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Midpoint - Adrian, TX
Halfway down Route 66, met some great tourists and had some really tasty pie. Yet another amazing day with great roads. We slept in a bit this morning after such a long ride yesterday, and hit the road around 9:00am. We made up time as we passed into New Mexico and Mountain time, so we gained the hour we slept in. There really wasn't too much to see throughout Texas. There were more wind farms than oil pumps which was surprising, but otherwiser Route 66 is mostly a frontage road to I40. It passes through a few small towns along the way, but none of them have too much to see.
The one spot we stopped for a while was Adrian, TX at the Midpoint Cafe. This is the mathematical midpoint of Route 66, where it's 1,139 miles east to Chicago, and 1,139 miles west to LA. We snapped a few pictures, and met a few interesting folks. There was the Italian couple from Puglia that had rented a car and were driving across Route 66 the entire way headed west. I got to practice some Italian and chat with them a little bit about their trip and ours. Then there was the couple from Iceland who thought I was also Icelandic since I
was wearing my Harley Davidson of Reykjavic shirt. They're in the States for about 5 weeks traveling from Florida to San Francisco. We stayed for a bit and had some coffee and pie; pecan pie a la mode for dad, and chocolate peanut butter cream pie for me. It was worth it.
There was another ghost town on the border between Texas and New Mexico that we stopped in that was similar to Texola yesterday. We made our way into New Mexico and stayed on Route 66 as much as we could, but there were a lot of points where it joined with I40 for a few miles, and then was a frontage road for a few more. We got into Tucumcari and saw a few of the old places along the Route; the Blue Sparrow Motel and the TeePee Curio Shop. Then we headed north on Route 84 which was also old Route 66 on the way to Santa Fe. It was a beautiful ride as the scenery changed and we made it into the desert with mountains and mesas. We got into town around 5:30 and checked into the hotel, and made our way out to dinner.
We got a great recommendation from Cindy at the front desk to go to Maria's, a New Mexico style Mexican restaurant down the road. It was excellent. Dad had the blue corn enchiladas and I had the blue corn taco plate. Excellent food.
Now we're at the hotel relaxing after a great day, having a beer, and doing our laundry so we have some clean clothes for the next few days. It's pretty limiting what you can pack on a motorcycle for a 3 week trip.
Oh, and the last thing I forgot to mention in yesterday's blog! We had out first roadside motorcycle repair, and of course my dad will say, 'It's always the Harley riders that need bike repairs'. Of course nothing has gone wrong with his Honda yet. But, we were out on I40 riding towards Texas when I noticed my left hand mirror was angled down a bit. As I went to adjust it, I realized it was drooping because my entire clutch assembly was almost completely unscrewed from the bike, which meant a few more turns of the screw and I would have lost my mirror, turn signal, and
clutch at 70MPH. Not
The road less traveled
This is what we saw in Texas...nothing. good!! We stopped and got it back on to last for a few miles, then caught the next major exit in Weatherford, OK and stopped at an O'Reilly's auto parts where I bought the right size Torx bit and fixed it.
However, even though it was my Harley that needed a fix, it does attract more attention on the road, which I still rub in each chance I get. Today at the Midpoint Cafe another European tourist was snapping pictures of my bike, and then a woman came up as we were getting ready to go asking if she could have a picture taken with the bike. So even if my bike needs a minor repair, it draws some attention. Dad is ok with it because the more money I spend fixing the Harley the higher his stock price goes, so he's fine.
Anyway, that's all for today. Tomorrow we go to the Santa Fe National Cemetary to visit dad's father's gravesite, then on to Albuquerque, and possibly on towards Flagstaff depending on the time and what we do in Santa Fe.
More tomorrow!
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Sara Migot
non-member comment
Love the blog
Kevin, I've enjoyed reading your blog everyday. I now have my boys (13 &10) reading it with me. The Blue Sparrow Motel looks like a scene from one of their favorite Disney shows Good Luck Charlie. They were so excited to see it. Enjoy the trip and thank you for sharing it with all of us. Sara