16 May 2011
We woke up to a beautiful sunrise at the Texas State Park, and on our way out we took some pictures with an old timey wind powered well. Surprisingly, they seem rather prevalent around Texas. Looking into the well, we questioned why they needed a sign that said no swimming or drinking. It looked like a stagnant breeding ground for sludge and insect larvae.
Riding north through a good portion of western Texas, I finally saw a bunch of those rotating oil pumps that I expected to see everywhere in Texas. And then there were the multiple Border Patrol checkpoints we went through. “Are you a US citizen? Okay, move along then.” They were very polite, but aside from the dogs smelling for drugs I don’t see how effective they can be if all they can ASK is if you’re a US citizen. We also got to experience a bit of the exceedingly long distances that Texas is known for because we had to stop and tap into our liter-sized fuel canisters that we brought along as a backup range extender. Thank goodness we brought them.
It was around lunchtime when we pulled into Fort Stockton. It seems like a fairly large town on the map, but in reality its sole purpose is to provide various services for travelers coming through. A couple things that we’ve learned along the trip is that just because the town’s name is on a mileage sign, doesn’t mean it has gas and just because it appears large in relation to the neighboring towns doesn’t mean it has much there. We wanted to get some Mexican food and there appeared to be three options. One was closed on Mondays, another closed altogether and the third was The Burrito Inn. I suppose our decision was made for us! I got a rather good beef and green chili dish. The best part was the warm and fresh homemade tortillas though. Our waitress was rather cold and not very attentive, but I entertained myself looking over at the group of cops sitting at a table across the room. I just kept picturing them chugging salsa in a fashion similar to the Super Troopers movie. Oh, and before we left Texas, we passed through Pecos which is apparently home to the world’s first ever rodeo.
The transition from Texas to New Mexico was rather dramatic. Even aside from the change of time zone, the landscape turned into rolling hills, vegetation increased and the winds seemed to pick up. Farms also started to pop up all over the place. But the strangest change of them all… 86 octane gasoline. I don’t know of any modern cars that are designed for 86 octane fuel; they’re all at least 87 octane. And then some of the stations didn’t even offer 91 octane, which is what many luxury and performance cars require. Some stations maxed out at 90 octane. What’s the deal New Mexico?
The first taste of Roswell NM was that of tumbleweed blowing across the road just a few feet in front of us. I was expecting Roswell to be a small town whose only reason for surviving was that there was the UFO crash. I also expected giant kitschy UFO models hanging around. It was really not like that at all. It seemed to be a fairly major town and there were really only a few UFO-centric businesses. Outside of the main strip though, it did not seem that nice. It was definitely not the pleasant little town that was portrayed in the horrible TV show that shares the name “Roswell”.
We stopped by a couple of the touristy shops to see about getting stickers for our motorcycle cases. One of them was run by a real life version of the comic book guy from the Simpsons. Alright, not quite the comic book guy, because this guy was actually nice and helpful. He tipped us off to the fact that the Roswell Industrial Air Center used to be an Air Force base, and that Hanger 84(not building 84) was the hanger that temporarily stored the UFO wreckage and alien bodies before they were moved elsewhere. He gave us pretty good directions to the hanger too. With Roswell being pretty plain overall, we had to do something, so we went and checked out the hanger. Because the place is a working airport, we couldn’t go inside. But yup, it looked like a 1950s military hanger.
With Roswell marked off, we made our way to the campsite for the night at the Bottomless Lakes State Park. It was less than ideal, but had water and places to hang our hammocks. The ride to the campground was also rather beautiful as the view was just a sea of golden grass.
We woke up to a beautiful sunrise at the Texas State Park, and on our way out we took some pictures with an old timey wind powered well. Surprisingly, they seem rather prevalent around Texas. Looking into the well, we questioned why they needed a sign that said no swimming or drinking. It looked like a stagnant breeding ground for sludge and insect larvae.
Riding north through a good portion of western Texas, I finally saw a bunch of those rotating oil pumps that I expected to see everywhere in Texas. And then there were the multiple Border Patrol checkpoints we went through. “Are you a US citizen? Okay, move along then.” They were very polite, but aside from the dogs smelling for drugs I don’t see how effective they can be if all they can ASK is if you’re a US citizen. We also got to experience a bit of the exceedingly long distances that Texas is known for because we had to stop and tap into our liter-sized fuel canisters that we brought along as a backup range extender. Thank goodness we brought them.
It was around lunchtime when we pulled into Fort Stockton. It seems like a fairly large town on the map, but in reality its sole purpose is to provide various services for travelers coming through. A couple things that we’ve learned along the trip is that just because the town’s name is on a mileage sign, doesn’t mean it has gas and just because it appears large in relation to the neighboring towns doesn’t mean it has much there. We wanted to get some Mexican food and there appeared to be three options. One was closed on Mondays, another closed altogether and the third was The Burrito Inn. I suppose our decision was made for us! I got a rather good beef and green chili dish. The best part was the warm and fresh homemade tortillas though. Our waitress was rather cold and not very attentive, but I entertained myself looking over at the group of cops sitting at a table across the room. I just kept picturing them chugging salsa in a fashion similar to the Super Troopers movie. Oh, and before we left Texas, we passed through Pecos which is apparently home to the world’s first ever rodeo.
The transition from Texas to New Mexico was rather dramatic. Even aside from the change of time zone, the landscape turned into rolling hills, vegetation increased and the winds seemed to pick up. Farms also started to pop up all over the place. But the strangest change of them all… 86 octane gasoline. I don’t know of any modern cars that are designed for 86 octane fuel; they’re all at least 87 octane. And then some of the stations didn’t even offer 91 octane, which is what many luxury and performance cars require. Some stations maxed out at 90 octane. What’s the deal New Mexico?
The first taste of Roswell NM was that of tumbleweed blowing across the road just a few feet in front of us. I was expecting Roswell to be a small town whose only reason for surviving was that there was the UFO crash. I also expected giant kitschy UFO models hanging around. It was really not like that at all. It seemed to be a fairly major town and there were really only a few UFO-centric businesses. Outside of the main strip though, it did not seem that nice. It was definitely not the pleasant little town that was portrayed in the horrible TV show that shares the name “Roswell”.
We stopped by a couple of the touristy shops to see about getting stickers for our motorcycle cases. One of them was run by a real life version of the comic book guy from the Simpsons. Alright, not quite the comic book guy, because this guy was actually nice and helpful. He tipped us off to the fact that the Roswell Industrial Air Center used to be an Air Force base, and that Hanger 84(not building 84) was the hanger that temporarily stored the UFO wreckage and alien bodies before they were moved elsewhere. He gave us pretty good directions to the hanger too. With Roswell being pretty plain overall, we had to do something, so we went and checked out the hanger. Because the place is a working airport, we couldn’t go inside. But yup, it looked like a 1950s military hanger.
With Roswell marked off, we made our way to the campsite for the night at the Bottomless Lakes State Park. It was less than ideal, but had water and places to hang our hammocks. The ride to the campground was also rather beautiful as the view was just a sea of golden grass.
