New Mexico ride by day!

I left on the Silver Wing last Sunday and traveled to Tucson. 216 miles from my house.  I met up with two members from the Sky Island Scooter club on Monday morning.  I am going to try and break this report up by day to make this easier to follow!  Lots of pictures so be forewarned, proceed no further if that bothers you!!!



The above is me at home with the SWing loaded and ready to leave.

Day 1 officially started from the TTT truckstop in Tucson.



The Three Scootsketeers A Silver Wing, a 1998 Honda Helix and a 2012 Kymco 300



We made it to Mogollon an old ghost town where the road is in BAD repair.



I was told by a local that bikes have almost stopped coming due to the road work and damage!  We stopped for lunch here:





We arrived in Glenwood with enough time to tour the Catwalk National Recreation Area!



Water? Nobody mentioned a water crossing!!!  LOL







So ended Day 1!!! Our other two travelers joined us in Glenwood this night.  A couple from Ohio; Robert rode a H-D and Paula has a 2015 Indian! 249 miles today!

Day 2 found the 5 of us heading south, at least for a while. Silver City NM is a mining town and next pix are from there!





Later in the day we ran into rain!!! Next picture has us "gearing up"!



My SWing next to the Rio Grande River in Las Cruces, NM.



We ended the day at Alamogordo, fighting rain most of the time. All the bikes did fine and we enjoyed a great night sleep! 276 miles this day.

On Day 3 we started heading North toward Santa Fe. Still some rain but not as bad...

Pictures at Smokey the Bear Historical Park in Capitan NM.





The below is the final resting place for the original Smokey the Bear. He died in 1976 in Washington DC and was brought home to Capitan to be buried.



The next few pictures are from some old ruins that were built in 1759 and inhabited until 1770 or so:







After fighting more rain we finally made Santa Fe which would be our hotel stop for two nights.
283 miles ridden this day.

On Day 4 we made it a fairly short day to rest up and sight see a bit.



The above was taken at Madrid, NM, site of the movie "Wild Hogs" starring Travolta.  You can see MY wild hog!!!  LOL



The inside of Maggies Diner (Wild Hogs fame).  As you can see it is not really a diner but a place that sells all kind of biker gear!  In other words a FUN place!!!



On to the small town of Cerrillos NM.



The following shots are from the Cerrillos Mining Museum:









After this it was back to Santa Fe to hit the pool and hot tub and relax!!!  Great day and only 71 miles for me.

Glen,
Thank you for your pictures. I went to New Mexico State University and worked in Las Cruces NM from 1968 through 1975. Got married in Las Cruces. Thanks again! Wish I could do road trips much like you do. Ride safe and have fun. Keep posting your pictures.

Day 5 was the brutal one. Good thing we rested the day before!!! We traveled from Santa Fe to Farmington the LONG way around but saw some beautiful country!



Me and the Wing!







Some of the crew getting a bit punchy!!! LOL

The group stopped for lunch in Chama and there we split from our Ohio contingent! Back to a scooter ride again!!! On to Farmington and a stop for the night. 358 long miles.

Day 6 we left Farmington and traveled to Holbrook, AZ!





Here is my Wing with Shiprock in the background. Beautiful country for sure.

We took a road from Shiprock to Chinle, not well known but awesome for bikers!!! Look at this grade! Usual is 6% WOW



236 miles had us in Holbrook! Kind of hot but very scenic parts to the ride.

OK, the last day for us!  My Tucson friends left me here and traveled to Tucson, while I left Holbrook and traveled home to Wickenburg solo!



Tourist trap?  Oh couldn't be could it???  LOL  Had to take a picture of it tho.



Any Eagles fans? Here is my Wing "Standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona"...





At the top of Yarnell Hill about 30 minutes from home.

Today was 236 miles for me and total for the trip was 1925 miles total! The scoot ran great and following the smaller displacement scooters really helped my fuel mileage! I averaged 59-60 MPG!!! It was a GREAT trip for sure with some good friends but it is good to be back home!!! I hope you have enjoyed this short travelog and will be inspired to get out and RIDE. The Silver Wing is meant to be ridden!!!

Must have been a great trip. Love that area. Thanks for sharing, Glenn!

Nice pictures.

Three thumbs up looks like a lot of country we have be through on our G'Wing. Shiprock from the time you first see it until arrival can take quite a while even on bikes, imagine a wagon train.

oldwingguy wrote:

Three thumbs up looks like a lot of country we have be through on our G'Wing. Shiprock from the time you first see it until arrival can take quite a while even on bikes, imagine a wagon train.

We saw Shiprock from many angles and it was impressive on all of them!!!

GREAT PHOTOS Glenn! Loved every one of them. And NO you didn't post too many. Definitely deserve a few for these!

Terrific photos! It's always interesting to see parts of the country so different from our Midwest plains. Looks like you had a fabulous ride. Thanks for sharing!

THANKS GLENN!!!! (Yes I'm shouting)


I've crossed the Rio Grand in New Mexico several times, and always wonder how people crossed it in the first place. If I remember correctly, which would be a miracle, it is about 500 feet down to the river from the lip of the canyon.

Great write up and pictures! Thanks for sharing your ride with us Glenn.

Glenn
That looks like a great trip. There is a lot to see in NM. Did you ride the road north from Santa Fe to Taos? That is quite spectacular. Thanks for sharing your photos.
Dave

HI ghm you should have called me I would have met you at TTT. Cheers.

Greysilver wrote:

HI ghm you should have called me I would have met you at TTT.  Cheers.

Haha. I posted over a week BEFORE I left... Perhaps you should have reminded me then. I do that deliberately (post early) so if anyone wants to go along they can get with me.