Moving right along from Jefferson City MO to Sandusky OH

Not much to report as I have been covering a lot of ground since I dropped the search for bits of Route 66.  From Jefferson City I traveled northeast on US 54 driving by Mexico and Bowling Green and later crossing the Mississippi at a place called Louisiana.  If you're not paying attention you can easily get lost. The weather was much the same as the last few days; that is sunny and hot.  I spent the night in Merrillville Indiana, essentially a suburb of Gary, which is itself an extension of Chicago, albeit in a different state. Confused yet?

Today, after having asked Lucy (the GPS lady) to avoid major highways, I was brought down some interesting country roads and secondary highways which eventually led me to Sandusky (no relation to Larry the coach) on the shores of Lake Erie.  along the way I passed huge fields of soybeans,

and corn, as high as an elephants eye.

Apparently the owners, or some patrons of this establishment, the Red Hot Sports Bar-Grill, off Highway 6 in Walkerton Indiana, took the name of the place a little too seriously.

Riding on these secondary roads is way more interesting then being on the Interstates.  Here's hoping that the weather holds up for the next two days. Hell, I wouldn't want to miss a single day of an 80-day election campaign!

Blowing through Oklahoma to Jefferson City Missouri

I left Amarillo just before 9:00 on Monday, after having discovered that I had somehow lost the clear face shield on my helmet the previous day, and tried to find some bits of Route 66 on either side of I 40.  At one point I came across these VW's planted in a row next to the road and an abandoned service service centre; an attempt to duplicate Cadillac Ranch but at a smaller scale. This "attraction" clearly didn't have the appeal of the original; much like copîes of anything else do.

The Britten (named after Benjamin I guess) leaning water tower near Groom, Texas is just down the road from the tallest cross and sits in a field next to more failed businesses. Off in the distance you can see wind turbines of which there are thousands along I 40.

 

I had a rather nice dinner at a  Ruby Tuesday a few short blocks from the EconoLodge in Tulsa.  The hickory bourbon glazed salmon with mashed potatoes with herbs was very good, as was the fresh salad bar. I can't get over how inexpensive food is in this country.

Today I decided to abandon Route 66. The pain of trying to find the remaining bits was simply not worth the reward of seeing closed up gas stations, motels and other shops that line the main streets of towns which were along the route of the famous highway through America. Instead I headed northeast to Jefferson City, the capital of Missouri. I stopped for lunch at the Hermitage Coffee Shop where local folk come for a bite and, its seems, to discuss politics.  While I could not make out what their specific grievances were, it was plain that the 6 men at a nearby table, one in a suit and the others in coveralls and jeans, were not best pleased with he state of the union.

Some miles past the Ozark Lakes I stopped for drink in a small town and saw the proof that the mid-afternoon temperature was hot, very hot.

But press on one must. I arrived in Jefferson City around 4:00 and after a quick wardrobe change i took a taxi to the State Capital Building. My driver, Jack,  the second youngest of a Missouri family of 12 who started working at 9 after his father died, insisted on showing me around the downtown section of the city. Included in the free tour, because he insisted that the fare would be no more than the $6.20 that was on the meter when we turned onto the main street at the capital building, was a detour to the now shut down prison that once housed a large number of convicts and a quick visit to some of the nice restored old stately homes. He also recommended a couple of places close by where I could get a good meal. Even as he protested I insisted on paying the full fare. "I'll leave it on the back seat so you may as well take it".

As it was nearing closing time I managed a quick tour of the Capital Building and then strode the few blocks to The Grand Cafe on High East Street. The service from my waitress Cori was impeccable, and my meal was superb; a perfectly cooked and beautifully presented Ahi Tuna steak with potatoes and green beans, and a lovely glass of California Rombauer Chardonnay.

Seated at the table next to me were two lawyers, one from Manhattan, the other from Missouri I believe,  with whom I had an interesting conversation about long distance motorcycle trips. They were both quite curious and I think a bit envious,It made me think how fortunate I was to be able to do what I get to do.

I now have to figure out where I go tomorrow.

Arts and culture in Sante Fe and off to Texas

I had a really nice time in Santa Fe yesterday.  It started off with a latte and an excellent croissant with peach jam and equally tasty cinnamon melt at the Sage Bakehouse Kitchen a few blocks from the Motel 6 where I was staying. Even if it was before 9:00 the place was very busy and a table on the patio like the one that I was able to snag was in great demand. In order o burn off the 100,000 calories I then marched off to the State Capital Building where I spent some time peaking into various rooms, including the House of Representatives and the Senate, but mostly examining the impressive collection of paintings. As Santa Fe is the third largest art market in the USA, there's no shortage of galleries to explore. Canyon Road, a recommended destination, was particularly impressive. There is everything from paintings, prints, sculptures and installation pieces, and prices can be fairly steep. I visited San Miguel Church, the oldest church in the USA

and right next to it the oldest house in the USA. Apparently during some battle between the Spanish and the Indians a flaming arrow was shot from the roof of the house to the roof of the church which burnt killing all those who had taken refuge inside.

Here is a garden filled with wind propelled art installations at a gallery on the aforementioned Canyon Road.

This next picture of the Famous Inn and Spa at Loretto. The adobe-style exterior is levely and apparently all of the rooms are impressive.

Next door to the Inn is the Loretto Chapel, the key feature of which is the beautiful spiral staircase to the choir loft. Apparently engineers and architects still marvel at this construction and wonder how it could actually bear its own weight. In it's original form the staircase had no balustrades; these were added in the mid-18th century after the nuns requested it. You have to wonder if it was after a few unfortunates had taken a final leap there from.

The largest church in Santa Fe is St Francis Cathedral, a block away from the Historic Plaza which, along with thew adjoining streets, was filled with stalls selling all manner or religious themed stuff; paintings, pottery, sculptures, woven material, etc.

 There were actually two other marketplaces yesterday in downtown Santa Fe, an Indian craft market in a square next to the Loretto Chapel, and the much larger Contemporary Hispanic Market. Each of its 134 booths that lined both sides of 3 blocks of Washington Street showcased the work of  a local artist, and they seemed to be doing a fair trade.

Also happening in Santa Fe these days are a jazz festival and the Anual Santa Fe Chamber Festival.  I was fortunate enough to get a ticket to the excellent 5:00 pm violin, viola and cello performance of  Bach's Goldberg Variations.

Afterwards I had a really good steak dinner at The Bull Ring, a place that truly lives up to its billing as  a prime steakhouse. The steak was a perfect medium rare, and the shoestring potatoes were, like golden shoestrings.  The pool of liquid on the plate was burnt butter, and a plate of fresh raw vegetables and dip were hiding behind the glass of lovely California Sauvignon. The service impeccable, the price quite reasonable. I left a well-fed and happy traveler.

Today I rode under a blazing sun from Santa Fe to Amarillo Texas trying as I could to again pick bit stretches of Route 66, including along the Pecos National Historic Park

and through Tucumcari where this famous motel still operates.

Unfortunately nothing much else is still a going concern. The existence of the I 40 that runs parallel to Route 66 in many places has just killed all the businesses that relied on the drive through trade. Why, on the main street of Tucumcari the weeds have taken over what once were driveways and parking lots and I'd estimate that no more than 5 of 25 businesses are not boarded up. The price of progress I guess.

And finally just before arriving in Amarillo I caught a glimpse of Cadillac Farm from the interstate and turned around to visit this defining piece of Route 66.  The 10 Cadillac that were planted in a row nose-first at an angle corresponding to the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt in a farmers field in 1974 have served as canvasses for travelers for decades. Even before you get close enough to examine the cars you hear the disjunctive and yet distinctive sound of spay paint cans that visitors are using to make their own contributions to these ever changing canvasses in the open. The paint is thick on the surfaces and what can only imagine what statements lay encrusted therein.

Holbrook Arizona to Sante Fe New Mexico

Two days of riding, over 1,100 kilometres, a number of new discoveries and a few adventures.  First, I left the Desert Mirage Inn and Suites in Needles California at 8:00 on Thursday and was able to find some more long stretches of Route 66 to ride on. In Kingman Arizona I stoppoed to take a few pictures including this one of the Hotel Beale that advertised itself as being air cooled. Was this early air conditioning or simply letting travelers know that they could open the window in their room to let in the cool desert breeze.

I had breakfast at the Mr D'z (that's not a typo) Route 66 Diner, a classic
.

But nothing yet could match the Hackberry General Store. it's now a souvenir shop stuffed with really old stuff like a soda bar,

 and a stove made from two oil drums set one on top of each other.

The scenery of which I never tire of, though some of you may be starting to, continues to amaze as it unfolds before me mile after mile.

Another well known and oft photographed spot is the now closed Twin Arrows Trading Post.  While the store has been closed for many years someone continues to maintain the arrows.

Route 66 runs a few kilometres north of Meteor Crater. The huge crater, 4,000 feet across and 700 feet deep, was created some 50,000 years ago by the impact of a several hundred thousand ton, 150 foot wide meteor travelling at about 26,000 miles per hour. The crater still attracts a number of researchers and many tourists who are well served by the modern interpretation centre and knowledgeable staff.

Once back on I-40 i was caught in an hour long slowdown caused by paving that closed one of the two eastbound lanes for a 5 mile stretch.

After a good night's rest I left th Holbrook Arizona's Americas Best Value Inn and headed off to visit the Painted Dessert and the Petrified Forest, both of which are in a national park about 20 miles from Holbrook.

In addition to the scenery I stopped to admire some of the vegetation including these delicate bushes that would look good in a garden at home.

The rest of the ride to Santa Fe New Mexico, where I have decided to spend an extra day was uneventful. Well except for getting caught in a torrential downpour that forced me to stop at a service centre. I had never before rode my motorcycle completely crouched over the fuel tank, hiding behind the windscreen, with the four-way flashers on; probably the longest 5 miles, and certainly the slowest for me on an interstate highway.

Tonight, as a reward for making it to Santa Fe, I had a lovely dinner consisting of a perfectly cooked piece of flake with a medley of vegetables and two glasses of Californian Chardonnay.

I'm looking forward to walking around the capital of New Mexico tomorrow.

SPECIAL EDITION: Why it's an outrage!

I've been seeing these

at different points along the way and have wondered what the reaction was when the heartless senior bureaucrats at the USPS, no doubt as a cost cutting measure, decided to change its mail delivery system. Why there's no telling how far folks, especially vulnerable seniors, then had to trek to retrieve their Sears and Roebuck catalogs, a staple of homes and outhouses, from the post. And not to mention how many otherwise splendid views were blighted by the appearance of these unsightly installations. Why I bet that politicians have been promising to reinstate home mail delivery in  local, county, state, and possibly federal elections ever since.

Or are these just the reflections of an increasingly overheated brain lodged in a plastic shell on motorcycle in 42 degree heat.

King City CA to the start of Route 66 and beyond

Got a bit of a late start from Day's Inn in King City Tuesday morning because I had to replace the right front running light on the bike. This is somewhat of a big deal because you have to remove a section of the fairing in order to be able to reach a hand in and remove and then replace the socket in which the bulb fits. Jesse, my Ottawa mechanic, had replaced the left light before I left and had said: "Yeah, I don't know why but the RT's (mine is a R1200RT) go through a lot of bulbs; I don't know why". He's right both have been replaced a number of times and it isn't getting any easier to do it.

On the road by 8:30, I headed down 101 to Pismo Beach, which is right on the coast, and then followed the Pacific Coastal Highway (Route 1) to Santa Barbara.  Along the way I passed some really large vineyards ( I mean vineyards bigger than wheat fields back home - in Eastern Canada that is), and big vegetable farms where workers, many wearing broad brimmed hats like the ones we often see on the field workers in China, in rows picking whatever crop was ready for market.  There have to be thousands of these individuals doing this kind of back breaking work so that we have inexpensive fresh produce on our grocery store shelves.

On this first picture you can see the clouds reaching down into the mountains of the Coastal Range. I rode through this cooling mist.

In Santa Barbara, a beautiful and very touristy ocean-side town, I stopped for lunch at the

My Mahi mahi  toasted sandwich with tomato, lettuce and fries, was excellent; and what made it special were the wasabi cream sauce that the waiter obligingly brought to me, even if it was usually served with another dish on the menu, and the toasted light sourdough bread. But not toasted in a toaster mind; but rather made perfect on the red hot elements of a stove or something. It brought to mind the taste of just-burnt-enough toast at camps many years ago.

I continued down the coast to the Santa Monica Pier where a nice lady took this picture of me with my feet in the Pacific Ocean and the pier behind me. The pier is the end of Route 66 for some, while for others, like me, it's the start of journey back home. I had traveled 6,900 kilometers since leaving home on July 7th and it was time to return before the Cascadia earthquake struck this region.

 After the obligatory walk on the pier I rode for 2 hours in stop-and-go expressway traffic to the Motel 6 in Baldwin Park which is somewhere in the middle of LA County which goes on forever, and then a lot more then that.  The locked gate to the parking area at the motel, the security camera above it, and the many police cruisers patrolling the neighborhood are all reflections of what people think about personal safety in these parts.

 This morning I found Route 66 and began following it.  what with realignments, closures and whatnot its not as easy as it seems. Sometimes the route is clearly marked, at others it's pretty much a guess. After a while on a clearly marked section I stopped at this wacky place. I had seen pictures of it in guide books before. There are hundreds of works, all made with steel trees with bottles placed on all the stems that extent from the trunk, and other stuff. Go ahead enlarge the pictures and see what you can pick out.

Route 66 is a very little used route. There are long sections where you're all alone for a long stretch; nothing coming, nothing following. Just me, my bike, and my thoughts.

And some iconic landmarks, like the Ludlow Cafe where I had lunch.

Further down the road I saw these dust devils in the distance. They were many. I wondered how big they got and how powerful they might be. Enough to pick up a Guy and his bike? Didn't happen, so I don't know. Maybe a prairie friend can answer?

Between Bagdad and Amboy I stopped at the Amboy Crater, a National Natural Landmark formed by a volcano that last erupted some 10,000 years ago. Oh, I forgot to mention it was 42.5 celsius at this point.

And so the day ended in Needles California at the eastern edge of the state. Tomorrow the adventure continues as I cross the Colorado River into Arizona.