It all started as a July dream

This trip out to California started as a dream I woke up from in July. A few days later I told Joe that I had this dream that I was on my motorcycle headed west. He said when do you want to go. We decided on leaving the 5th of Nov. He finished harvesting his soybeans 2 days before we left.

Wed. Nov. 5 We leave home at 7:00 this morning headed west towards Arkansas. Our plans to go to Oklahoma have changed because of stormy weather headed that way. Instead we travel hwy 82 thru Arkansas into Texas where we pass thru the towns of New Boston, New Chicago, and Detroit where they have a sign up at the local school saying you can see the Detroit Lions play there. We make to Paris, Tx where we spend the night.

Thur. Nov. 6 When we awoke this morning it had rained a little. Got back onhwy 82 to Henrietta where we turned on hwy 287 which passes thru Wichita Falls and Childress where they were just starting to harvest cotton. When we got to Memphis, which had a lot of peanuts at a large warehouse, we turned on hwy 256 to take the back way into Amarillo. Before reaching Caprock Canyon we saw a lot of cotton and milo being harvested. I also saw a Roadrunner( the bird type) sitting on a fence post. We turned north on hwy 207. Before we get to Claude where we turn to head into Amarillo we see 30 something head of muledeer grazing on wheat in someone's pasture. We check into our motel and ride back to the Big Texan for supper. We had only eaten salad for dinner that day and saving room to feast on a big steak, it was no dieting on this trip. Before leaving the resturant there were 3 guys, I think they had been drinking a little and bet each other they could eat the Grandad of all steaks, had started on the 72 oz. Big Texan, boy those were big hunks of meat. It was a good thing we took hwy 82 route because the Oklahoma route had heavy rain and hail that evening & that night.

Fri. Nov. 7 We get up this morning it's 29 and clear so we take our time to let it warm up a bit before heading out. West of Amarillo we start to see the wind turbines. It's pretty cool riding. My fingers get cold but we have thermal underwear and our insulated bib overalls on which otherwise keep us warm enough. We see muledeer & antelope while traveling west on I40. Passing thru Albuquerque, NM was a slow go because of highway work. West of Albuquerque we cross the Continental Divide at elevation 7525 ft. and when we stop for the night in Gallup, NM the temp is 45. That night we went down the road (route 66) to Earl's to eat. Joe ask the waitress about all the Lava Rock we had seen west of Grant. She told us something about the legend of 2 giant sons of a chief. When the lava flow was headed to the village, one of the sons shot a giant arrow into the air and it came down at the tip of the flow, stopping it from coming any closer to the village. She said scientist said the perfect arrow shaped rock is 50 ft in the ground with 50 ft sticking up out of the ground. She also said they can only speak of the legend in the winter.

Sat. Nov 8 Well when we get up this morning it is 15 degrees. We get a bite to eat before heading north on hwy 491. Originally this road was hwy 666 or the Devil's Hwy. The states of New Mexico and Arizona changed it to 491. By the time we get to Newcomb, which is in Navajo territory, the temp has warmed up. An old Indian we talked to said we were at a lot lower altitude now than at Gallup. We were looking at some snow covered mountains to our north east and he said they were west of Durango, Co. While driving to the 4 corners we see a lot of octogen shaped buildings, some with dirt on to and others with thatched roofs. We later learned they are called Hogans. The dirt roof ones are used mainly in the winter and the thatched roof ones are for summer use. And they also have male and female versions. We stop at Shiprock to fuel up and take a break. A dog comes up to me that reminded me a lot of Ug, Robert's new ugly dog. Shiprock gets it's name from the sailing ship rock formation outside of town that protudes up out of the rolling terrain. This is where we turn on hwy 64 & then hwy 160 to the 4 corners. When we reach the 4 corners( Utah, Colorado, New Mexico & Arizona) we meet a couple of farmers from Kansas and talk to them for awhile. We leave there for hwy 163 thru Monunent Valley. The ride thru the Valley was a good decission, the different rock formation and colors as we approached Mexican Hat( there is a formation with a balanced wide flat rock on top that looks like a hat, thus the town name) from the North was well worth the time. We crossed the San Juan river at Mexican Hat as we we headed thru more of the Valley on our way to Kayenta, Az. We stop at a Buger King in Kayenta to get late lunch. They have a large display inside about the Navajo Code Talkers with uniforms and equipment of U.S. and Japan soldiers. Also next to Burger King there Hogans built and info on each one's funtion. We continued on hwy 160 to Tuba City, AZ where we spent the night.

I try to post some more later.

till then