My Adventure Story
I could honestly say that the decision to stop for the night at Clovis, NM looked like a good idea at the time. Till I went to bed after having a dinner at a nearby cafe. The first indication of the bad idea was a shrill train whistle which made me jump up out of bed. After that it was continous till in the morning, on the hour every hour, or there abouts. It must be my luck to stop for the night where there are trains which run all night.
Anyway, as I found out Clovis, NM is one of the biggest freight train hubs in the country. I will make sure I never stop in Clovis again.
Temps were in the high forties when I left the hotel. Fully suited with electrics, I headed down the road. My exciting stop was going to be Roswell where I was planning on stopping at the Alien museum. It was a nice road with some slowing at small towns. When I got to Roswell I was amazed to see how big this town has gotten since I was last (70s). Heavy traffic all around me and being totally lost on side streets I gave up the idea of visiting my alien friends. Got back on the 70 and headed south. Riding got more exciting as I started going south. Highway 70 runs between the San Andres Mountains to the North and Sacramento Mountains to the South.
Great roads with big sweepers going up and down the mountains between 4000 and 6500 ft elevations. At 75mph it was a great ride all the way down where I reached the bottom. Temps were also rising as I had to stop and shed some clothes. By the time I reached the White Sands National Monument it was sitting 81F.
After visiting the center where they have the usual touristy stuffs I watched a video about how the dunes were formed, what kind of sand and sources of this sand which collects in the Tularosa Basin. It is very interesting phenomena and if you are interested, you can either visit or read about it on the Internet.
From there I went to visit the White Sands Missile Base. I rode all the way to the main entrance where they had more regulations to go to the visitors center then I wanted to put up with. The entrance was very impressive but I was not even allowed to take a photo. Turned the bike around and went on about my business. Guards were amazed to see me make a U turn right in front of them. I don't think they expected that. Had the funniest look on their faces.
Stopped in Las Cruces for a refreshment and rode to Lordsburg in heavy winds. Now, it is time relax. Hope there are no trains around here. Planning on making it home tomorrow.
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