Day 44. Gettin' our kicks....on Route 66!

Sunday, September 21st.

We pulled ourselves away from Santa Fe, one night was not enough, but we have to start making our way home or else there will be snow on the ground by the time we get there! Today we are going to follow the Mother Road, Route 66 as much as is possible nowadays. A lot of the original route has been bypassed and rerouted but we have diligently plotted a route on the GPS's to try and follow it as much as possible.

The first part of our route also followed the Santa Fe trail:

We fairly easily made our way South to Interstate 40 - the major highway which essentially buried the old Route 66. Fortunately, there are loops leading off the highway through little towns that are doing their best to stay alive. One such town, Tucumcari, NM, is doing a good job of staying in business and making the most of it's connection to Route 66.

The Blue Swallow Motel is an icon for Route 66 aficionados and we were lucky enough to have a room reservation for the night.

This is a lovingly restored and preserved motel with really cool garages between the rooms:

We had a quick wander along Main Street, just loving the nostalgia:

Unfortunately, a massive thunderstorm blew in in the evening which put a bit of a damper on things as we couldn't get out to photo all the neon signage. But we had a nice supper at a local restaurant who were kind enough to pick us up and bring us back afterwards.

Day 43. To Santa Fe, NM.

Another leisurely start to the day, not leaving Taos until 9:00am. We did not have far to go and this is one of the last "short" days left. We took the so called "high road", which, as promised was a quiet meandering road through the back country passing through small towns which seemed to be comprised mainly of artists and their workshops. We had a very pleasant morning drive with beautiful weather. Eventually the scenery changed again as we, once again, reached the high desert.

We reached Santa Fe around noon and our first stop was here:

 I had to buy a new pair of boots as my other ones have worn out! Then we headed into Old Santa Fe and found our Inn easily. Too early to check in so we parked the bikes  and had a very pleasant afternoon walking around this wonderful town.

Beautiful old buildings on every corner:

Interesting alleys to poke around:

At first sight nothing too remarkable about this building:

But on closer inspection - quite a significant place:

More wonderful buildings, I just love the Adobe style:

St. Francis Cathedral:

Eventually, we walked back to our Inn and checked in to our lovely Casita room. Quick showers are on order then we will head out for Saturday night on the town!!

Days 41 & 42. Land of Enchantment.

Thursday, September 18th.
We left Mancos at the fairly leisurely time of 8:00am. Having changed our plans because of the dire weather forecast for rain, thunderstorms and flash floods we woke up to blue skies and not a cloud in sight - go figure! But, I bet if we hadn't changed plans and committed to a 350 mile trek into the mountains it would have been pouring. So instead of heading North to the San Juan Mountains we headed to Taos, New Mexico a day early and gave ourselves a bit of a break. We enjoyed a lovely ride into New Mexico. Along the way we decided to stop for coffee, missed a turn and ended up at a lovely little Mexican Restaurant and had the most amazing Huevos Rancheros for breakfast - we did not need lunch later!

Here we are crossing back over the divide. From here everything, including us, flows East to the Atlantic.

We were fortunate to get a room here, at the Historic Taos Inn. It is an old Adobe structure and has lots of charm. Our room is off a lovely courtyard at the back of the main hotel building and is a cool, quiet oasis in what is a busy little town. Also, because the Inn has it's own well, it was the only hotel and restaurant in town with water after the water main broke this evening!

After checking in and getting settled we set off and explored the town - beautiful. Lots of interesting shops and art galleries - not that we bought anything, but it's always fun to look.

Friday, September 19th.
After sleeping soundly in our lovely cool adobe room, we set off to ride the enchanted circle. This is a scenic route that circles the countryside around Taos. We climbed up and over Bobcat Pass which brought us to a picturesque valley, still blanketed in morning fog. Eventually, we came to the town of Red River which is primarily a ski town with slopes leading right down into town. Here, we once again had a hearty breakfast of huevos rancheros, perhaps even better than yesterdays!

After completing the circle, which we thoroughly enjoyed as a great ride in itself, we stopped at the Taos Pueblo. This is a UNESCO world heritage center and is approximately 1,000 years old. It is considered to be one of the oldest, continuously inhabited communities in the the United States.  The people that live here are committed to preserving the "old" way of life. There is no electricity or running water in the dwellings. They did have propane for lighting and presumably cooking. The dwellings are made of adobe and have to be continually recoated to maintain them.

The oldest building of the Pueblo - several stories comprising separate homes occupied by separate families. The doorways have been added as the original building had entrances in the roofs. These were accessed by ladders which made the homes more secure if the ladder was removed.

 The original wall would have been higher to make the entire settlement more secure:

This is the river which provides the settlement with its water:

 More buildings:

It was a fascinating visit and we were glad that we made the detour. But, we were happy to get back to the hotel and have a nice shower with plenty of running water and electric lights - things we take for granted very day.

End of Week 6.

Six weeks already and still going strong. To be honest we are a bit subdued as we are now beginning the trek back home in earnest. Neither of us want this trip to end. But I suppose that is better than being fed up and wishing it was over. There are plenty of places we would like to come back to and I see more long road trips in our future. At this point there is not much we would have done differently. Our chosen route has given us a diverse experience and shown us a lot of this great country.

Total mileage: 7966.

Day 40. Day in Durango, CO

Wednesday, September 17th (Finally up to date!)

We had an appointment to get the bikes to Durango Harley for their 10,000 mile service and amazingly enough our timing was perfect as our mileage on the bikes is 9,800. It was just a short ride to the Dealer and they took us right in to get started. This is a lengthy service so we had planned on spending the day in Durango. It is a lovely town and we would have liked to stay here but it was tough to find accommodation in a decent location within our budget! We spent a happy morning walking and exploring the shops lining Main Avenue. We found an excellent coffee shop with decent WiFi so I was able to finally catch up on this Blog.

A lovely mural on Main Ave.

We stumbled upon an amazing place for Lunch, a French Creperie, right on a street corner.

The Chef, Michel, was a true gentleman. We arrived just as a group of 10 people clustered round to place their order. This entailed a bit of a wait for us - not that we minded one bit as we were in no hurry. It was a beautiful day to sit in the sunshine relaxing. Once we got our savory crepes, Michel told us to save room for Dessert as it would be on him. You'd better believe we saved room! Everything was delicious and reminded me very much of  crepes in France.

After lunch we walked around some more and then headed back to the Harley Dealer - we love hanging around these places!

And there is usually a comfortable lounge to hang out in as well:

Eventually both bikes were done and we headed back to Mancos under a beautiful evening sky:

Tomorrow we move on. Our plans had to change because of yet another Hurricane / Tropical system which came in from the Pacific. Masses of moisture are heading in to our area. We had planned on riding the Million Dollar Highway but because of the weather forecast we are having to give another iconic motorcycle road a miss. This is a road not to be trifled with and neither of us want to do it in the pouring rain. But we are not complaining as we have had fantastic weather for most of the trip so far.

Day 39. To Mesa Verde, Colorado.

Tuesday, September 16th.

Today we bid farewell to Utah and rode into Colorado. Immediately it seemed as though the temperature was 10 degrees cooler - a welcome relief. Also, the scenery was generally much greener and quite a contrast from the desert landscape we have been immersed in for the last several days.

Our first destination was Mesa Verde, another National Park. We were rewarded with an amazing ride along 20 miles of beautiful roadways in the park itself and gradually climbed up onto the Mesa itself.

At first sight our destination wasn't ever so impressive:

But closer inspection revealed this:

Ancient cliff dwellings of the Pueblo Indians. During the 1200's these people lived on top of the Mesa and were hunter gatherers. Gradually, they changed their lifestyle and grew crops, raised turkeys and so started to build more permanent homes. Initially they built Pueblos on top of the Mesa. Then during the last 100 years of their time on the Mesa they moved under the sandstone cliffs and built dwellings there. It is thought they were being threatened by outside forces and the cliff dwellings were more secure and easier to defend. For some reason they gradually left. It is conjectured that prolonged drought caused them to migrate to other areas.

We were visiting The Spruce Tree House. This was discovered in 1888 and is remarkably well preserved. There are 114 rooms and 8 Kivas and it is estimated that 100 - 150 people lived here at it's peak. There are many other sites on the Mesa Verde and they are very rich archeologically with lots of  artifacts still being discovered. These findings give much insight into the life of these people.

We were able to hike down to the dwellings themselves:

The dark staining is soot from their fires

The poles are leading down into the Kivas:

We were even able to go down into one which had been reconstructed:

This is a kiva without it's roof. It is thought that these were used for ceremonies.

 There are even signs of early interior decorating, it looks like a Union Jack to me!

This is where the women would grind their grains:

It is incredible how everything was safely tucked under the cliff overhang:

 After spending about two hours in the fascinating museum at the top of the cliff, we pulled ourselves away, had our picnic lunch in the park and rode along the top of the Mesa itself. The views over the surrounding valleys were amazing.

 Looking back over the Mesa - fun road:

Then we rode back off the Mesa to our destination for the night, Mancos, Colorado. This is a tiny town about 20 miles West of Durango. The bikes are having another spa day tomorrow!