Day 15

Tonight, I'm in Weatherford, Oklahoma. I rode 610 miles. That leaves me with less than 600 miles to home for tomorrow. Praise the Lord!

I sure saw the extremes in temperatures today. I left Gallup about 5:50 this morning and the temperature there was 48 degrees. As I rode eastward though, the thermometer kept dropping. The lowest reading I saw (I actually have a thermometer ON my motorcycle) was 39 degrees.

I had the seat and hand grip heaters cranked up to full power but of course I was still cold. I finally decided to exit in Albuquerque (something like 130 miles east of Gallup). I thought I'd just get a hot cup of coffee and a bite and wait till the sun came up and warmed things up a little.

What a treat! As I exited I-40 and looked down into Albuquerque, I saw 5 or 6 hot air balloons gliding silently over the city against the backdrop of whatever mountain range it is resting there.

Drat! It just now occurs to me I should have taken a picture!

I gave the place the once over while savoring my coffee and liked what I saw. Things looked clean, the people seemed happy and it just sort of felt good to be there. On my ride out I scoped out both sides of the interstate and it still really looked like a nice place. Oh, and the mountains are beautiful. At one point I checked the elevation (yeah, I have one of THOSE thingies on the motorcycle too) and it read 5,600 ft.

The rest of the ride east in New Mexico revealed more of the same. I think I really like that State. I think their state motto is "Land of Enchantment" or something like that. Well, I'm enchanted.

The further east I went and as the day wore on, the hotter it got. When I arrived here at my hotel a little before six, the thermometer read 102. I literally had to force myself to ride the last 100 miles so that I'd have fewer miles to ride tomorrow than today.

The first 7 or 8 hours riding are fun, but the next 3 or 4 are just torture.

Note to self: Don't schedule any more motorcycle trips that go longer than 8 hours in a day.

Linda, if all goes well tomorrow, I should be home by 5 or 6.

See ya...