Independence Ride Day 2

July 3, 2009
Fort Collins, CO

Day 2 - Part 1
The road to Chama...

On the second day of our Independence Ride, we had tentatively planned to ride what is known as The Enchanted Circle taking in the ski resort mountains of Red River, Eagle Nest and maybe Angel Fire including the Vietnam War Memorial at Angel Fire we visited years ago... The Enchanted Circle is one of two overlapping circle routes through the Carson National Forest, north and east of Taos. But, the ominous clouds hanging over the mountains to the east were - in a word - discouraging. As we rode west on Hwy 64 out of Taos, a little earlier than planned, those same clouds were hot on our tail-lights... for most of our trip across northern New Mexico.

Not too far out of Taos is an unexpected and spectacular sight - The Rio Grande Gorge and bridge. Wow! This gorge is over 800 feet deep. The bridge is beautiful and has appeared in numerous movies. We loved riding across it! Sadly, we didn't have much time to explore it if we wanted to stay dry but it was an amazing sight. I snapped a few pics and we moved on. Also, not too far out of Taos is sageland dotted with what are known as Earthship houses. Briefly, they are self-sustaining residential structures known as biotecture. What's so interesting about them is the whimsical design coupled with functionality. There are a few pics in the slide show following this part of the post and a link to the website at the end of the post.

Anyway, highway 64 is a fantastic ride. High and scenic. We started out from Taos with single jackets, but about halfway to Chama at the intersection of Hwy 285 and Hwy 64 in the tiny community of Tres Piedras, we stopped and added another light jacket layer. The community itself is almost a ghost town with little claim to fame other than an interesting structure called the Old Pink Schoolhouse and an abandoned diner where we stopped. We encountered some rain on the ride, but not enough to drag out our rain gear. The ride continued through Carson National Forest where we were distressed to see acre after acre of dead Aspen groves. A little research after returning home says a caterpillar and fungus are the cause of the destruction. According to the Forest Service the trees can regenerate, but I'm thinking not in our lifetime...

After turning north on Hwy 64/84 toward Chama we stopped at a small dive of a place called Margarita's we thought was on the outskirts of Chama. Here we warmed up with hot coffee and a cinnamon roll. Like many places in this area, the establishment serves meals during the day and doubles as a bar in the evenings. The place was clean and neat, the waitress friendly, if a bit shakey and near-sighted, the coffee was hot and the cinnamon rolls were vending machine style - straight out of the cellophane into a micro-wave. Ha! Oh well!

After getting back on the road, we realized we still had about 15 miles to go before arriving at Chama. Chama, we found pleasantly rustic. It is home to one of the stations for the Cumbres & Toltec Narrow Guage Railroad which runs across the border to Antonito, Colorado. It is beautiful country so the train ride should be spectacular. We like riding the narrow guage trains, but it wasn't in the budget for this trip. We lingered on the roadside in front of the most interesting structure in town - the historic Foster Hotel, established 1881. Foster is my maiden name so it was a fun photo-op. We have decided we will return to Chama sometime to ride the train and stay at the Foster Hotel. The establishment also houses a restaurant and saloon.

Day 2 - Part 2
The road to Farmington...

The next leg of our journey took us further west on Hwy 64 toward Farmington, NM. The canyons were large and rugged, the roads long and winding. It wasn't long before we were shedding our jackets and putting on sunscreen. We stopped at a small store in Gobernador to stretch and apply yet another coat of sunblock. By this time, Tim had some good color - that color being BEET RED. The little store/bar was doing a booming business with the sale of primarily beer and ice. We spoke with a slightly intoxicated Native American for a few minutes which was rather amusing. He liked The Ride and the flags on the ride and kept thanking us for our service. Well, Tim at least is a USAF Vet. My claim to service is military brat/military wife. Reckon that counts? This stop was about halfway between Chama and Farmington.

Our mission in Farmington was to see the Harley-Davidson dealership, which we eventually found after riding over an hour up and down the HOT main streets of town. Farmington had an amazing amount of traffic on the streets, considering it was mid-day on a week day. I was just about ready to call Dad and have him look up the location in the Harley road atlas when we rolled up on the dealership. Four Corners Harley-Davidson is a motor-sport type dealership dealing in several makes of bike. It was OK. However, we did not like the Four Corners logo on the back of the t-shirts (too large - too blue) and they offered no dealer pin or patch. Hmmmm...

After riding some more in bumper to bumper traffic and the heat, we decided to make a burger/milkshake break. We stopped at one of several locations of Blake's Lotaburger we had noticed on our brief tour of Farmington. We had already ordered before we noticed the dining room area was not cool. Rats! No A/C. If you ever find yourself in Farmington, NM - just ride on past Blake's and look for sustenance elsewhere. 'Nuff said.

Day 2 - Part 3
The road to Four Corners and Cortez

Outside of Farmington, back on Hwy 64 west, there is an interesting and massive rock formation called the Hogback (elevation over 6000 feet) and it isn't long before you see Shiprock (over 20 miles away at this point) looming on the horizon. We spied Shiprock on the horizon for a good many miles before arriving in Farmington. Shiprock is at an elevation of over 7000 feet.

We traveled a few miles with Shiprock in our sights before crossing the border into Arizona and finally heading north toward Four Corners. I haven't been to this area since I was a young girl traveling on vacation with the folks. I think this was the least favorite part of the trip for Tim. I should mention that we had been traveling in the Navajo Nation since roughly Farmington. This area is sparsely populated and rugged. The roads were good but flat and long. The Ride was suffering from curve depravation at this point.

We enjoyed the stop at Four Corners where we lingered for a good stretch of the legs. A friendly tourist offered to take a photo of us standing on the monument, even capturing The Ride in the background. We strolled through a few of the booths and Tim cooled off with a snowcone.

The shadows grew long as we crossed the border into Colorado and pointed The Ride on a north easterly course toward Cortez where we planned to stop for the night. We encountered a few miles of road contruction riding alongside Ute Mountain. We were now riding through Ute Indian Reservation lands and passed the large and busy Ute Mountain Casino. Tim pointed out it was after 6 pm.

We checked into a hotel in Cortez a few miles later, cooled off and strolled across the street to a restaurant pointed out by the hotel desk clerk. Mama Ree's (pronounced Ray's) was a pleasant surprise. This tiny eating establishment is set up in an old, rather unassuming (plain) house just a few feet off the Main drag. It was clean and decorated in cozy Italian style with grapevine adorning the ceiling. It was also very busy, but we did not have to wait for a table. The wait staff appeared to be Mama's teen-age children. They were friendly and efficient. Mama's significant other is kitchen boss. The meal was outstanding. We had the spaghetti with Mama's sauce. First there was the large loaf of just-out-of-the-oven french bread served up with lots of butter. Next was an excellent salad called LaGuiseppe, finely shredded cabbage marinated in olive oil and spices and served with a red wine vinegar dressing. YUM! The spaghetti was scrumptious and plentiful. Mama Ree's offers a decent selection of wines. Wine, not being our cup of tea, it shouldn't go without saying that the Bud Light we ordered was served at the perfect temperature. A fun thing to note about this restaurant is a thing they do called the Clean Plate Club. Pictures line the walls of all the good little boys and girls (not all of them so little) who have cleaned their plate.

We waddled back across the street to our hotel, talking about the great day of riding and the sights we saw along the way. We put The Ride to bed after noting today's mileage. 334.5 miles. Tomorrow is Independence Day! Woo-Hoo!

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Grande_Gorge_Bridge
Foster's Hotel
http://www.fosters1881.com/index.html
Cumbres & Toltec Narrow Guage Railroad
http://www.cumbrestoltec.com/
Earthship Biotecture
http://www.earthship.net/