MCGTTX Day 2

After a nice rest in a well-air conditioned room, I left the hotel at 07:00, just as the sky was lightening into day.

One of my favorite times on the bike is sunrise, and today was a great one! I managed to catch a terrific photo of a train that had given me a toot a few minutes earlier.... When I see a moving train, and if I think the engineer can see me, I lay on the horn and give the old hand signal for him to blow it, yes, just like a kid in the backseat of a car 🤣. It doesn't always work (I think they're on their phones 😜), but it did today! Anyway, he was rolling pretty slow, so I was able to blast ahead of him, take my first photo of the day, and get across the tracks before he came into town. I stopped at the crossing when he came by to take the photo with the beautiful sunrise in the background.

By the time I got back on the bike, I knew I hadn't put on enough layers for the almost 50-degree difference from yesterday afternoon. It was only 47°F when I left the hotel 😱. So I stopped in town to put on my heated gloves and another shirt. And was very glad I did, too.

Before I knew it, I was through the corner of Texas and in New Mexico, and the temperature had fallen to 43°F. WTH? The first pass I went over was at almost 8,000 feet, and the wind chill was crazy cold. Then I was in Colorado, where, you guessed it, the temperature was still cold.

There was quite a bit of snow under the trees on the twisty road to Bishop's Castle. This was a two-fee photo stop for me, one for the MCGTTX and one for HOG's 15 Rides. Yay! I also got a couple of practice holy-crap-theres-not-enough-room-u-turns trying to get in the right spot to take the pics 🤦. I'm still not 100% comfortable maneuvering this gigantic bike. But I didn't fall over in the middle of the road, and I got down the mountain unscathed despite numb fingers.

Rolling back south on I-25 and I was in New Mexico again, passing through Lincoln County where Billy the Kid made some history in the Lincoln County War. Watch the movie Young Guns or better yet, go to the town of Lincoln where they have a great museum, and the town is kept as it was in the 1870s-1880s!!! I didn't take that detour this time, but you should the next time you're nearby!

I was in Roswell before I realized, checking in at the HD and taking a pic in front of the International UFO Museum. I really need to go in there one day 🤣. But the best part was that it had warmed up enough to take off my big gloves (but not completely turn off the heated grips 🤣).

More blasting south and I put my wheels back in Texas, where you can really blast with speed limits of 75 mph! My last picture was just 20 miles before my hotel stop in Seagraves.

You absolutely must stop to meet Gareth at the Hotel Texan (hoteltexan.com). The hotel and all the rooms/suites are furnished with antique pieces where you feel like you stepped back into the West...but with really comfy beds and indoor plumbing 😉. Gareth is also a rider and the hotel is a continuing sponsor of the MCGTTX. It's a great place to eat, chat, and take a well-deserved break from the road. Tell Gareth I sent you!!

I'm in for the night, and ready for some shut eye. Only about 500 miles to go tomorrow, so I can enjoy the locally baked banana bread that Gareth serves for breakfast 🤤🤤🤤. Yum!

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