Oh, hail

Day 4 – Santa Fe, NM
This has been a good trip – reminds me of how much I enjoy being on the bike. The terrain changed quickly – in Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi I rode through heavily wooded, flat lands wrapped in rivers and lakes; in Louisiana there are flat, fertile delta lands mushy with water. Everything is green, and you can’t see a half a mile ahead. Arkansas is hilly and dense with growth. Then Texas begins to stretch flat and dry with stunted-looking trees standing on slight hills. Soon it’s just flat and dry – mile after mile after mile. Finally, the ground begins to heave and New Mexico interrupts the monotony of Texas with its red rocks, endless vistas, rolling hills, and mountains scattered here and there. I love that I can see 40 or 50 miles, til a hill blocks the view. The trees are what people in the South would call shrubs. Call ‘em what you like, they don’t get in the way of your looking.
I spent Friday night at a Motel 6 in Amarillo, TX – everything I needed for $40 less than I’d paid the night before. But shortly after settling in, I heard this funny, tinny sound – hail and lots of it. Weather channel app on my phone explained we were under a significant weather threat with forecasts of 50 MPH winds, hail the size of nickels, with tornadoes spotted. Oh well, at least I wasn’t getting pounded in a tent or waiting it out under an overpass on the highway. I looked out the window once at my bike and decided if it blew over, I’d pick it up in the morning. This  morning the clouds were dark and low, and I rode thru some light rains. The kind of rain you might not take a walk in, but on the bike it’s kind of nice. I could see that I was riding out of it soon, so I didn’t stop to put on rain gear. You dry pretty fast at highway speeds.
The clouds hung low all day today, and it was actually cool enough for a Tshirt, long sleeve shirt, windbreaker, and my vented jacket. I stopped at Clines Corner on I40 in NM – my favorite tacky store. It’s stuffed with colorful junk. Then I headed north to Santa Fe where I’ll stay the night. The last hour on the road the winds kicked up, reminding me that the VStrom weighs about 400 pounds less than the Gold Wing did. The winds were not enough to be dangerous but enough to be tiring.
Each day, I’ve gotten temporarily misplaced. Mostly, I think it’s funny; it helps to not be in a hurry and to be alone so there is no one complaining. Being lost out in the open is one thing, but I don’t like being lost in a city. But … I took the city bus to downtown Santa Fe to the REI store, walked around the plaza awhile, and got so turned around I couldn’t find the bus station. Finally, I made it back to my motel, but with heavy black clouds building. I’d gone to REI to get a few things because I plan to tent camp at the conference center near Abiquiqu. Dark clouds and camping don’t seem to mix. I’d assumed Friday night was a Texas thing. Back at the motel, there was a repeat of last night – hail, high winds, reports of tornados. If the weather hasn’t cleared by the time REI opens tomorrow, I may just return this stuff! They have full accommodations at the conference center; somehow I was thinking it would be a beautiful place to tent camp.
I brought a camera but realized last night that I packed the wrong cable, so I can’t download pictures to my computer or blog. I may be able to buy one tomorrow or I may only be able to post what I get on my cell phone. For now, I’ll just post pictures on the Facebook page for Public Secrets and Justice.

 

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