Our Ride to Tombstone

#4

In April of 2021, Pete and I decided to make a run for Tombstone. Up until then, we had only been out for six days at a time. The Tombstone plan was to be out nine days. Our route took us through Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri with a little time on Route 66. Shelly’s Diner has become a favorite stop in Cuba, MO. At the end of this post is a sketch of the entire ride sketched by Phyllis.

Then on to Tulsa for a meal at another of our favorite stops, The Open Container. This is an upscale little shopping center built out of stacked, refurbished shipping containers. The Open Container is a bar/restaurant located on top of one of the containers. It is a great location to view the giant murals painted on buildings across the street in downtown Tulsa.

Next, our route was through the panhandle of Texas with a stop at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo and then on through New Mexico to Tombstone.

Our return trip brought us through the widest part of Texas, through Louisiana, Mississippi, up through Alabama to our last night on the road in Nashville. Pete likes to stop at Music City Indian Motorcycles where he has now purchased two bikes. And of course, back home to Columbus, Ohio.
When we planned the trip the weather forecast had us riding in a lot of 70 degree weather, which is what we like. We also thought we wouldn’t have to push too hard most days, just riding enough miles to make it adventurous. We were extremely wrong on both counts.

First, the weather dipped significantly. The forecasts were wrong. It was too cold for comfort and we couldn’t just hole up and wait for things to warm up since we were using vacation time for the ride. Once we headed out we had to push through.

Tombstone was good, though like most of our rides we were too pressed for time to do a lot of sight seeing. We spent one night there and headed out the next day. We did make it to downtown Tombstone to eat in a saloon designed to look like it did during the OK Corral days, except for the prices, which were very modern.

Then we headed back through the very bottom of New Mexico and it was extremely cold. We rode some mornings in 30 degree temps. Heated seats, grips and gloves didn’t help much. We wore every piece of clothing we had, including our rain gear in an attempt to make it bearable. Those who ride know, so many layers of gear wear you out.

We were looking for a place to eat breakfast in a small town in the mountains of NM, when we came upon what Pete believes was a heard of elk in the town square. They looked like statues with their head’s down eating whatever was growing on the ground. Then they moved. As we rode by I regretted not being able to get a picture, but it was cold and we were hungry and in need of coffee. I’ve since bought a camera system for my motorcycle, the INNOV K3. More on that in other post.

We came through the town of Ruidoso Downs, NM, and spent some time talking with one of their police officers. He was great to talk to, but exhausted as he had been up all night and just left a homicide scene. It appeared as though the town is named after and maybe funded by the Ruidoso Downs Race Track & Casino, a very interesting relationship.

Coming through the widest part of south Texas was surreal. It was still cold, while we rode for miles and even hours at a time barely seeing another vehicle in areas without cell service. We saw hours of Texas scrub and only a few privately ran gas stations. We did not ride by a gas station, always stopping to fill up regardless of what we had in the tank. Oklahoma taught us that lesson, but that’s another ride.

We crossed paths with the Bandidos several times, a Mexican motorcycle group with elaborately painted motorcycles and helmets. I’ve learned that there are some violent branches of the Bandidos, but we maintained friendly exchanges with them as we saw them several different places. At one point we thought they were hanging close to us, checking us out. That is just one of the reasons it is not a good idea to take long adventure rides by yourself.

We ate where we could, mostly gas stations. Truck stops were a delicacy. In New Mexico and into Texas, Pete’s heated grips on his 2016 Indian Roadmaster developed a problem and didn’t always work. He didn’t have heated gloves. It caused him so much pain and discomfort that when we got to Music City Indian in Nashville, he traded up for a new 2021 Roadmaster. Yes, at the end of a 9 day ride, Pete returned home on a newer bike than he left on. He is still angry to this day over how cold his hands were. I believe the US Air Force taught Pete to demand a certain level of comfort. (I put this in just to see if Pete actually reads my blogs.) Phyllis also got a big kick out of the fact that I wore the same pair of Levi’s jeans for the entire trip, all 9 days. Because of the cold, the pants were only one layer of four; thermal underwear, jeans, leather chaps and rain gear.

We ended up riding 4459 miles in 9 days, almost 500 miles a day. That is out of our comfort zone. 500+ miles a day once in a while is okay, but a recovery day of 300-400 miles makes for a much more comfortable trip. That combined with the cold made this our most memorable ride to date.

We plan to ride the last week of April this year, but I think we will head dead south, maybe to South Padre Island. We hope that will increase our chances of riding in 70 degree weather.

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