Featured Touring Adventures In The American Southwest: 1800 Miles, 8 Days, 7 Friends, 10 National Parks

Our much anticipated road trip through the great American Southwest finally happened! We'd planned this trip for June of 2020 but due to Covid we didn't hit the road until one year later in June of 2021. Well, it was worth the wait! In fact, I suspect that each of us savored our adventures more than ever having been sidelined for so long due to the pandemic. We spent eight days and seven nights on the road and enjoyed (nearly) every moment. Those of you who live in areas with more rain that Tucson--which means pretty much all of you--will laugh when I tell you that we got rained on seven of our eight days on the road. I'll share our adventures as a sort of "blog"--posting a days worth of adventures each day for eight days much like I did with my Sturgis 2019 MC Rally thread.

Here's our route map for Day 1 followed by a map of our entire trip so you can see the "big picture".




Day 1: Saturday June 26
Tucson, Arizona to Quemado, New Mexico *305 miles
National Forests: (3) Coronado, Tonto, Apache-Sitgreaves

The route we'd planned for our first day on the road nearly didn't happen. There have been many wildfires in Arizona in the past month and one of the biggest, The Telegraph Fire, closed our northward bound route in two locations. So we came up with an alternate plan that put us on Interstate 10 right off the bat and wasn't ideal but would get us to our first nights destination, Quemado, New Mexico. Several days prior to departure we learned that the fire had been contained and the roads were once again open. Hurray! Here are Steve's and my bikes in our driveway all packed up and ready to roll. Prep for this trip was complicated a bit by having both a new dog and a new dog sitter all at the same time. The mama bear in me was a bit anxious leaving our boxer, Ellie, as we headed out to the QuikTrip (QT) to meet our riding buddies. But all went well!


However, our route now took us directly through where the massive fire had just been burning and it was like riding on the moon. For many miles between Winkleman and Globe we saw the devastation the fire had wrought. I felt very sad as I rode through this area thinking about the wildlife that had perished, homes that people lost, and that in our lifetime we'll never again see the beauty of this area as it once was.

This photo was taken from Google Images. There will be a few more of these "gleaned" images in this thread since I can't take photos as I'm riding. Maybe it really is time to look into that GoPro.



After our first 100 miles we stopped for gas in an old mining town called Globe. My best girlfriend, Dena, rides an Indian Scout. It's a terrific bike and she loves it. But the comfortable range before a gas stop is only about 150 miles. Actually, although the rest of us can ride much farther before needing gas, we're always happy to get off our bikes, stretch, get a drink of water, and answer nature's call. There were four motorcycle brands represented in this group: four Harley-Davidson Street Glides, an Indian Scout, a BMW 1250GS, and a Yamaha Tracer GT.

Our next stop was one of my favorites, the view area on the north rim of the Salt River Canyon. This canyon with the Salt River at its base is gorgeous and is somewhat like a mini Grand Canyon. Again, it would be a terrific time to have a GoPro. The ride through the canyon is very technical--but not nearly as technical as some of the rides to come later in our trip.




Our next stop was for lunch at Charlie Clark's Steakhouse in Pinetop, Arizona. Pinetop is in the White Mountains and is a cool(er) weather destination for many Arizonans in the summer as well as the winter when there's a bit of snow skiing. Charlie Clark's has been a favorite of ours for years. We laughingly refer to it as "Captain Jack's" since my friend, Dena, thought that was the actual name of the place. The temperature when we stopped here was a lovely 82ºF with lots of sun and blue skies.


Not much evidence of a pandemic in this establishment--or this town or this part of Arizona for that matter. This town does, however, bring to mind the adage that it's a small world. Every time we come up here we run into someone we know. Today at the table next to us was seated a special ed teacher that Steve worked with for years and she worked at the elementary school that's about 400 yards from our front door!


I'm not sure what all this is about but there are caricatures like this throughout Charlie Clark's. Next time we're here again I'm going to ask around until I learn the story.


Day 1 to be continued in another post later this evening. For now it's time to feed Ellie, the Boxer, and make a cocktail. Stay tuned.....

 

Day 1 continued:

We departed Charlie Clark's after lunch under blue and sunny skies and dry conditions. That was soon to change. As was the smooth start to our day.

We agreed that our next official stop would be in the small town of Springerville to gas up. Springerville is only about 50 miles from Pinetop but we made an unexpected stop midway on the side of the road to don our rain gear when it started to sprinkle. That first rain of the trip was a harbinger of things to come. And you can bet that it's a funny sight to see seven motorcycle riders who live in the desert try to remember how to get their rain gear on when it hasn't seen the light of day for not only months, but sometimes years!

When we arrived in Springerville we found that two of the three gas stations there had no gas! This was not something we had anticipated. We knew we'd have to monitor the usual things--temperature, wind, precipitation, and more recently, fires. But researching where gas was available hadn't been on our radar. Fortunately we were all able to fill up at the one station that did have gas.

After gassing up and getting back on the road to head to Quemado, New Mexico, our final destination of the day, I realized that my motorcycle fob wasn't in the pocket where I always keep it. I figured that I'd perhaps I had put it in one of the pockets of my rain jacket. I communicated with Steve via our Sena headsets and we agreed to pull over to check before we got out of town. So all seven of us pulled into an auto parts store parking lot and the search began. It was definitely gone. But we figured out I would have had to have it at the last gas station for my bike to start there. So two of our riding buddies backtracked back to the gas station to see if they could locate it. They did. But it had been run over and smashed!

Now normally that wouldn't have been a huge deal because Steve and I have always carried each others back-up fobs, keys, etc. But Harley stopped including two fobs with their new bikes starting the year that I bought my Street Glide (2020). I had two backup batteries in my saddlebag but no additional fob. So I thought I might be looking at having to ender my bike's PIN number EVERY TIME we stopped! Things were looking grim until one of our riding buddies became "McGyver". He asked me to hand over the remnants of my fob and the other things on my key chain and promptly announced, "The mother board is still good. And here's the battery. I'll hold the battery on the motherboard and you try to start your bike up." I did as directed and the bike started right up. RELIEF! He then taped the battery onto the motherboard with electrical tape. I carefully then put it in a small bag and tucked it into the inside zipper jacket pocket. Worked like a charm. The padlock key to the cable lock I used for my helmet was completely gone and the one to the mini padlock I had on my tail bag was broken in half. And the key for my ignition and saddlebag locks was, shall we say, "compromised"?! Another way to put it is that I'll have to have a new one made.




We were glad to have put our rain gear on because as we headed out of Springerville for Quemado after our "fob delay", the wind howled and the rain started pelting us for the next hour. But it actually was quite beautiful and the road was fairly straight in good repair so on this particular day the wind and rain were more of an annoyance than a danger. Plus I was just happy that my bike had started and was running!!!

Quemado is a very small town (Pop. 1,028) just a half hour or so east of the Arizona--New Mexico border and sits at an altitude of 6,890 ft.. The town itself is literally is about three blocks long and one block wide. But the surrounding wide open vistas of the New Mexican countryside are stunningly beautiful to my eye.


I took this photo out behind our motel. I think these trailers are long-term rentals for folks who are workers in town part of the year to work at the wind farm nearby. Whoever lives in them, they have quite the view!!


Steve and I have ridden through Quemado numerous times on our way to Santa Fe but had never stayed there. There's one little funky motel, theLargo Motel, so we figured we'd give it a try as an alternative to the Best Western in Springerville.Staying in Quemado as opposed to Springerville also cut an hour off our next days ride to Santa Fe. I'd spoken to the two proprietors, Phyllis and Starr (sisters), on the phone when we originally planned our trip in 2020 then again this year. Phyllis runs the motel and Starr runs the diner. We were all jones-ing for their green chili cheeseburger after hearing that it had won Best Green Chili Cheeseburger in New Mexico. That's quite a a culinary accomplishment where green chili is all but the state food.


Alas, when we checked into the motel Phyllis informed us that the cafe was closed. Nuts! And she was pretty close-mouthed about the why behind the closure other than mentioning some "technical issues". I'd confirmed our reservation only a week prior and she didn't say anything at the time. In the age of Covid, who knows???


Our disappointment didn't last long, however, and the beer and good company helped.


Fortunately Quemado has one other restaurant, Cafe Chubascos, and it was open. It turned out to be a great spot and they had delicious green chili cheeseburgers! When we made the big three minute walk to the restaurant from the Largo Motel it was sunny and dry. But about midway through our meal the rain began again and we moved everything inside. The staff at Cafe Chubascos were delightful and quite accommodating to our large(er) group.


And what's a meal in New Mexico without hot sauce?! This was on the wall next to the kitchen.


It would appear that another of Quemado's claims to fame is that it is home to the World's Fattest Cat. Not officially--just my assessment. Meet "Annie", the most rotund cat I've ever seen. She lives at the Largo Motel with Phyllis and Starr. And that's our riding buddy, Kelly, who's on the Yamaha Tracer.



Tomorrow's destination--Santa Fe!

 

Kia, right?? What a difference a grammatical article can make, @Vulpes. That "a" is the difference between purchasing a vehicle or purchasing a mid-sized town in New Mexico.

 

Thanks, Steve! Yeah, I'd prefer no fobs but have one (and ONLY one) for all three of my bikes. I did get two fobs with my Mustang, though, so there's that. Today I'm going to have a couple of additional keys made for my Street Glide ignition and saddlebags since that got just smooshed enough to not work.

 

But if you were to buy a town, Santa Fe would be a good one!

 

Day 2: Sunday June 27
Quemado, New Mexico to Santa Fe, New Mexico *285 miles
National Forests: (2) Cibola, Santa Fe



We woke up in Quemado to cool temps (50ºF) but blue, dry skies. We enjoyed it for the first short stretch of today's trip--Quemado to Pie Town--which was only about 25 miles to the east on our way to the day's final destination of Santa Fe. Some in our group had never been to Pie Town before this trip though Steve and I have been there probably half a dozen times over the years. Our favorite place, the Pie-O-Neer Cafè closed for good during Covid but we learned that there is someone in town (I use the word "town" loosely!) who is interested in reopening it.

So today's Pie Town destination was the Pie Town Pies which turned out to be a really fun place with excellent pie as well as eggs, bacon, and potatoes. We took our time eating and drinking our coffee and while we hung out in the restaurant the weather took a turn for the darker and stormier. By the time we were ready to hit the road we knew enough to don our rain gear while we could sit down under an awning rather than stop by the side of the road while it was already raining! Yeah, we "desert rats" have to relearn rain riding every time....

Pie Town is on the Continental Divide at an elevation of 7,795 feet. The population as of 2019 was 111. I suspect that it has shrunk a bit during the pandemic. We do know that the woman who owned and ran the Pie-O-Neer moved to another small New Mexican town to start a B & B.


New Mexico calls itself "the Land of Enchantment", hence the sign.


There was seating indoors as well as an area that was sort of indoor/outdoor. Plus there was a small dog park on the east side of the building. The vibe of the place was really fun and unique with lots of "stuff" on the counters and the walls. The patrons were fairly "colorful", too. I heard one guy say that he was working on the wind farm back near Quemado and was a temporary worker there but in town for a number of weeks. I guess he feels the 50 mile round trip is worth it!




The wind farm worker (who we saw back at the Largo Motel) is the guy in the blue shirt. And that's a real cowboy in the plaid shirt with the big black hat.


Yep, lots of interesting "stuff" to see on the walls and shelves. New Mexico is definitely part of the American West!




In addition to our bacon & egg breakfasts, Steve and I shared a pie. They don't serve pies in slices but instead bake pies that are about a third of a normal size pie and serve you the whole thing. We had the New Mexican apple pie that had green chili and piñion nuts in it. Delicious!


I saw this map with stick pins in it on my way to answer nature's (more like coffee's) call. It's clear than even though Pie Town is out in the middle of nowhere, many people have found it and love it.



Day 2 continued in my next post.......

 

Day 2 continued:

From Pie Town we headed east towards our next east stop in Soccoro, New Mexico. The scenery on this stretch is beautiful and quintessential New Mexico landscape. Prior to getting to the small town of Magdalena we pass by the Very Large Array. Typically we'll stop at the pull-out to check out the giant telescopes but we rode on by on this trip because the weather was becoming more and more threatening. You can read a bit about the VLA (or the VLFA for Very Large F*cking Array as Steve calls it) on this web site.

https://public.nrao.edu/telescopes/vla/

It began raining as we approached Soccoro in search of a gas station but we quickly realized that we'd missed a major deluge because we were riding through very wet conditions with large amounts of standing water. We'd just missed the worst of it thankfully.

But we were to get our due soaking. After gassing up we headed towards the small town of Mountainaire. The first half of the ride between Soccoro and Mountainaire is pretty much dead flat and straight and that was good because it poured and the wind howled. As the road started climbing and becoming twisty, the rains and wind calmed down for us. We were realizing that the idea of taking our rain gear off at some point today was just silly and not gonna happen.

After gassing up yet again (thank you for the stretch breaks, Indian Scout), we took tiny little winding back roads through tiny little New Mexican towns replete with old churches and cemeteries. These beautiful roads landed us on Old Highway 14 which is part of the Turquoise Trail and goes from the northeast corner of Albuquerque to Santa Fe. We were all getting hungry and our late lunch destination was The Holler in the town of Madrid. Madrid, New Mexico is pronounced with the emphasis the first syllable, Mad, unlike Madrid, Spain.

Steve and I found The Holler unexpectedly years ago on one of our stops in Madrid and now make it a point to eat there whenever we go to or through Madrid. The Hollar was founded by a guy who grew up in Florida, went to college in the South, and graduated from Le Cordon Bleu. The food is a fusion of southern cooking and local New Mexican ingredients. Yum! On this trip I had the roasted salmon with the cheese grits which I love. I get the cheese grits every time even though I know I should try something else. The vibe of the place is great in addition to the food. Lots of local art and funky decor.







And the local dog who is a bit of a beggar and clearly hasn't missed many meals!


Madrid, New Mexico is where the 2007 film "Wild Hogs" was filmed and starred Tim Allen, John Travolta, William H. Macy, and Martin Lawrence. Madrid's nod to this is a curio and souvenir store called "Maggies" which was the name of the diner in the movie.




Oops---I'm afraid some of my photos are going to repeat and I can't put my allotment of 10 photos in this post. I got up to feed the dog and came back to doubles of my photos in the download section. My apologies... So I'll finish up my info on Madrid in another thread. Oh well, small potatoes in the grand scheme of life.

 

After lunch we strolled around town a bit checking out the numerous homes-turned-gallery and the museums.






Our whole gang except for Russell who was the man behind the camera (iPhone) on this shot.


Day 2 continued in my next post....

 

Day 2 continued:

Onward to Santa Fe! The last leg of today's route took us to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Santa Fe is the place in the U.S. that I would move if I left Tucson. Steve's #1 choice would be Durango which is our next destination after we leave Santa Fe. You can see why we like this trip route. In fact, Steve and I, along with three friends, rode to Santa Fe from Tucson in 2015 to get married in Santa Fe at the Loretto Chapel.



We'd built in a two-night stay in Santa Fe partly because we love the place and partly because that would give us a day to ride to Taos via "The High Road to Taos" an all-time great ride. We stayed at a Best Western that was a bit too far from the Plaza for walking there and we decided that we'd find lodging that is closer to the Plaza in next time we're in Santa Fe. It's never been an issue before but with Covid there are about three total Uber drivers and no taxi cab services in the whole town these days.


We did manage to get hold of one of those rare Uber drivers thanks to the hotel clerk on duty the first evening. There's a fantastic bar in the Hotel St. Francis called "Secreto" but when we arrived at the hotel and went in we were disappointed to learn that they were closed on Sundays. They did make a great recommendation for the bar at the Hotel Chimayo, however, "Low & Slow" which is a low rider themed place. I actually like it even better than Secreto. It was a short, easy walk to get to Low & Slow from the Hotel St. Francis and along the way I saw a few fun sights near the Plaza.



On the way to Low & Slow we walked past the Loretto Chapel where Steve and I got married six years ago.


La Fonda is an old famous hotel in Santa Fe and I suspect most of you have heard of Route 66.


I was drawn by this particular sight on one side of the Plaza. Motorcycles are like a magnet for me. I had to take a quick snap, though, then run to catch up because my hubby and friends were hoofing it at warp speed to get to the bar!


A GREAT bar! We'll definitely go back to this place on subsequent trips.




Check out what the "chandelier" is made of!


I had a nice conversation with the bartender when I went over to ask him about the two local gins on the menu. One is from Santa Fe and the other is from nearby Albuquerque. I had a martini made with the Wheeler's and chased it with a shot of the Hacienda. The bartender and I chatted for awhile. Turns out he rides and he and his father, who lives in Florida, met up and rode to Sturgis together in 2018. A wonderful ending to an adventurous day!

 

Day 3: Monday June 28 *188 miles
Santa Fe, NM to Taos, NM
National Forests: (2) Santa Fe, Carson

Today we did an iconic ride known as "The High Road to Taos". Steve and I have done this ride several times before and it ranks among my favorite routes anywhere. We do it as a loop and like to go counterclockwise, doing the "high road" first through numerous little mountain towns and the Carson National Forest then coming back along the Rio Grande River. The distance should have been 154 miles but instead we wound up with 188 miles on the clock as we took a couple of wrong turns, one of which put us up on a narrow and precarious road that was clearly not the one we'd intended to take!

Two of the seven in our group opted to sit this ride out and relax in Santa Fe. One of them, my best girlfriend, Dena, hasn't done a long motorcycle trip in a number of years and she has some arthritis in her hands which was bothering her. So it worked out well that we weren't traveling to a new destination today and she and her hubby could take a day off the bikes.


We got on the road right at 9am which was our goal. The weather forecast for both Santa Fe and Taos showed rain starting at 1pm. We figured we'd easily be home by then but we weren't counting on the detours--and slow detours at that. So we did get rained on after having lunch in Taos on the ride back to Santa Fe along the Rio Grande River. As this was the third day in a row we'd had rain, by now we were getting pretty used to wearing our rain gear.


Some of the photos in today's post are from Google Images because we didn't make many stops along the way. But I really wanted to be able to share what the lovely scenery looks like in this part of northern New Mexico. I find it incredibly beautiful--and I find the feel of the area quite spiritual. I chose the following photos because they are pretty representative of what today's ride looked although our skies were a bit cloudier. And many parts of the road on the way to Taos were more twisty than the roads in the photos.


This is in the little town of Truchas, one of about half a dozen little mountainside villages on the scenic "High Road to Taos".




The "High Road" also takes you through the Carson National Forest with its stands of pine, fir, spruce, oak, aspen, and juniper. It's absolutely gorgeous--and it smells wonderful, too!

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd600772.pdf






We arrived in Taos right around noon and the place was hopping. It seems that there are a lot of people itching to get out and travel after being holed up during the pandemic. We were lucky enough to find a parking lot with spaces available. Parking was even free because the meters weren't working! Taos is nearly 7000' in elevation and there are four ski resorts nearby: Taos Ski Valley, Angel Fire Ski Resort, Red River Ski Area, and Sipapu Ski Resort.


Taos is a very old city in what I'll call "American Years". Perhaps American Years are like Dog Years? It's a beautiful town with architecture that is uniquely New Mexican. If you're interested in learning more about Taos and area of New Mexico, here's the first part of a good article on the art, architecture, and history of Taos with a link to the rest of the article.

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/nm-taos/




Continued in my next post....

 

Day 3 continued:

Because of our little "detours" towards the beginning of today's ride, we arrived in Taos much later than we'd planned and stomachs were grumbling. Fortunately there was a wonderful Mexican restaurant located directly next to the parking lot where we'd parked our bikes so we locked everything up and went in to get a table and a meal.






I really wanted to walk around the Taos Plaza after lunch to snap some photos and do a bit of sight seeing but the weather was taking a turn for the worse so unfortunately we didn't get a chance to stroll to the Plaza. I didn't feel too deprived since I've been to Taos several times previously. But it was too bad for two of the guys in our group who'd never been here before. Oh well, it's an excuse to come back!

It wasn't raining when we left Taos but four of the five of us opted to wear our rain gear anyway "just in case". Steve was hoping for the best and didn't wear his but we wound up making a stop by the side of the road about halfway back to Santa Fe so he could don his rain jacket when the rains began (again).

The second half of the loop we rode today is just as beautiful as the first half but in a different way. The route takes you down along the Rio Grande River Gorge with the river on one side and the side of a mountain on the other. It really is quite stunning. This area of the Rio Grande is known for white water rafting and we saw quite a few folks on the river today doing just that. I had the opportunity to do a white water rafting ride down this stretch many years ago--well before I started riding motorcycles. Funny how thing come full circle in their own way sometimes.

 

Day 4: Tuesday June 29
Santa Fe, New Mexico to Durango, Colorado *229 miles
National Forests: (2) Rio Grande, San Juan

I'd never before ridden on most of the roads on the ride from Santa Fe to Durango and it turned out to be my favorite route of the entire trip. Today's journey took us through two states and two national parks with spectacular and varied scenery. We got some rain but we'd learned to just expect it and start out with our rain gear on.


Besides my fob "adventure" on our first day, the only other motorcycle-related misstep on the whole trip happened with our friend, Ron's, BMW 1250GS. Yesterday he started having problems with it shutting off when he moved the side stand and was concerned that it might shut down completely at some point when we were out in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately there's a BMW auto and motorcycle dealership in Santa Fe so he arranged to be there right when they opened this morning. He insisted that we go on without him and said he'd either catch up, meet us in Durango, or see us back in Tucson. He actually caught up with us just beyond our gas stop in Chama and he never had another hiccup from the GS for the rest of the trip. I know he took it in to the Tucson dealership when we got back home but I haven't yet heard what the mechanics here figured out to be the issue.

The first small town we rode through was Abiquiu which had a population as of 2019 of 151. Now THAT is small! It was the home of the late artist, Georgia O'Keeffe, for many years. The little town and surrounding areas are magnificent and serene at the same time. I loved the area and thought that perhaps our group should buy some land, start a commune, and build a big pole barn for all of our bikes.


The altitude in Abiquiu is 6,080 feet and from there we climbed about 1,800 feet to 7,871 feet over the 58 miles between Abiquiu and Chama. Chama, New Mexico was our next gas stop and is a mere 7 miles from the Colorado border.


This was our ACTUAL view of Chama.


From Chama and the Rio Grande National Forest we rode on to the ski town of Pagosa Springs in the San Juan National Forest. Pagosa was mad with tourists and that was fairly much the norm for a lot of our trip. It seems that people everywhere were glad to be out traveling again after being locked down last summer.

Our final destination for the day was Durango, Colorado which is the town that my hubby, Steve, would move to if we moved out of Tucson. He loves it because it's on the Animas River and has great fishing and hunting.





Our first stop was for lunch at a favorite spot of Steve's and mine called Serious Texas Barbecue. It's on the road into town and is two doors down from Durango Harley-Davidson where we went after lunch. I't's funny that there's a Texas BBQ place in Colorado but the story behind the place explains how that came to be. Steve and I have been there before several times and our friends, Kelly, Dena, and Larry had been there, too. But it was a new experience for Ron and Russell and they loved it as much as we all do. The food is fantastic and the views and setting even better. I had the pulled pork sandwich with chipotle-cherry sauce and cole slaw.




Our view from the deck of Serious TX BBQ. That's the Animas River below us with some rafters heading down river.




Day #4 continued in my next post