Earache

We hump it back to Santa Fe before the storm hits. We're supposed to get 8-20" of snow tonight and tomorrow. We head out to dinner and it's snowing like a bitch...

More of Las Vegas...

The drug store even had a soda fountain and seating area in it. Reminded me fo the new CVS they put up by my house...

The rest of the town square area is just as cool...

We drive into Las Vegas (no, not that Las Vegas - the New Mexico one) for some lunch. This town was built duirng the gold rush as well and hasn't changed much at all. It'd be a tourist mecca if it were in the east, but towns like this are all over the place out here so it's just another small town. We fall in to the Plaza Hotel's bar for ssome chow.. Ya gotta love the horseshoe bar stools...

I just love checking out old buildings along the way; to look at their construction methods, to wonder what happened to them and to just be nosy... Most were made during the 1860's by miners duirng the silver and gold rush. Crudely made from local materials. You have to admire the fact that they made bricks from the dirt and doors and windows from scraps of wood that they found.

Enough off-roading in the rent-a-racer, let's get back to some tarmac. We continue our recon and find some good roads to ride that I haven't been on before... Old,bombed out adobe buildings from days gone by are everywhere.

The road into town was curvy, smooth and had a lot of twisties. But it wasn't exactly what ya called "paved"'. Need some knobbies for the ST.... Great scenery though....

Cruised south in search of fun roads to ride. I even found a cool bar to hang out at after the ride. I present to you; Mary's Bar in Cerillos... Once you get past the dirt streets, wandering dogs and lack of people, it's a cool litle town... They have a Catholic Church intown, so there's gotta be people here on Sunday....

Maybe we can move this up a bit? Gonna be cold titties in the mountains in September. Has anyone already got their vacation time locked for this? On a side note;who gives a shit about football????

Toiday we're off in the rent-a-racer to drive a few new roads in preparation for the next year's ride out here. There are some ghost towns that I want to go through again and some other stuff as well. Hopefully I'll find some new roads worth riding. More pics later..........

But overall it was lame and a waste of $100....

We went out of town to look at the hills and then reversed back into Santa Fe. Saw a few cool homes out in the country....

Thing had a top speed of 18 mph and only went about 20 miles out of town on the three hour ride. Interior was clean, but ol;d and kinda moldy smelling. Probably wasn't any better back in the day...

The wife wants to take the scenic old train ride. Against my better judgement, I agree to go.... Engineer's face said it all, I shoulda bailed on this...

Heard the familiar thump of a bike and sure as shit, one goes by. Guy's car must have been frozen...

More cool architecture, this is the county courthouse... This was an officer's home during the civil war era... A new office building...

The town square is cool. Lined by stores around the perimeter, the square is always full of people. One side fo the square is reserved for the Indians to sell their goods. They sit with their wares spread out before them on the sidewalk. Doesn't look like a lot of fun when it's 20 F outside... A lot of stores are open air type - crap just strewn along the buildings...

We walk past this parking garage on the way to town. Every year for the past 5-6 years, this bike(VFR) has been sitting here. It never moves, they don't tow it, it just sits. I always take a pic of it...

Food outta the way and we're off to walk through the town square and look at some shops. Wifey wants some kimd of ring for Xmas and she's on the hunt for some shit I can't afford. Outside fo the hotel, this is actualkly one of the oldest buildings in Santa Fe and was once part of the Ortiz home... Cool architecture all over town...

Down the hall and past the courtyard towards the restaurant... Judy has the Huevos Rancheros. Eggs covered with more red and green chili. My bunghole was burning just looking at it....

Anyway, the next day and we're up and at'em early. Not hard to do when there's a 2 hour time difference. The wife wnats some breakfast, but I'm in no mood to eat as I'm still suffering from last night. So we head to the hotel restaurant for some breakfast for her and a nice, cold Coke for me. Cool hotel. The front canopy looks better at night.. Old Mexican doors all over the place... Lobby area..

Come on next year's trip west and you will be there!

It has to be done, I'm a 'giver" ya know....

More pics later today. I'm off to recon some good roads to ride and better places to eat for next summer's trip out here. More as it happens..........