Today was a breeze only about 320 miles and most of it on the freeway. I had checked in with my friend who lives in South Park, CO while I was in Amarillo. (Yes, the Southpark…the one from the show) Pat was in Alaska for our HOG rally this year and had lived in Alaska when he was younger. While he was up there for the rally, he fell I love with the state and really wanted to move back up there. So, to help encourage him, I hired him to do a project for me at the shop and flew him up there. He installs security systems, so he upgraded mine. He was already planning on going to go on a ride today, so he suggested he ride to Santa Fe to meet up for lunch.

I woke up at 6am on the dot, I guess that is my new wake up time. I was ready to go before 7:15 so I decided to drink some coffee and wait a bit till the sun got higher in the sky and warmed up a bit. When I went out to my bike to get it loaded up, I was surprised by the smell! Apparently Amarillo is near a bunch of cattle farms or sewer or something! Yuck! So I got out of there as quick as I could. I grabbed some gas and then headed out on the freeway, gotta love a 75mph speed “limit.”

Anyone need to buy a buffalo!?

Ok, so I am adding my disclaimer here: excuse my quick soap box moment….

While I was cruising along with all the farms and the hundreds of windmills, I came upon a cattle feed lot. There were thousands of cows crammed into this smelly, muddy pit of a pin. The cows looked sickly, dirty and had hardly any room to move. This is what most of the “beef” in the store is sourced from sites like this. They feed the cows corn and they are basically just fattened up and sickly pumped full of drugs then fed to us. A few miles down the road, after I was able to stop plugging my nose, I saw some cows that were in a nice grassy pasture. They were clean, had room to roam and looked healthy and probably tasted great! Ok, so next time you go to eat a steak think about where that comes from and get the grass fed organic piece of meat instead of the chemical cow hunk of meat 🙂

I was cruising along and not really paying attention, and next thing you know I am at 1/4 of a tank. I checked my GPS and I was supposed to be catching a different road off the freeway in about 20 miles. So, I assumed (worse thing you can do) that there would be a gas station at the crossroads. I take the exit, no gas station and none in sight. I headed about a mile and found a sign that said the next town was 41 miles. My bike said I had 47 miles to empty. I am not that brave, so I turned back around and got on the freeway. The best part, was I had passed a lady on a trike, then she passed me while I was off the highway, then as I was heading toward the gas station I saw one off the highway so I took the exit and she passed me again. Of course that gas station was closed, so she passed me again. Then we met up at the gas station that actually has gas. I later met her at the hotel and she was so happy to see another female rider and had a good chuckle because she knew what I was doing on my gas quest.

Look it’s not just flat farm land anymore!

So, I got gas, my GPS recalculated and I followed the gal on the trike to get back on the highway. Of course, I would have a little more construction to brighten my day, and the on ramp to the highway was stripped down to the bottom. To get on the freeway, you had to get back up on the pavement which was at least a 5 inch lift. It was literally the worst I have seen. My bike was a like riding a bunking bronco as I had to jump up at an angle since I could not hit is straight on because I was entering a freeway! My friend on the trike said she was a little concerned when she hit it and made sure I made it ok. So then back on toward Santa Fe.

Hog Rally Headquarters

The cathedral

The Alaskans

I got into town pretty early, we were originally going to meet for lunch at 12 but he said they were running late and would be closer to 1. So, I checked I out the dealership, saw all the stuff set up for the HOG Rally that is going on and decided I would head downtown to check things out. Lots of shops, art galleries and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. I headed back to the dealership and met up with Pat and his friend Bill. They had a hard ride here and had to eat lunch then turn around and head back, so round trip 600 miles. We had a good lunch and said our goodbyes and Barry texted to say they were at the hotel. I headed to the hotel and got to drop my stuff in the room and head to the bar with the crew. Jim, Robin, Barry and I chatted for a bit, then Barry went to the room to nap and Robin had to go pick up a prescription. Closer to 5:20pm Jim and I headed to the room to get everyone ready to head to Madrid, which is where Wild Hogs, the movie was filmed.

Party in Madrid

It was a nice ride, and we were welcomed with a bar/restaurant that had live music and outdoor seating. We hung out for a bit, then headed back to the hotel. We had to ride back in the dark, and Jim’s GPS wasn’t too happy to lead us the right way. The important thing is we made it. Barry and I have been at the bar hanging with JT our HOG guy from the motor company. Overall a good day! Now I just need to decide what I am going to do tomorrow…

Wing it!