August 22nd, 2018.
Day 5.
Around 4:00 a.m. I was awakened by the sound of rainfall.
It was coming down hard.
I had the bike covered overnight. (I always do) but after yesterdays ride, I figured that a little wash down of road dirt and grime wouldn’t hurt at this time, so I went outside and removed the cover, allowing the rain to give her a good soaking to help soften and loosen whatever dirt she had accumulated over the last couple of days.
Immediately, I began to make changes in plans for the days’ ride ahead.
These wet conditions would definitely cause me to slow down out of abundance of caution, resulting in fewer than planned miles to be traveled for the day through the mountains that lay ahead of me.
This meant that I might have to overnight in Farmington, still within the state of New Mexico instead of in Bluff, Utah just north of Four Corners.
Four Corners is the geographical location, the only one in the whole of the contiguous 48 states of America, where 4 states meet - my next “must see/must visit” destination along the way.
My decision of where to overnight would be decided along the way, depending on time, weather conditions and locale.
It was already shaping up to be quite an adventure.
I was getting more excited now, realizing that I was so far west with still more distance to go putting me even further west as I anticipated getting into the western deserts of the country.
The anticipation of visiting and experiencing the places, images of the American West burned into my memory banks, heightened my anxiety.
I was really looking forward to getting to live the experience.
I decided that Scrappy and Co. would be riding in a “bag” today, as more rain was forecast ahead.
Around 8:13 a.m. looking out of the window, the skies slowly began to clear. Grey giving way ever so slightly to blue but still drizzling.
I sauntered outside and gave the bike a “wet wipe-down”. Happy that she was now looking clean but wet, I began to load up all my gear.
Finally around 8:40 a.m. local, I checked out and headed out on NM 518, northbound towards Taos, NM.
Highway 518 turned out to be an absolutely stunning road to ride/experience.
The road took me up in elevation into the mountains.
As it wound around and hugged the mountainsides, it presented such magnificent scenic views.
I was mesmerized!
I made frequent photo-op stops and for 69 miles (110 km), the bike and I danced around the twists and curves of the road, seemingly oblivious to the rest of the world.
It was twist after turn after twist. On and on and on, making for a really thrilling and enjoyable ride.
The sort of ride you will be hard-pressed to find close to any urban area of the country.
The sky was lightly overcast with the threat of slight and light rainfall ever-present, but made for a cool, comfortable ride.
The road soon brought me out of the mountains, into the valley town of Ranchos De Taos.
It was still slightly overcast and was a good time to take a short rehydration and energy charge-up break which I needed to replace the “gazillion” calories I had burned up from my constant smiling brought on by the thoroughly enjoyable ride I had just experienced.
It was right at 11:30 a.m. local time and I pulled into a gas station, picking out a place to park that presented me with a magnificent view of the mountains ahead, into which the road disappeared.
Here and for a short distance ahead, highways 518 and 68 share the same route.
I drooled with excitement, in anticipation of the ride along the road that lay ahead.
This is exactly the kind of ride that Honda built my machine for and is the reason for which I bought it in the first place.
I would be routing onto NM 64 in a few miles which would now launch me truly westwards.
Highway 64 was one of my specifically chosen routes for this trip. I wanted to ride it all the way as close to the “Four Corners” geographical location as I could - my next destination/waypoint.
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Getting back on the road after my short break, I joined the local traffic and worked my way through the town, taking in the sights as I went by all the little establishments and service oriented businesses.
The road quality was very good, clean with well laid asphalt.
It seemed that there had been and was a lot of new construction going on.
The sign announcing NM 68 caught my attention and I got into the appropriate lane to route myself onto it.
I entered the town of Taos.
Taos has a lot of color and character.
Adobe-clad buildings dotted the route with rich colors of wares and products being offered for sale by the various establishments along the road.
There was a lot to see.
The reds, yellows, orange, blues, greens and whites, all formed a kaleidoscope that really stimulated my senses after having seen so much green and grey of the last several miles of riding through the high forest roads.
The GPS unit routed me onto US 64, northwards out of Taos, through which I was out of in a few minutes.
Taos was a small but colorful place. That thought stuck in my mind with the unmistakeable smell of lovely Mexican cuisine wafting through the air as I went by several restaurants and cafes that lined the main “drag”and also as I went through the next settlement/town of El Prado, NM.
The congestion began to thin out and after a few miles US 64 formed a junction with NM 150, veering left towards the west and forming a NM 522 northwards.
I pulled into the gas station there and decided to fuel up.
It was midday now and as was going to be starting long runs of desert highway with towns few and far apart.
I continued my journey.
It was starting to get hot.
The land began to lose “the green”.
Everything was brown and hung under the pale grey sky with many clouds forming patterns in the sky, too numerous to depict.
but made for some visually stunning and captivating landscape.
Up ahead I came to a bridge that crossed the Rio Grande.
OMG!
The gorge was immense!
I couldn’t keep my eyes on the road. I noticed a lot of people milling about, visiting the area and a “pull-out” offering a chance to experience the gorge up close.
I took it!
Grabbing my camera, I sauntered down back towards the bridge - a Long Span steel bridge, designated as The Most Beautiful Steel Bridge made (circa 1966).
I dared to walk out to the center of it and fired off a few pictures of the bridge itself and the gorge that it spanned.
Neither the camera nor I could or have done justice to it!
I was blown away by its immensity and remarked that to a fellow visitor as we walked back to the parking area.
“You think this is big? Just wait till you see the grand Canyon. This is nothing compared to that in size”!
Whaat, for real, bigger than this gorge? I questioned myself in wonderment.
Back on the road as I continued my journey, I still could not visualize any gorge that could or would eclipse this one in size.
It was truly the largest and deepest gorge I had ever laid my eyes on.
So now truly in a desert in the west of the country, I refocussed my attention on laying down some miles.
I had many more miles I wanted to travel for the day.
I arrived at Tres Piedras, NM the town at the base of the Carson National Forest and began climbing into the upper reaches as dictated by the road.
“The Dance” began again and continued as I wound my way through this gorgeous part of the road coming out of the forest, the road began to twist even more as I worked my way along towards Tierra Amarilla, a dusty little speck of town through which I went in the blink of an eye.
I kept a good pace.
It made for a wonderfully spirited ride.
Arriving in Chama, NM I chose to take a break out of the saddle in preparation for a long haul across the land to the town of Farmington, NM.
The day was wearing on and with a lot of nothingness around me, I wanted to make a good push for it.
The stretch of road between Dulce and Bloomfield was a particularly long one and with beautiful desert scenery and a mountain road, I continued to make a spirited ride of it all on this day.
Next stop after Bloomfield was Farmington, NM and now at 5:15 p.m. I decided to call it a full day of riding.
I checked into The Travel Inn I found along the main drag, deciding to settle in early in anticipation of tomorrow’s ride to and beyond Monument Valley.
The smell of fresh curry wafted through the air ………
The glow of the late afternoon sun made for a very vividly orange sky and leaving the motel, I rode around the town and bought myself a Fiesta Steak Salad from the nearby Walmart Store and made it back to the Motel. And with my room door and the extra large pane glass window curtains drawn, I treated myself to a lovely/gorgeous sundown whilst enjoying my dinner.
The bike ended the day with 58,049 miles reading on the odometer. She had transported us only 307 mi (483 km) today, but oh, what a lovely 307 mile trip/ride it was.
My pre-planned/chosen route of NM 64 west, did not disappoint.
It delivered all the thrills and beauty far in excess of what I had only imagined when I planned the ride.
So showered and with my belly full, I returned phone calls and text messages to my loved ones and friends who were all vigilantly tracking my progress along the trip.
Then with a prayer of thanks, settled down and crashed out for the night.