I quickly made two U-turns (right in front of a cop) and chatted with a local that was walking by. Apparently, there are 15 people who work and 141 retirees in the town; my kind of place.
NM 152 is a good road that has a decent surface and plenty of curves. Not worth the trip if you are used to the Sandia Crest road or the Juan Tabo picnic ground road. It is a mixture of both with technical sections and fast sweepers. There is no real shoulder or guard rails, but the slopes aren't steep enough to cause concern. Slight showers gave me a nice misting and cleaned my visor of bugs.
Stopped for lunch in Silver City and had a decent hamburger. Enjoyed my tang and the rest.
One thing I love about driving through the desert is the scenery changes. You can see a mountain, drive an hour and the mountain will have moved.
Nothing fun until I hit Tucson. Drove around for a while and checked out the University of Arizona's neighborhoods. Lots of weird things in Arizona that I am glad New Mexico hasn't started.
Saw this awesome car and Petey wanted to check it out.
Checked into my Motel and took a cold shower, wasn't hot until I stopped... Called up family and eased their worries and then gave Azman857 a call. Met him at Freedom Park and had some Bratwurst and Bierwurst while we chatted. Dropped off my bike at his house and went to a local car show. Didn't grab my camera though.
Petey is so happy to see his new friend...
and so sad to say goodbye to his old friend.
Just a little puzzled by his new bike though. Seems a bit larger. :grins:
Said goodbye to Petey and Azman and went to see what I could downtown. Nothing interested me much and I got lost a few times. Ended up giving up looking for where I was and instantly found my Motel room.
Woke up bright and early at 8:45 Arizona time and went back to bed (9:45 my time). Finally was on the road in time to be the second person to order at one of the In and Out Burgers (they don't exist in New Mexico and I will damned if I pass up a chance at a double-double, animal style). They are the best chain burgers that I have ever found.
Double-Double is the two meat patties and two slices of cheese. The Animal Style is the caramelized onions, thousand island dressing and dripping cheese.
Went up the mountain road and thoroughly enjoyed a few of the corners, but there was just too much traffic and many were too slow. Didn't capture any pictures, I think our Arizona crew will have to grab some and post those up. (Amazing views though, 26 miles of turns. If only there was 5% of the traffic.) There was a silly photographer that just didn't know where to camp for pictures, got mine twice.
Nothing to report on I-10. Stopped in Texas Canyon and meant to grab a few pictures of the boulders laying around (they're pretty cool), but ended up pouring cold water on my head and forgetting all about the camera (boy, that felt good).
Pulled off onto US 191 (old US 666) and loved the lack of people on it instant. I grabbed a few pictures there.
Continued up US 191 to Clifton, Arizona and pulled off for some pictures. One spot with Black, Brown, Red and Tan.
Saw this awesome train and had to grab a picture, right next to it was an interesting little jail.
"CLIFTON CLIFF JAIL
Blasted from living rock, this jail confined many of the bad men who croweded into the district in the boom days. Local tradition says that the first inmate in 1881 was the miner who build the jail. It was contributed to the town by the Lesinsky brothers who built the first copper smelter on chase creek."
Further on US 191, you get to see an amazing assortment of colors and equipment. I was blown away by the number of Caterpillar dump truck beds (large, but not the giant ones; probably 20'x30'x10') that were waiting for repair or use.
There is an awesome tunnel and I had to stop. (There wasn't enough traffic to make me worry. Unfortunately, I didn't get the clarity on the shots I really wanted to.)
US 191 is amazing. I wish it were cleaner, had paved shoulders and guard rails; but despite the downsides, it was un :censor: believable. If you love curves and get a chance, try your hand on the old 666.
I wasn't able to get a truly good shot of this. I took a look at it and made a U-turn, just amazing the different view one place can offer.
My girl enjoys playing in the grass when she gets a chance.
Was getting late and I stopped around 7:00 Mountain to grab some food in Springerville, a Bacon Mushroom Swiss Burger. Was pretty good, but rather small in portions.
I knew I didn't have much more daylight, so I fired her up and gunned it as far as I could in the daylight, then found a truck to follow. Riding just offset gave me perfect view of the road, sides, signs and wildlife.
All in all, 1101 miles from first fill up right by home to entering Albuquerque in just over 36 hours. (I then played around in Albuquerque for a bit, boy I was happy taking a look at my gorgeous city.)
