And We’re Off – Cece and Tim’s epic Journey

And we’re off! Over a year of dreaming about living on the road for several weeks and exploring this great country of ours by motorcycle and the time has finally come. We’ve learned a lot from the quick 2K mile spring run to Dino’s about packing and pacing. This time we’ll be fully equipped to camp and fish along the way and do this on the cheap. We’ll see how long that idea lasts.

One of my dreams is to go through the Tetons, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, so why are we riding through the south in July, where it’s bound to be 100+ degrees and way high humidity the whole way? Well its Cece’s great grandmother’s 100th birthday and those dont come arround too often. Glacier and Yellowstone will still be there next year if global warming doesn’t get too out of control by then.

We plan to hit 8 states in 12 days and judging by Google Maps about 3600 miles not accounting for the side trips and running arround we’ll do. I think we’re prepared for everything. I have enough tools to completely strip down the bike if need be, med kit, camping and cook gear, and maybe the kitchen sink somewhere packed on the bike. So much for those weight limits, I think we’re just a tad over heh, and amazingly with the new intakes and pipes the new 40 horses feel as peppy as ever loaded down. I can already see myself looking back on this years later, “I remember when we used to tour the country 2 up and fully loaded down on a little 650.”

What a better way to start than breakfast at The Over Easy Cafe. We learned from the owner that somehow they’ve gotten the #1 ranking on tripadvisor.com for Santa Fe resturants and have been getting lots of out-of-towners coming in. Odd because its just a little diner tucked away in the corner of a shopping center in a mostly residential area away from the glitz of downtown. They only serve breakfast and lunch also but what a awesome breakfast they have. Also the cashier/owner is really funny, enough that breakfast here will put anyone in a good mood for the day. Kudos for the top ranking!

Of course we had to stop by the plaza for the obligatory Basilica shot to document our start, of course I forgot to also take one of the odometer though, and then we headed out.

Just south of town about 2 miles from my house was a buffalo! Where the heck did this come from? I’ve been through here countless times and never seen it before. I wonder if it escaped from somewhere, that flimsy barbed wire isnt going to hold it in.

With nearly a day to kill to just get down to Ruidoso we made plenty of stops along the way for pictures and to check out things that we normally just blow past.

Getting up to the church at Golden was quite a harrowing experience on a loaded down cruiser 2 up. The road was nearly washed out and there was only a 6 inch wide strip between wagon ruts filled with boulders to ride down.  On the back side of the little hill it was steep and rocky on the turnaround, I had to have Cece get off while I powered through it.  Maybe trying to get a picture of _Every_ old church on the way wasn’t such a good idea.

You dont see buildings like this anymore. No its not a hotel for Nazis, swastikas used to be a Native American symbol before the war, the Kimo theater in Albuquerque also has them built into the decor.

Guaranteed tubes and tires? I have a feeling if we get a flat out here we’d be screwed, looks like they’ve been out of business for half a century.