8/13/22
I felt like if I didn't leave now then I'd be in Santa Fe for another week. I am heading towards Marfa and Alpine, Texas. Certainly not the most direct route home but there were a couple things I wanted to see and experience.
https://goo.gl/maps/YAEuSSPsb47TRyiX7
I head south on US-285. About 30 minutes outside of Santa Fe, I run into a sign that is near and dear to me:
When I first went cross country in 2014, I traveled the entire length of Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica. I love all things Route 66 related.
Another 185 miles south and I enter the infamous town of Roswell, NM. Thankfully, there has never been a reported abduction of a motorcyclist by UFOs.
By this point, the heat has kicked in and it was once again almost 100F. After another long 110 miles of the desert heat and switching from 285 to 62, I reach Texas.
US-62 runs thru Guadalupe Mountains National Park, series of mountain ranges that run along west Texas and New Mexico. Guadalupe is not a very famous park so there were hardly any traffic on this road - just open road, wide vistas, and red mountain ranges. I continue south to 54 and 90 for another 100 miles and I reach the city limits of Marfa, one of the reason why I'm going south instead of due east:
The famous Prada Marfa store, an art installation that is located 26 miles outside of the artsy town of Marfa, Texas. This mock store contains actual Prada shoes and purses and as you can imagine is a commentary on capitalism, consumerism, social trends, blah, blah, blah. This roadside attraction has been on my list for a while. I'm pretty psyched to visit this spot and check it off my list.
Another 60 miles southeast and I arrive in Alpine, where I have a Bunk-a-Biker room at an actual hotel, the Big Bend Biker Hotel:
The owners of the hotel are hosts on the BaB site and they offer a room for the Bab network. I was lucky enough to have a room reserved for me. As you can imagine, this hotel is not only friendly to bikers but caters to them by having garage parking for motorcycles.
I park inside the garage and even before I unload the bike, another biker guest buys me a beer to help me cool off. I unload the bike and my luggage up to the room. It's a beautiful and comfortable room with a very Texas rustic decor.
Later in the evening, I go to the hotel bar & restaurant for dinner and after a chat with some of the other guests, somehow got included in a free round of tequila. Texas Forever!