The day started early and cool again. We headed west to parts unknown by any of us. Very shortly we found ourselves in a valley with dirt and rocks in the hills and a vegetative oasis deep in the heart of the valley. We came across and passed yet another Billy the Kid memorial/historical site. There wasn't much there, but it looks like at specific times they may do recreations.
We forged north into the Valley of Fire. If you look closely at the image above you may see what appears to be black rocks. Those black rocks are lava rocks. I did not read the history but will check it out when I get back. It looked way cooler in person. Almost as cool as me.
The photo above is Bob and I at an establishment called Cervantes. The food and the company were great. Like Mike, I hadn't seen or discussed much with Bob since I left Germany about 15 years ago. It is more important than I can express in words to take the time with the people you care about. You may only get one first impression, but you get many opportunities to become someone you can't depend on. If you go to Cervantes in Albuquerque, tell RickyPete TobyMoto sent you.
Have you seen a movie called Wild Hogs? I think I watched a few minutes of it. The diner above was built for the movie, and no longer houses a cafe. They do have a bunch of biker swag if you are into that sort of thing. Also highway 14 getting here was pretty great.
My day wouldn't be complete without some rain. The radio said there were 60 mph wind gusts. We hit a few before pulling off under this gas station over hang. While we were there a French man and his wife also pulled up on a motorcycle to escape the storm. We donned our rain gear only to need to take it off and put it back on a couple of time over the next 30 miles.
Finally we arrived to our cabin just outside of Durango. This place is spectacular. I could sit outside and do nothing but take it in for hours. All the way up here from Santa Fe was curvy mountain roads. We kept the speeds down just to be safe and it was wonderful.
So according to my plan I should be at just over 2000 miles. I am almost 300 miles above that. Tomorrow we head around the mountains of southern Colorado. And then I go solo again towards the Grand Canyon.