Santa Fe - Yeah, We Made It!
Trip Start
Aug 18, 2008
1
19
35
Trip End
Ongoing
Santa Fe,
New Mexico,
United States
Monday, September 8, 2008
The day began as I last reported us leaving the hotel to find a tire sales place which was about a half hour west of Elk City. We were fortunate that there was a large tire store open on a Sunday that carried the exact tires that we needed. As you will see by the photo, the tire from the drivers side was so bad that we were truly lucky that we did not have a blow-out on the highway. It was a good thing that Steve had noticed the wear on them that had happened just from Huntsville to Elk City. Prior to that the tires were fine so we figure that a combination of bad roads, a lot of weight and the tire pressure not being quite high enough after the trailer sat for a week in the high temperatures was what made the tires go. As a result we have decided that we are not going to risk the additional mileage by going to Calgary on our way to Vancouver and instead go directly there from here in Santa Fe
The Tires
.Once we got the tires changed, we were on our way from Oklahoma through Texas to New Mexico. At a rest area/information center just inside of Texas we spotted a road runner bird...can you find him in the photo? He is camouflaged so well that he is hard to spot...but give it a try and let me know if you find him. I have included a photo with him out of hiding that will give you an idea of what you are looking for.
At another gas stop in Texas, Steve got excited when he saw a big truck pull in that had a huge "Orange County Choppers" logo and poster on it. He decided to go and find out if Big Paulie was driving the truck (he really knew that it was unlikely), but none the less, he is a fan of the show and wanted to find out where the truck was headed. He met the driver Pat who was nice enough to open the truck for us to have a look at the Custom Motorcycles on board which were headed to a bike show in Los Vegas. Steve was awestruck seeing the bikes on board...thanks again Pat for opening up the truck for us to have a quick look!
Through the last part of Texas into New Mexico we hit a thunder shower. It was like nothing we had ever seen
Texas Welcome Center
. I had experienced the lightening from clouds to ground in Colorado Springs, Colorado a few years ago, but the rain was going up the window like when you get out of a car wash and the blower is drying off your car. It was really bazar. The wind felt like it could blow us off the road.Next we experienced a beautiful sunset...I did my best to capture it, but a real challenge from inside the car...so I tried to take the photo from out the window...notice how long the road is. When we arrived a Judith and Richard's place they had pizza waiting for us. They have a beautiful home and are very welcoming to the cats. They have four dogs and two cats (one cat is mysterious as we still have not seen it...we are told it exists). Photos of the animals will follow.
Well, we are going to be here for a couple of weeks so my entries may not be daily, but I will share with you all the day trips we take around town.
Thanks again for all of your messages...we are getting them and now that I am staying put for a little while, I will make sure that I send you a personal message responding to yours.
Comments
glad to see your safe
school is hectic so can't get to your blog everyday. glad to see that you guys are safe and happy. will try to keep a close ear to the blog and post where i can. all our love, pat and carol