Carlsbad Caverns Ride; Day 5; April 20th

We started the day with another run to Carlsbad Caverns.  We had tickets to a guided tour of the Kings Palace that started at 10:00 so we were on the road by 8:45 am.  It was sunny, 72 degrees and not nearly as windy as the two prior days.  According to the weather folks it was supposed to reach 95 in Carlsbad today.  It was a nice 25 mile ride to the caverns and the tour was enjoyable.  In addition to Kings Palace we also saw the Queen’s chambers, both of which we could not see on our self guided tour the day before.

Around noon we took off north on Highways 62 and 285 through Artesia, NM to Roswell, NM.  The temperature actually dropped (85 to 82) during the ride from Carlsbad to Roswell.  The city of Roswell has been associated with aliens since an alien craft was said to have crashed near there in 1947 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_UFO_incident).  The city is still cashing in on that association.  The International UFO Museum and Research Center is located in Roswell (http://www.roswellufomuseum.com/).Roswell, NM

When we were riding into Roswell, Chris noticed a billboard advertising Peppers Grill & Bar which said they offered a taste of local flavors.  We found it in downtown Roswell and had a very good lunch.  I recommend it if you are ever in Roswell.  They have a diverse menu offering fare from steaks to ribs to Mexican food.lunch; Roswell, NM

From Roswell we rode west on Highways 70 and 380.  We could see mountains in the distance and the further west we went the more the temperature dropped.

We’d seen a brochure in Carlsbad for an Iris Farm near Hondo, NM.  We found the Iris Farm Annex on the east side of Hondo.  They only had arts and crafts – no flowers.  They directed us to the Hondo Iris Farm which was on the west side of Hondo.  It was closed but we found a gate open on the side so we snuck in and got a few pictures.  Not too many of the flowers were in bloom.

From Hondo we rode west on Hwy 380, which took us into Lincoln County and the town of Lincoln, NM.  Did you ever hear of the Lincoln County War?

 http://www.legendsofamerica.com/nm-lincolncountywar.html

It was a battle of cattle ranchers, one of whom was John Chisum (there is a statue of him in Roswell, NM).  Billy the Kidd was supposedly recruited as a cattle guard.  In riding slowly through Lincoln we saw that the locals celebrate the fact that Lincoln County was the last place that Billy the Kidd escaped from jail.  It is a shame a criminal gets so much attention.

We arrived in Capitan, NM at about 4:30 pm.  It was a cool 77 degrees.  We stayed in the Smokey Bear Motel, which had a restaurant of the same name on site.our lodging in Capitan, NM

http://www.smokeybearmotel.com/

It was an old school flat motel but clean and spacious.  The only down side was that it had a gravel parking lot.  Wild Bill would not have been happy!  It was a great location for relaxing with a brew after cleaning my motorcycle.relaxation!

We had a great day and rode 208 miles.  The weather and scenery in and around Lincoln County and Capitan, NM was a definite improvement over the southern New Mexico we experienced the three days before.

For more photos from today click on the following link: https://picasaweb.google.com/goldwinger.shawnee/CarlsbadCavernRide042011?feat=directlink

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Colorado; Day 9; June 30, 2012

Image
The evening of June 29th we saw the play, “Is He Dead” at the Creede Repertory Theater ( http://www.creederep.org/ ).  It was very entertaining,  one of the better plays I’ve seen. When we drove away from Creede at 6:05 am it was 41 degrees.  A short distance south the temperature dropped to 39.  We tried soaking up the cold for what we knew would be a hot afternoon. We rode South Fork and then east to Alamosa.  From Alamosa we took a detour north up Hwy 17 to see the UFO Watchtower ( http://www.ufowatchtower.com/ ).  It is a place for UFO enthusiasts to go to watch for UFO’s.  The lady who runs the place said something about some sort of vortex existing on the property.  Weird stuff, even for an open-minded guy like me. If the UFO Watchtower wasn’t weird enough we saw a male driving a Jeep with eye lashes over the headlights at a gas station in Alamosa, CO.  Hopefully it was his wife’s Jeep and he was just gassing it up for her. We continued east to Walsenburg, LaJunta, and La
Read more

My Last Ride

On January 11th, 2017, I departed on a ride to Kelli's Korner (Paradise, MO - near Smithville, MO) for lunch with four friends (Carl, Gary, Bill and Larry). It was a beautiful day, which was all the excuse we needed for a ride. I was leading the group and we were taking a long way there. Riding north on county road N, about 6 miles north of Hwy 152 and I-435, the road turned and I didn't. I exited the road into a field. Fortunately there were no fences, trees, rocks, oncoming cars, etc. I have no explanation for this except that I was out of it for awhile. I remember crossing the center line but I was looking down at that time, which is weird. I have no memory of seeing anything after that until I was laying in the field separated from my motorcycle. I do remember a sensation of tumbling but that is all. My first thought was to drive my motorcycle out of the field and get it cleaned up so Chris would not know what I did. What a ridiculous idea that was. After I'd been up
Read more

Florida Trip; Day 11

Image
A beautiful, sunny and warm day! After our B&B breakfast we rode away on our golf cart at 9:45 AM. It was 51 degrees. We spent an hour or so exploring Cedar Key again and Chris did a little shopping on Dock Street. Morning is low tide. It was strange seeing boats sitting in the mud at the marina. This next picture is of the marina at high tide. At noon we had to return the golf cart and then we walked to lunch at Tony's. After lunch we walked the Railroad Trestle Nature Trail. We went to the Cedar Key Scrub State Park to walk but found it uninteresting so we didn't go far.  Back at the B&B we watched a movie and then watched the sun set. We drove a whopping 13 miles today (not counting miles in the golf cart) and our high temperature was 68. A very relaxing day! Tomorrow we start home. Click here to see all photos from today - Day 11 Photos  
Read more