oct 12th- today was bittersweet and disappointed in myself as well.

No mark, not my first salad... but they have been far and few in between. lol

Today was a series of misfortunate events.  I woke up in a bad mood, cranky, down, fatigued and with body aches but after a quick call from someone, I felt better. heh.  odd how that happens.  I was sneezing all last night and coughing a lot.  I feel sick.  Either a cold or bronchitis, i don't know, but my head hasn't stopped pounding and i haven't stopped sneezing.

My choice of clothing is next to nil, and i knew there was a laundromat nearby.  In haste i went!  It was open and they had a soap dispenser.  Now for the change machine.  No luck there.  DAMMIT  I guess from now on I'll have to keep about $5 of quarters on me for that, or cleaning the bike (which i haven't done since the last tip over in what... Oklahoma? eons ago).

I reuse clothing on the road.  Why the hell not? i know i stink, but i don't care. heh.
I look like hell anyways with the dirty smelly adventure suit, the nasty beard i haven't shaved since i left home, and the bad hair from the helmet.  Did i mention boot feet?  heh.  That's what happens when you wear wool socks in the desert.

I wanted to make up some miles today, so off on the interstate i went, hoping to be well within the Texas border by nightfall.

riding into the sunrise

"Blue Steel"

I got to Las Cruces and started looking at the GPS for starbucks locations.  I love how the GPS brings you to a location that doesn't exist... i mean, a big empty lot of weeds... not even a building? arg.  2nd annoyance of the day.
See the white car in the middle of the picture? i know the picture is small (even if you click on it) but take a look at the tires sticking out a good 4-5 inches from the body.  I bet when he honks, it's "La Cucaracha".

after a few more false positives on the GPS, i went finally found a starbucks.  Yes i like coffee, no it's not the only reason.  I needed to find a cycle shop to see if they had a tire.

I really didn't like the looks of the tire.  The tread was still ok, but i was worried it would chunk out, and then i'd be screwed.

I went online and found a shop about 6 miles away.  Off i went to find the store was closed.  crap.  annoyance number 4? 5?
I rode around and found a small shop.  He didn't have anything but directed me to a big shop that would have it for sure.
I went to Las Cruces Motorsports and they seemed to have everything in there.  Suzuki, Kawi, Yamaha, Big Dawg choppers, Honda, Quads, etc.  Jesse at the parts counter tried in vain to find one, but he said most stores don't hold inventory.  He called another store, and that store had a dunlop D607 in stock.  The other store was way south in Santa Teresa, on the border of El Paso Texas.  My aim to to head north as i had "planned" to visit something very important up there.

While i was waiting for Jesse, i picked up some very sweet, but very expensive gloves ($120).  pictures later.

Oh well, the tire was more important, so i headed south, not knowing the exact location of the store.  The address he gave me didn't exist as per the GPS, but i figured a local would know.

Driving through Texas, i stopped at the visitor information and picked up some info and maps

I wasted a lot of time looking for it, driving around Santa Teresa. Locals didn't know the street i was given.  I called the number Jesse gave me, and the parts guy at the Santa Teresa motorsports gave me directions.
I was really annoyed by now. I hate wasting time more than anything.
I found the shop and they started right away on the tire  It was about 1pm.  It was going to take some time and i hadn't eaten all day so i headed out to find a restaurant.
I saw this local Mexican joint called "Ramon's" and it was filled with Mexicans.  Worth a shot.

the usual basket of chips, with a really hot sauce.  it was burning my mouth.  Maybe they were playing a joke on me and saying "haha, look at the gringo".  She did keep speaking spanish to me and then switch over to english.  I guess when you're about 10 miles from the mexican border, at the border town, people speak spanish.  I ordered and she dropped something else off at the table.

a little bowl of chicken soup? odd.  my order didn't come with soup, nor did i ask for it.  I was a nice home made soup though... wish the bowl was bigger the way i felt.

My food arrived.  Shredded beef tacos with beans and rice.

This was bland compared to mexican food i had in southern california.  oh well, maybe they were gringo tacos.  Maybe because my head is stuffed up i couldn't taste much.  who knows... it was still good though.

I got back to the shop and the mechanic said i was really low on oil. damn... i know i was running it hard... i should check it more often.
I asked for an oil change and filter, and that was done.

Went to get gas, put the bike on the stand and left the helmet on the back of the bike.  dammit.  helmet bounced a few times off the ground.

price tag for oil change and rear tire. ~250. ouch.  I still had time to go visit my important point of interest.  The White Sands national monument.  I won't go into a geography/history lesson, so go here

The monument is actually surrounded by the white sands missle range.  This is where the first atomic bomb was ever fired.  Hence the reason i think it's important to visit.

On the way there, the bike was acting really strange.  If i moved around a little, the whole bike started going into a wobble.  This was scary.  also, it seems that i lost a bunch of power. crap!
I was getting pissed off at this point.  another sore point is that my GPS sound was starting to not function at all.  I knew this was a risk because it was failing two years ago, and was replaced under warranty last year.  Because i was leaving on my trip last year and they didn't have the part in stock, they shipped me back the old one, and i got it working well enough for the duration of that trip.  I figured i'd risk the old  part again so i'll have a new one to put on when i get back home.  too many annoyances... AHHHHHHHHHHHH1!!!

Here's a pano of a small part of the bomb range.

I pulled over and figured that because it was a new tire, i should have lower air in it.  I lowered the pressure which seemed to help.  I checked the oil and i was way above the fill line.  WTF is wrong with you mechanics.  there's a fill line for a reason.  Kawasaki engineers are smarter and get paid more than you, so do what they tell you. piss me off.  Now the air filter will be screwed again, and i'll gum up the engine and possibly the carb.

I got to White Sands (going through yet another Border patrol checkpoint.. .these guys are serious about illegals)...

Stunning scenery.  I'll let the pictures do the talking.

at 12x zoom.  that person was a spec to the naked eye

My attempt at some panoramic shots... not bad, not great... but i'm lazy.

as you can tell, i'm way up high on one of the dunes.  People sled and sand board on these all the time.  entry fee to the monument btw? $3.  wow. dirt cheap, and it's good for a week.  seriously.

Walking down the dune, it reminded me of walking down a snow slope and i almost caught myself being giddy.  heh.  It was bittersweet though.  Was i starting to become homesick?  was everything wearing me down? did it remind me how far i really was from home? where is home? what's at home for me? blah.

"I don't know, I don't care, it doesn't make any difference"~ albert einstien.

Quite fitting, as his work in the field helped develop the bomb that was tested in this missile range.

I got some souvenirs, and let the GPS plot a course for me.  The GPS sounds cutting out were bugging me.  There's a loose connection inside the base and the only way to get it working is to push on the audio cable a certain way and hold it there.  Zip ties to the rescue.  I used a few small ones, and so far so good.  I wonder if it will last a day, a week, or until i get home. heh.  If not, no more music or directions until then.

Next Stop, New Orleans.  Ambitious i know as it's over 1000 miles away. I didn't feel like thinking at this point.  I don't think there's much in Texas i want to see.  I'm here to see natural wonders, odd wonders and real human achievements.  Not big shopping malls. blah.

"Clouded judgement"

I passed through Alamgordo, and the GPS only had hits for the regular chains of motels.  I figured i'd keep going.

GPS says "over those mountains is what you seek"

Up i went... and up and up... I didn't realize it but i was going through Lincoln National forest. Neato.
it's a real twisty road actually, going through a tunnel so far... and up some more i went
last picture of that area.

and up we went.  The sun went down at an alarming rate and was twilight at this time and cold. real cold.

I looked around  for a room as it was getting dark, there are many animals, this is a very twisty/technical road, there are rocks all over the road and i just didn't feel like riding any more. I found a place called the Cross-eyed Moose and Alpine Motel in Cloudcroft.  that's a winner for sure.

It's a little cheesy , but i hope to get pics in the morning of the cross-eyed moose. heh.
the motel was a little on the expensive side, but it has good wifi (except i'm the furthest from it so it cuts out) a good shower, a nice soft bed, and best of all, heat on demand.  It's a retro court type, single story.  The neat thing is this old 60s toaster type heater in the washroom.  heh. step out of the shower and into the heat.  I hope they don't get mad i used all their facial tissues (on my nose)

I wouldn't be surprised if there's frost on the bike in the morning.
Thankfully i bought these bad boys today.

tourmaster winter gloves.  awesome.

comes with a rain liner so the leather doesn't get soaked.  the liner is in the zipper above (and it's attached to the glove on the inside so you won't lose it.

not sure if you can make it out, but check out the thumb... it has a wiper blade, and the liner has a slit for the blade to go through.  like i said, good gloves, worth the $$.


So why bittersweet and disappointed in myself?
I should have bought the tire and strapped it on the bike and change it a long time down the road.  I should have done my own oil. bittersweet in the sense that i have a new tire and fresh oil and filter.
The gps is crapping out, but i fixed it for now...
Hemlet fell about 4 feet to the ground.  a little scuff and no cracks... it didn't bounce so much as roll around.  maybe it hit the ground at the right angle.  doesn't matter, can't find a good replacement out here. (not many wear helmets)
Saw the white sands. bittersweet.

disappointed in myself... spent way too much money today... upwards of $600.  that's bad.  guess i'll just skip a meal or two... oh wait, already skipped supper. heh.

Time to go have a nice tall chat with my two new best friends Mr. Mist and Dr. Pepper.

oct 11th, day 22... i'm coming home.

I am coming home... just a little detour first... I still need to get to Florida, try out some roads in the south, find the best fried chicken in the world, and so on. hah.  I'm coming home, the long way 'round.

This gave me the best feeling this morning.

through the peep hole, Beast is in his spot.

Since Beast is not only my way home, but my home for the time being, it's nice to know someone didn't pick it up and put it in the back of a truck.

Turn on the shower and ... it the lever to turn on the shower head is busted.  CRAP.  oh well, sink wash it is.  I'm travelling, i don't care if i stink. hah.

I got my morning americano at Starbucks, and bumped into Don and Mark.(forgive me if i got the names wrong, bad memory! send me an email!)  Nice guys, work in telecom as well.  Don's a geek like i am :)  You wouldn't know it but Yuma has a population of 193,000.  wow.  i thought it was more like 20,000.  haha...  Yuma is surrounded by bases and proving grounds.  Look at a map sometime.  see the greyed out area? Military.  lots around here.

Before i forget, i did eat after posting my blog.  I wasn't really hungry, but knew i had to eat.  I went for a walk and next door to the motel was a jack in the box.  in i went.

some turkey bacon melt thing, curly fries and a strawberry banana smoothie.  maybe  i wasn't hungry but it tasted like crap.  The smoothie was ok, but the mix came in a carton.  meh.  all fake crap.  gimme real fruit! It had turkey, so happy thanksgiving to me.  meh.

I wanted to get a lot of miles in today, but had two stops to make before i did so.
First stop was only a few blocks away to my surprise.

A muffler man!

The second was about a half hour drive out of my way, but it was a nice ride getting there.  A lot of agriculture going on around here and a lot of workers doing things manually.  I saw some heavy equipment, but not much.  Just bus loads of workers.

some sort of fog or something.  maybe due to all the water they are spraying? it was a neat site.  Oh, and this area smelled great.  Further along i smelled some herb farms (thyme and coriander i think)  

The second, another oddity.  heh.

what's this you say?

a tiny church!

Odd to put the tiny church in the middle of ... well, there's nothing but desert all over. hah.

if you think the desert scenery is boring, it isn't.  it's pretty awesome actually.

I call this pose "determination"

my first big cactus!  At the rest stop before the Sonoran national monument.

The Sonoran Desert is ... hot.
I was starting to get really hungry, and really low on fuel.  I stopped into a town called Gila Bend.  Did some shopping for some things, and looked around for a family style restaurant.  I hate chains.

Found this place:

The Space age restaurant.  attached to a best western i believe, but i used to be The Space Age Lodge and Restaurant.  Neato, established in 1963.  renovated in 1996, burned in 1998 and remodeled again.  Neato.  

 I was hungry but wanted something... light.  I went for an open salad bar and a BLT.
I guess I've been missing veggies in my diet, so i went to work.

I started off with this:

a mostly caesar salad. nom nom nom.

then i went back and got this

Garden salad with almost everything,. I love beets and baby corn. nom nom nom

this was then delivered to me

BLT on sourdough

I wanted more salad bar, so i went back.

two pasta, one potato and the best strawberries I've ever had.

seriously.  Those strawberries were so sweet and juicy it was something else.  Never had any like it before.   We get these (picked at the wrong time) from the USA, and shipped up to canada and they taste... ok.  not like these.  I think i'll need to stop at a fruit vendor at the side of the road and pick up some fruits for snacks.

I walked outside and checked the bike over, specifically the back tire to see how much life it has left.  I really should do more checks on the bike (all motorcyclists should do this each and every time they get on it).  I'm glad i did, because it looks like i ran over something.

Nasty Gash!

now i was a little worried.  will the tire hold together going 88 mph? will it fail and i go careening off the road? will it last until i find a replacement? will there be a replacement down the road? AHHHH...  i didn't panic though.  I have inner tubes and it's not a puncture, so i should be ok for a little while.

I call this pose "Stoic"

the long road is long

San Simeon enjoying the ride and the view

I enjoyed going through the desert (even though i was baking) as i had never seen a cactus that wasn't in a pot before. heh.  ya, not really a worldly man, am i.

seems this cactus was going to jump on the bike and go for a ride. heh.

me in full ATGATT... in the desert.  also proof that i didn't hire a stunt double.

This was just outside of Tucson, where the GPS brought me to a starbucks that didn't exist. dammit!  I needed wifi now to find a motorcycle shop so i could find a tire.
One thing to note, it seemed dead today.  Most shops closed, etc.  Then i remembered it's Columbus day. DAMMIT!.

I did manage to find a starbucks and found two possible places.  Scratch that, one is closed on mondays (and holidays) I headed to the other.
Only to find the store doesn't exist.  dammit.

I saw a guy on a 1984 bmw r75.  Nice bike in nice shape.  I asked him if there were any shops nearby, and he said there is one about a block away!  Another biker (hd ultra) admired my bike at this time too.  Odd how i get approached all the time with people saying that they ride and they like my bike and the way i outfitted it.  Beast is happy. heh.  makes me think i did the right  choice. (although i'd change the sprockets to go highway gearing)  The BMW owner (Ron Mario) said that if i'm ever in town again, we should go for a ride.  If i am, i'll take him up on it.  Nice fellows.

I headed to the motorcycle shop and they tried to help me out, but my tires are oddball sized.  at 90/90-21 front and 130/80-17 rear... they are oddball.  The kenda's i have on now are 90/100-21 and 130/90-17 rear.
Oh well, i made a choice.  Stay and wait for a tire to be shipped which would take about 3 days, or press on.
Press on i did.  If it pops, so be it... this is supposed to be an adventure, right?

going through Tucson, i noticed a boneyard.

neato.  was on both sides of me, but hard to take pictures in all that traffic.  love boneyards.

EAST!  to more desert. stunning scenery.  If you haven't been to Arizona, i suggest you go.  Quite a diverse landscape.

picture porn.
I was on the interstate, and there's not much else to do except take pictures and listen to music.  It's not like i can fix myself a snack, have a smoke or a drink, etc...

Ghostrider shot of the day.  a tall shadow like that means two things at this time of day.  I'm heading east, and the sun is dropping fast, shortly to be replaced by dark.

I needed a rest after being on the bike for about 100 miles non-stop.  remember, this isn't a comfy car with cruise control... i have to grip it and rip it for that whole time. the KLR is a real bone shaker.  My hands have been numb for about ...20 days.

Good thing i have a strong forearm... all that practice you see.

I found this interesting...  Let's just say i started looking where i was walking more.

I do not fear riding in the dark. i love it, but i do not like risking my life because some moron didn't see me.  oh well, i was going to watch the sun set, and deal with riding in the dark.

M-O-O-N, That spells Sunset!

M-O-O-N! that spells Moon!

the sunset was quite a thing of beauty.

Now that it's going to get dark soon, i needed a place to bunk up for the night.  Camping was an option if i could find a spot, or a cheap motel.  No hits on the GPS, but the GPS is so out of date i don't trust it anymore.

speeding along at the speed of ...

...82 mph.  I hit 6666 miles on this trip. lol.

the sun sets fast.... especially if you're going east.

I saw a sign for the usual chain of motels in Lordsburg and figured there would be an alternative near.  Which i found, called the Holiday Motel.  A single story old style motor inn.  It also has a pool and restaurant.
Smoking room, Wifi, and for $40 it's a pretty good deal, considering the shower works... and i does, i checked.  Now if only they had shampoo!! damn you.  good thing i come prepared (which i took from the other motels)
I kept seeing signs all around town and on the interstate for this restaurant called Kranberry.  I didn't have to look far.  I headed into the center of town, all the while looking for a place to eat.  There isn't much here, and wouldn't you know it, Kranberry is in the center of town and open.

I spotted a State trooper SUV outside, and there were a lot of people there.  Good sign.
There were at least 2 troopers and another guy with police on his back. he was the cheif or something running the show as i overheard his conversation on his two way.  (kind of hard to not overhear)
I got the Steak sandwich with a side of slaw.

the food was ok... maybe after the lunch i had i wasn't very hungry, or perhaps it's this pounding in my head.  I think i have a sinus infection or something.  it's killing me.  Time for a hot shower for like an hour, and some rest.
The song of the day today was Tom Petty's I won't back down