No updates in forever, but that is how it goes for me with these things, since the early days. A promise to update, a follow through, then somehow things taper off to nothing. Ah well, it happens.
I’m back in Utah again. Amanda and I drove down to Hobbs for Thanksgiving, and boy, that was an adventure.
The state question will soon become part of something I once was a part of, it seems. 95% of my stuff is now in Utah. I move into my apartment on Wednesday (well, get the keys anyway), and this upcoming weekend I’ll be finalizing things on the house in Los Alamos and packing up what is left. So, my time in NM is coming to a close, after 28 years of continuous occupation.
You’d think people up here would know something of NM since it borders Utah, although just at a point, but for the most part, NM might as well be as far away as Florida for them. I woke up the other day and stepped outside to find the upper 1/3 of the mountains here pure white. I’m told I can expect to see snow on the ground in a few weeks time. Slightly colder here than in NM.
Regardless, I will be in NM from Sunday the 14th (evening) until the very early morning of Wednesday the 17th. I’m thinking I am going to grill up hamburgers and etc on Monday evening, so anyone who wants to drop in is welcome.
Wednesday I will be leaving with two screaming cats and a 11 hour drive north. Oh boy. With luck that will be an easy drive for all of us, but we will see. Amanda is coming down with me to help with the cats and etc, so hopefully that will be a bonus.
Hasta la vista?
Yeah, Brian talked me into it. He trailered his Mustang, and I rode my V-Strom the 140 miles from Salt Lake out to the ‘outlaw’ track at Wendover, which is right smack on the Nevada border. I say ‘outlaw’, because the rules are rather lax. The tech inspection is, ‘Do you have $10 and can you sign this liability release?’ The track itself is part of an old runway, and is a tad rough, but, it works well enough.
Welp, I still exist. I know it has been a long time since I posted last, but hey, busy and all. So, here is an update.
I’m sore tonight. I left Los Alamos in the pouring rain and headed over the Jemez around 3pm. It rained pretty hard in the first part of the Jemez, there were rocks washed down in areas I have never seen before. I rode through this no problem, though, as all my gear is waterproof. I made a vow that if State 4 was dry by the time I hit the turn off to 126, I would take 126, otherwise I would go the long, paved way.
State 4 was dry as can be miles before the turn off, and the radar map had showed that the rain was to the south of where I was to go, so, I headed down 126. The first part was great, dry, but not too dusty, my new tires doing a good job with the little rocks and etc. One guy in a Subaru stopped me, and asked how far it was to the highway back the way I had come. He looked frazzled. There was a bunch of little girls in the back seat.
Continuing on, the road turned from ‘tuff’ (volcanic ash) to a clay. I came up over a hill, and found just a little bit of mud, and the next thing I knew, the front end washed out, and I was down. I got off the bike and turned it off and looked it over. No real damage to the bike, but my side case was shattered. Ah well. I managed to stand it up, and move it to the side of the road, and move all my clothes and etc into a different bag.