August 21st, 2018.
Day 4.
I awoke at 6:00 a.m. local time and began loading up the bike.
It was another beautiful mid-western morning with a clear blue sky, 69’F (21’C) with 80% relative humidity (as reported by the weather forecast) with winds out of the NW at 6 m.p.h. (9.6 kmh).
This meant I would have a slight head wind coming at me diagonally from my right quadrant.
No sweat though, I was looking forward to a nice day of relaxed riding.
I spent a few minutes and reviewed my GPS route for the day.
From here, it reported a 503 mile (805 km) trip ahead of me to Las Vegas, NV.
After breakfast, we said our goodbyes and at 8:27 a.m., I headed out of the residential area and onto Interstate 40 westbound.
My, how Oklahoma City had changed!
I literally could not recognize these old stomping grounds of mine.
When we lived here, in the early 80’s, there was nothing out here in this area.
2 of my children were born here. Not far from this area where I was currently, as a matter of fact.
I was lost in amazement.
I settled in for the ride amidst the expanse and congestion of the highway and mid-morning traffic, leaving the GPS unit to dictate my lane choice and direction.
the road surface was in very good shape. Really good quality I must admit.
Downtown OKC had grown so much. I found it hard to fathom. But this was all supposed to be familiar territory.
I remembered the days I plied this highway to work each day and the exit towards downtown came and went by, jogging my memory a little.
That was the exit I took each morning when I went to work in those days, at the Borden Dairy Factory where I was the transport-refrigeration technician.
The memories came flooding back.
The miles began to roll by and not too long afterward I began to leave the now-sprawling OKC behind as I got farther west.
After close to 2 hours in the saddle, my now finely-tuned internal biological clock began signalling to me that it was a good time to take a break off the bike.
I was plying part of the highway where the famous Chisolm Trail had once crossed.
This was immortalized by a roadsigns and so I used the chance for a photo-op to force the break I mandated off the bike.
During the years after the civil war in America, The Chisolm Trail was established by 2 friends, a half-indian Scout from Tennessee named Black Beaver and Jesse Chisolm, a merchant.
Cattle were moved by foot northwards from a trading post near the Red River, northwards to another trading post in Kansas City, KS where the railroads then ran eastwards to the beef slaughter houses and markets.
Both of these trading posts were owned by Jesse Chisolm, who in earlier days created the route as a means to move his goods from one post to another.
Soon afterwards other Texas ranchers joined and began using the route from areas around the Rio Grande and San Antonio areas into another rail center in Abilene, KS.
The miles rolled by and soon, just outside of El Reno, OK, a Cherokee Trading Post sign stood high above all else, catching my attention.
I took the exit off the highway and worked my way around the lot to satisfy my curiosity with a couple of murals set in the back area of the compound.
They had a couple of wigwams set up as well as a couple of nicely decorated, painted totem poles
A corral took up the rest of the space, stretching out easily 100 yds. (90 m) or so, that penned in the first and largest bison I had ever laid my eyes on.
What a massive creature!
I parked close by and sauntered over to get a closer look at it.
It just lay there on the ground pruning itself, oblivious to my whistles and calls in an attempt to solicit some other movement from it.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another one coming up the slight incline from the other end of the corral towards me.
It was even larger than the other.
A closer look verified that it was a male.
Gosh, was he huge!
So I milled around for several more minutes giving myself a closer experience.
I marveled at the workmanship and artwork that adorned the wigwams, totem poles and the wall mural.
Satisfying my curiosity, I suited up and resumed my journey.
2 hours went by in what seemed to be the blink of an eye.
I was beginning to relax and enjoy my time on the road.
The heat was of no major concern to me.
The Texola roadsign signaled my arrival at the Texas stateline and I created another photo-op and took the opportunity to re-hydrate myself with some water.
I entered Wheeler County.
I was now in the pan-handle region of Texas.
It was getting hot but the weather was lovely with clear blue skies.
I pushed on for another couple of hours, now on the section of the highway known as the Purple Heart Trail.
The ST maintained a good, comfortable pace, knocking down more miles until I decided to take a lunch break.
Pulling in to the last visitor center this side of New Mexico, I made my way towards one of the gazebos overlooking the wide open prairie land of the Texas landscape and had lunch made up of beef jerky, bananas and a bottle of Gatorade.
It was a little past 2:30 in the afternoon. The day was wearing on, but I decided to take my time and enjoy the break.
A light but steady breeze complimented my comfort in the shade of the gazebo and the expansive view I was taking in.
So after about a half hour, I pushed on, continuing the journey to now fast-approaching Amarillo, TX.
I’ve always wanted to visit Amarillo and in my dreams in the past few years of planning for this time when I would be approaching and arriving in Amarillo, I always hoped it would be an early morning arrival/approach here.
But all the same though, the tune rang out in my mind and my heart …………..

Amarillo by morning, up from San Antone ……….

….and stayed with me for the rest of the time that it took for me to ride across the whole city.
right at the city limits on the west side, I exited the highway and got onto the frontage road for another “must-stop-to-see” destination.
I needed to be on the eastbound side to get to my planned visit.
So making a U-turn at Arnot Rd. intersection, I crossed over Interstate 40, staying on the access road.
I went by a handful of wind turbines which were now beginning to dot the landscape and headed eastward towards Cadillac Ranch!
So I milled around again for about an hour, watching all the aspiring artists leave their temporary master pieces and actually witnessed the metamorphosis of changing artwork on the car bodies for that moment of time.
It was quite an experience.
People-watching with a difference!
I walked back to the bike, suited up and settled back onto the road for the next leg of my journey for the day.
My next stop for the day was barely 40 miles (64 km) down the road.
I was not taking any prisoners now. The ST took over and in the blink of an eye we arrived there!
Adrian, TX the halfway point between Chicago, IL and Santa Monica, CA!
The sun would soon begin its descent in the afternoon sky so I memorialized what I had to do here and prepared for my next and final destination of the journey - Las Vegas, NM.
I had made all my stops for the day and was ready to make it there and settle down for a good evenings’ rest.
I plied Interstate 40 all the way to Glenrio, NM, the state line right at 6:00 p.m. local.
Time changed again. I was out of Texas.
I was more than halfway to my “elusive” west coast.
Elusive because I had been trying for so long to make this trip come about and for one reason or another, each year, it just didn’t happen.
I had crossed into another time zone, which meant I had additional daylight time.
Cool, I could ride a little longer!
With no more planned or desired stops along this leg of the journey for the day, The ST blasted me through the towns of San Jon, Tucumcari, Newkirk, Cuervo, Santa Rosa and on till the intersection of Interstate 40 and Highway 84 where I turned northward and off the Interstate highway system.
The road to Las Vegas, NM was new.
Great surface but so new that there were not yet any road markings or demarcations on it.
The sun went down under a heavily overcast sky.
The road began to rise in elevation and temperatures plummeted drastically.
New Mexico highway 84 was turning out to be a very pleasant and scenic ride.
Up in the hills a few miles along, I decided to pull over and put on my hoody underneath my jacket to help keep me warm.
It was pitch dark, with no stars in the sky due to the heavy clouds and as I donned my gear and I began to feel the tell-tale signs of pending rain as raindrops began to fall.
Now warmer and a little bit better protected from the approaching cooler and wet weather, I followed the road towards Las Vegas, NM as the rain began to fall.
Not long afterward though, the road filtered me into the town as I followed the instructions from the GPS unit towards my motel of choice.
Going by a Subway establishment, I decided to pick up dinner before arriving at the motel ‘cos I had no desire to want to come out again after checking in.
So a 12-inch it was! - Roast beef, spinach, onions and ranch dressing to go, along with a sprite.
The Regal Motel was barely a quarter of a mile (0.4 km) along and as I walked into the reception area, the smell of curry wafting through the air greeted me again with familiarity!
Checked in.
Found room.
Unloaded the bike.
It was now 8:25 p.m. Mountain Time and a cool 61’F (16’C).
The ST had transported me 545 miles (872 km) today.
Had dinner.
Showered.
Returned phone calls.
Watched some TV.
Said prayers.
Lights out!