Epilogue

My total journey was over 3,200 miles in 7 days (about 1,500 on the 66 route).

Leaving Santa Monica, I was stuck in LA rush hour traffic for over 90 minutes. I finally made it out of rush hour and stopped overnight in Banning, CA. I had a beautiful day and a great ride to Deming, NM for my overnight stop. The scenery was great and all was right with the world.

I woke up on Wednesday to a 33° start to the day. That was cold, but I thought it would warm up as I moved into Texas. Well....the arctic blast had moved in and Texas was actually colder than anywhere else on my trip. It was a brutal ride with a northerly wind sometimes gusting to over 40 mph. Air temps were as low as 22°, the wind chill was absolutely painful.

I made numerous stops to unfreeze my hands and clean the ice from the face shield on my helmet. When I would breath out, my breath would turn to ice and start to accumulate on the face shield.

After 14 1/2 hours I made it home. My beautiful wife had hot chili waiting for me, which was fantastic.

The last day was not what I wanted, but this was a fantastic trip overall. I look forward to running the full 2,278 miles in 2016.

Oatman, AZ to Santa Monica, CA - End of Route 66

Better late than never!

I left Oatman headed to Santa Monica just over a day behind schedule. My original plan was to hit a few key California 66 locations, but being behind schedule left me without the opportunity. Once I hit Needles, CA; I made a hard push to Santa Monica.

I was greeted at the California border with the Welcome to California sign.

Fuel prices are about 30% higher than my home state of Texas.
Welcome to California!
















My ride to the coast was uneventful and not fruitful, since I had to skip over the majority of 66 that California offers. That was disappointing, but I'll make it up next time.

I did make it to Santa Monica pier and the official end of Route 66.

The weather getting to Santa Monica couldn't have been better. No rain, a few cold mornings, but beautiful scenery and sunshine the entire trip. My minor incident near Glenrio and the linkage issue on the bike were the only setbacks on the trip.

I'm hoping to pull together a full Route 66 trip for 2016 and bring along some friends. Contact me if you're interested in being on the 2016 Route 66 on a Harley trip.

Thanks to those that followed my journey.

Kingman to Oatman, AZ

Many thanks to Mother Road Harley for getting me back on the road quickly.

The Oatman Highway is a must do if you're getting your Kicks on Route 66. This video isn't mine, all credit goes to D. Fela and TravelWithE. Oatman Highway video.

Riding the Oatman Highway was a blast! Tight turns and several switchbacks. I've heard from locals that some people on 66 will ride to Oatman then back to Kingman and back to Oatman to do it again!
Here's a bit of what I saw.

Riding into Oatman, AZ, you can't help but notice the burros.

Besides the link above, here are a couple of additional good links for the city of Oatman,
Oatman Gold Road site   Oatman Wiki Site  Oatman Video all video credit goes to Mark Allen.

Next post will take me on to Santa Monica and the end of Route 66.

At Mother Road Harley

It looks to be an external issue. I hope that means I'll be on the road quickly.

UPDATE: They had me on the road within 90 minutes! Great job, Mother Road Harley-Davidson!

Back in Kingman

Started out this morning with high expectations, was on the Oatman Highway when my shift linkage went haywire.

I was able to limp it back to Kingman. The H-D dealer opens at 8am on Monday. We'll see what the diagnosis is at that time.

Till then, I'm stuck.

Gallop, NM to Kingman, AZ

Awesome day. I had the longest uninterrupted stretch of 66 so far. I had to dodge cows, horses, and roadrunners. It was only giant tumbleweeds yesterday.

Today started cold. I'm not kidding.

It hit 86 here in Kingman, so I had a 61 degree swing from takeoff to touchdown.

I went through a number of great locations today.

Here's a few shots of my travels today.

I'm staying tonight at El Trovatore.

I did have a few of those pesky doublebacks and my share of bad road. You really have to watch some of the open sections.

I missed one of my planned stops, but all in all, a great day. I'm looking forward to Kingman to Oatman tomorrow. That is billed as the best section of 66. It looks awesome for a bike!

That's all for now.

Tucumcari to Gallup, NM

Great start to the day, visited with some out of country visitors while getting my gear ready and having coffee. Thanks Kevin for the coffee and for wearing those awesome house shoes!

Morning was cool, phone said 49, bike thermometer said 42. Either way, we were ready to go. We backpedaled less than a mile to have breakfast at Kix on 66.

Absolutely great place. The staff, food, and decor were all excellent.



















You definitely need to stay a few days when you visit Tucumcari. Too many good places to eat, you'll need a couple of days to get to them all. Lot's of history here, it would be worth an extra night or two. If you make the trip, call up Kevin or Nancy at the Blue Swallow Motel.

My day was hectic, but productive. I stayed on schedule throughout the day. Cherry is performing great, even at altitude. I was a bit discouraged today. While we did have some great long stretches on 66, there were a couple of places that weren't marked and some that were marked but ended up being dead ends. I had to double back 3 times, so the good news, I was able to see that section twice!

We visited several locales that were prime real estate prior to I40. Santa Rosa, Moriarity, Clines Corners, Albuquerque, Laguna Pueblo, Grants, Thoreau, and of course ending in Gallup.
Here's a few of today's sites.

An Edsel Excavator at the Route 66 Auto Museum in Santa Rosa, NM!

 

1947 Chevy COE

The Rio Puerco Bridge c1933

And I used an analog pump today. I know they're around, but everything I see is digital anymore.

And we crossed the Continental Divide. That's my first time to cross it on a motorcycle.

And after a long day on the road, we made it to Gallup.

Cold start tomorrow, expected temp about 30. Expected temp at my destination tomorrow, 82. I'll be shedding clothes on the way. 

That's all for now.

Cadillac Ranch to Tucumcari, NM

Left out of Amarillo with one thing in mind. Visit the Cadillac Ranch!
The Cadillac Ranch started as an art project from the Ant Farm.
I have driven past it previously, but never stopped to take photos.
Well.....here they are!

There was a photo shoot going on, see the guy on top of the car near the middle?

I stopped at the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, TX, which is the last configuration midpoint of Route 66. 

I had a good conversation with the owners, then had a great piece of pie. It didn't meet my low carb requirement, but I had it any way! 

My next scheduled stop was the Glenrio ghost town. Glenrio was a nice little town before I40 came through. After I40, everything disappeared. All the buildings are now privately owned and there are no longer any businesses. Glenrio is sad, I didn't take any photos.

I was making the turn to go over I40 and the lane I was turning to was full of gravel. Gravel and motorcycles don't go well together. In a turn at about 30 mph on a motorcycle and throw in gravel and it's about as bad as it gets. I went down hard, the engine guard did it's job and protected the bike. Luckily there was no traffic behind me. I ended up with a ruined engine guard, ruined lower, and a pretty messed up saddlebag. Physically, no major damage. I picked up the bike, made it to a safe location and rubbed some dirt on my wounds (that's what Peyton said to do). I'll have a limp for a couple of days, but should be 100% by the time I make it home next week. My gear did it's job; a couple of cuts on my chaps and decimated the side of my left boot.

Saddlebag damage.

 

After my fun in Glenrio, I drove through San Jon on my way to Tucumcari. 

Tucumcari has done a great job taking advantage of the desire for the old days. They live and breath Route 66. 

I had dinner at Del's, which was very good.

Kevin and Nancy took care of me at the Blue Swallow Motel, would definitely recommend staying here if you're in the area. Cherry got her very own garage. Appropriately, there's an Easy Rider mural on the back wall.

That's about it from Tucumcari, I'll post again from the west side of New Mexico tomorrow.