Route 66 - Day 10
We woke up and got our free breakfast and started the morning routine of cleaning up, packing, looking at today's ride, etc. The hotel was quiet and clean. We got all packed up and headed down the road to Albuquerque.
Today we have two options for routes to take. The pre-1937 route takes you north and around to Santa Fe while the post-1937 routes basically follows the interstate straight to Albuquerque. We opted for the older route since we wanted to stop in La Vegas (not Nevada). Many movies have scenes from this town and we wanted to get the one from Easy Rider.
The weather was perfect again. Of course there is wind but we can live with that. The road for our route is not the typical road we have been driving. More traffic and 18 wheeler vs. mainly just us. It was still a great ride.
We made it to Las Vegas and drove around a bit. Cool town.
We found the fire station but police station in the movie is now an Art Studio. You can still tell it is the same buildings. Pretty cool.
We also got to follow the Santa Fe trail for quite some time.
We left Las Vegas and headed to Santa Fe. This is a big city. When we first arrived, we went thru a cool upscale section around the Plaza. Lots of shops, bars, food, and open air markets. The streets are VERY tight and lots of roads going every which way. Also a TON of people everywhere. It made for a difficult drive trying to look at thing AND watch the road. Eventually we drove out of the that area and got into what we describe as more 66 like. Older motels signs and remnants of the past. Unfortunately for this city, it is also in the industrial area as well. It is so sad seeing how a once vibrant road and community has deteriorated into a waste land.
On the out skirts of town, we found gas station and filled up. We also got a cold drink and ate lunch.
While we were their, a group of Indian riders pulled in. We chatted with them for a bit and looked at their bikes. They were from Tennessee and trailered them to New Mexico for a 1200 mile jaunt.
We left heading to Albuquerque. Unfortunately most of the 66 route is using interstate in New Mexico. It seems the state has ripped up large portions of the old highway. We were not sure where we were going to stay. We tried a Bunk A Biker but he was not available. He did mention a NEW group that is doing the same thing called Biker Bunks. At some point a website will be up but you can also get the Motorcyclist Map app and it is on there as well. This is brand new. We called the person starting it and he said to meet him in Corrales at the post office. While heading there, the weather started to turn. We stopped and zipped up. We got to the post office, texted him and he showed up in a few minutes. His house was only 2 minutes away.
We followed him to his house. 6 acres with a garage and apartment overhead. This was great. Curt and Suzanne were fun and excellent hosts. They took us in their car to a Mexican restaurant and we stuffed ourselves. We then headed back and sat on the porch while having one last drink. The night was cool but you could see the storm building. We did get some rain and the lighting was good. We slept like rocks.
Total miles today? 199