rep at Sandia BMW, and he tells me that Ben, the tech who worked on her says it feels like the "clutch is slipping a little." What???? No way, I just had the clutch replaced in June. Let's go talk to Ben.
Ben says it probably isn't and is probably related to the way he is shifting, since he noticed it, maybe, in first when starting out and it may be related to the throw of the clutch lever, which I have set close to the bar, while Ben is accustomed to the most distant setting. We decide the clutch is NOT slipping and I did not feel anything reminiscent of slip the whole way home or since.

It's backroads again out of Santa Fe and it is COLD and sunny, but Sol is losing elevation fast. Could I make it to Capitan, it would be a race against celestial mechanics.

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I am riding 54 south to Carrizozo, hanging a left and 380 to Capitan, the Home of Smokey Bear, dba Smokey THE Bear. It's getting colder. I stop on the side of the road to put on a neck warmer, heed the call of nature, and take in the expanse, no one around except the wind. In these parts the wind is alive.

I start the engine and my heart stops for a second as the engine turns, yeng, yeng yeng, slowly, but she catches and WTF is that about? Maybe it was just real cold and had been sitting for a couple of days, maybe the ignition was on in the shop. She's started fine since. But, I looked at that road, and although I usually stop at the crest of a rise, just in case I need to roll her to start, I have gravity on my side, even though...I would not want to do that, picturing fits and starts and toppling over when she doesn't catch. But, that nightmare will be saved for another day.

In Carrizozo, I stop at the FINA station to fill up at the corner of 54 and 380. Why do I mention this? Because this FINA station has the slowest pumps I have ever encountered in 50 years of gassing vehicles. 3.975 gallon easily took 12 minutes Glacially slow, evolutionarily slow, molasses slow. There was a guy next to me, there when I got there, filling his F150. His was just as slow and he said it had been pumping for about 20 minutes. He was a local. Scraggly Willie Nelson hair, 40 maybe, jeans, workshirt, going nowhere fast with that pump.
He asked the usual questions, then told me he rides also, a Harley. We did that bond thing talking about the pleasures of the road, the adventure of it, and I talked about how I thought New Mexico was just special. A big grin like an avalanche covers his face and he says,

"Yeah,"

and I say, "sometimes you're just riding through this wide open country, and you find yourself just looking around as you ride, wanting to remember how pretty it is," and he says,

"Yeah,"

and I say, "and you're riding and there's no one else around, you have it to yourself," and he says, "Yeah," that smile beaming more. And I say, "and it's like so few people know about it," and he says he likes it that way. "A secret," and he agrees. Of course it ain't no secret, just beyond Texas, but it is the freckle faced little sister, to the gorgeous blonds Colorado and Utah, but the one who grows up to be Julianne Moore. I didn't tell him that; I could've, but didn't because my tank was finally filling. I say I really like it and he says, "me, too."
This FINA is one of those you have to go inside to pay, we head inside, hand my mastercard to the morose short overweight woman who swipes it emotionless, puts it on the counter, slide the receipt, never looking my way, and slides it back after I sign, staring like Chow dog at a wooden fence. Nothing, no more words, I climb on Stella! she starts just fine, but I knew my new bud would have jumper cables should I need them. It was that kind of place.

I take a left on 380 and head to Capitan.

Capitan is the birthplace as well as final resting place of Smokey (THE) Bear.
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"On May 9, a tiny badly-singed cub was rescued. It was clinging to the side of a burnt pine tree. His feet and buttocks were badly burned; he was nicknamed Hotfoot. His burns were tended to overnight at the nearby Flatley Ranch. Then he was flown by Game Warden Ray Bell to the veterinary hospital in Santa Fe. Bell later kept Smokey in his home. That same year he was flown to the national zoo in Washington DC as the official live Smokey Bear. In July 1950 U.S. Senator Chaves of New Mexico presented smokey to the school children of America...New Mexico adopted the black bear as the state animal and on its golden anniversary in 1962, a female bear named Goldie, from the Lincoln Nat ional Forest , was sent to the Washington Zoo. No cubs were ever born to Smokey Bear and his mate. In the late 1970s, a State Smokey Bear Museum and Park was established, where the body of Smokey is emtombed. In 1976, when the original Smokey Bear died, upon urging by his friends, Smokey was brought back to the Capitan mountains."
Two points deserve mention.
1) I did a rotation in 1970 at Walter Reed (known as Walter Wonderful at the time) and had occasion to see Smokey. In real life he was a formidable animal not the
2) panty waist caniform, pictured above in his official portrait, of ambiguous gender at best

I stayed at The Smokey Bear Motel. I ate at the Smokey Bear Restaurant.
another sloppy video
http://vimeo.com/34352259

The next morning, 22 would have been balmy.

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That's 14F. I take off the bike cover and let Stella! bask in the rising sun, warming her joints, her bones, her circulation before I attempt to start her. Starts up briskly on the first try. Woo Hoo. I add that was after sitting in the sun for a a while and the temp had climbed to 32, 34. Still...

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So, I head out of New Mexico, leaving Capitan on the winding NM 246, stopping along the road to check out the Capitan Mountains, a long day ahead of me, getting to Llano, Tx that evening, and home the next day
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This is Stella!'s c0ckpit
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from left Zumo GPS with XM radio. Thermometer--Up is freezing. Valentine One radar detector with accessory display. Star shaped white thing is a Belkin Rockstar mixer so I can plug in the radar detector and the gps and XM and can hear all three when I plug in earbuds into an open port.
On right is XM antenna
Although it looks a little Rube Goldberg, it worked just fine.

So, that's it. I had wanted to "do" New Mexico for a few years and this gave me the opportunity to do about 2/3 of what I wanted to do. It did not disappoint by any estimate. I am ready to go back.

People have asked what my "favorite place" was. I think for sheer beauty probably the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest, both in Az. But there were so many really neat areas that though the PD and the PF were beautiful, I cannot say they were more my favorite than staying in Marie Lambert's haunted room, visiting Chloride, The Bosque del Apache, the VLA, Horseman's Haven and their green chili cheeseburger, Santa Fe and La Boca, Abo and the Thunderbird. And the Trail of the Mountain Spirits where I saw "something."
It was both as good as I had hoped it would be and then beat my expectations with those magical moments so common in the so-aptly named Land of Enchantment.

Hope you enjoyed it.

John
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by GypsyRR »

What? No report about Llano? Llano is sweet!

Seriously - that was an excellent report. I'd say the best yet in the Travels with Stella! I certainly found some new places to add to my list of places to see while passing through NM. The photography was the best yet also.

Thanks for taking the time to report. I know how much work it takes to prepare a report for the forum, and so I am very grateful for the time you took to show us NM and AZ. Enchanting, for sure.

=D> =D> =D>
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by Dr. Strangelove »

Thanks, Kristi.
It does take some time, but while doing it, you get to relive it a bit.
Photography? Loving my 16-35 zoom.

John
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by Boxer »

Great ride report John! It certainly raises the bar and gives me something to strive for. Excellent photos and super commentary.
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by mnnden »

What can I say?? Just great, I didn't want it to end. NM should use some of your pictures to promote tourism. mnn
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by Dr. Strangelove »

Thanks for the kind words. There were some really beautiful areas in a stark and desolate(wrong word) kind of way. It just felt ancient, otherworldly sometimes, but somehow familiar. It also was easy to anthropomorphize into something that felt, I don't know, caring? in some way. Only felt that in NM, not Co, or Az or Ut. Montana had it a bit, especially at Little Big Horn. And rural Kansas had it. Maybe these feelings are the late developing fruits of the 60s, and they are subtle, but as the miles pile on differences in the land and sky and air are there. New Mexico has it in spades.

Utah looks like another planet in many areas. And Colorado is Colorado. NM always looks like Earth but at a time before "before." I probably need to see more Az, but I have seen a bunch of it, and NM, unlike AZ, just keeps hitting you with one ancient majesty after another. Aside: The Vermillion Cliffs in AZ at dusk are something to see, they compare to NM's starkness, but in a different less personal way.
They go on for 20 miles or so like this, awe-inspiringly beautiful. The road parallels them. In the daytime a different look.

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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by bmwdave52 »

I'm sad to see it's over. That is,hands down, the best ride report I've ever seen! =D>
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by Dr. Strangelove »

wow. thanks

that covers a lot of territory. very kind to say.

John
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by ron prior »

What do you carry in the two red 'bottles' on back? Scotch? Bourbon?... ;)
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Re: Travels with Stella!: Occupy New Mexico & a little Az.

Post by Dr. Strangelove »

What do you carry in the two red 'bottles' on back? Scotch? Bourbon?... ;)
Please! I value my scotch more than that!
On these trips I carry Balvenie 12 Doublewood single malt, and that is carried in the luggage. The cork is duct taped so it doesn't pop off coming from my home submarine environment.

the red bottles...the one with the black stripe is oil, which I have always used, and the one without the black stripe is gas, that I have never used. Each bottle is an MSR fuel bottle 33 oz. More than enough oil for the trip and that amount of gas would get me 10 miles farther down the road, and allows great piece of mind. Oil in its original plastic bottle will ALWAYS leak no matter how careful you are. You never need a quart, too.
The "cages" that hold them are Blackburn water bottle cages for bicycles. The band holding them in place, though they are snug in the cages, is an RV sewer hookup band clamp. Got it at Pepboys for about $4 each, I think, and they have thumb screws for ease. I just bolted them to the side cases and they work fine. They never leak.

John
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