New Mexico Burning

Alien tanning bed

Day Nine: Carlsbad to Moriarty NM

•         miles

•         285 N to 380 W to 54 N to 42 W to 41 N

UFO sighting? You be be the judge...

•         percentage of restaurants that offer green chile: 100%

We have made a decision. We are done pushing, we are done leaving at dawn, we are done being on schedule. New Mexico is soothing us and clapping us on the back like a frat brother after the hazing rituals are complete and you are safely in the secret club.

The morning is spent re-packing R. Girl. One of my roles on this trip is that of “Official Motorcycle Packer”. I used to be a backpacking trail guide, and I also lived in a 200 sq. ft. tent for the past 3 years, so I'm good with limited space. I get a little fussy if things are unorganized or thrown together. Since you asked, my other role is “Chief Navigator”. My high tech navigating device is the pages torn from a Rand McNalley U.S atlas (only the states that are relevant to our trip). I draw on them with pencil before the journey, then in pen once we've actually done the route. The ones I'm using that day stay in a zip-lock in my pocket so I can look at them when we're riding. I probably look really cool doing that.

wild fires

For coffee and breakfast we go to the Trinity Hotel in Carlsbad. This is a beautifully renovated old building that is well worth a visit. They carry Seven Rivers wine from a vineyard to the north, and they also have a humidor. For breakfast we had “the Maxwell”, a plate of crispy hash browns covered in green chile, cheddar and ground sausage with two eggs over easy and a tortilla. It's fantastic. Plus, the Trinity has the best coffee we've had since Zuma (still not as good as Zuma, of course). They are sweet enough to let us sit and write post cards and blog.

By 10 am we're riding toward Roswell, famous for UFO sighting in the 1940's. The ride is really beautiful, and gives us our first glimpses of “high desert”. The temps are staying in the mid 80's-perfect riding weather. Roswell is a trip, to say the least. We visit the International UFO Museum and Research Center. Wow. If you're into UFOs and aliens, Roswell is your kind of town. An interesting aside, my grandfather, Gabe Nameth, served in the US Army in Roswell sometime. I’m  guessing, in the late 30's or early 40's.

From Roswell we take 380 W. This is a motorcycle rider's paradise. If you ride, make it a goal to get on this road. It begins in high flat desert with expansive stretches of road, then moves into big wide turns and nice easy hills. You have infinite views, then dive into beautiful soaring canyons. We can see the Capitan mountains in the distance, that's where we're headed. In the distance we can also see smoke, lots of it. We're both feeling edgy about it, being east coasters who are not used to forest fires, but there are other cars on the road, so we go for it. As we get closer, we can see that the fire is just on the other side of the ridge. The air is dark and smells like a million camp fires. It burns my eyes. Saying “white rabbit white rabbit” doesn't work at all. The view is a funny juxtaposition of deep green cottonwoods and tall Leland cypresses in the foreground, and the desert hill side which is still smoking in the back. I think it's safe to say that the Pirate and I are experiencing our first massive forest fire.

 

Lincoln is the first town we come to. This one road town of historic adobe buildings is where Billy the Kid broke out of jail and did some damage. It's seriously quaint. There are sweet little galleries, museums and a real live, old school post office where the boxes still have combinations and little glass windows. Lunch is in the old hotel, The Whortley, full of gorgeous antiques and minimalist wild west charm. We have a salad with goat cheese and spicy chicken. With a look of happy bewilderment, the Pirate asks “does all the food in NM have a little heat?”. Yes, but of course.

Back on the road, we wait out some rain in the town of Capitan. The Pirate manages to find a big smoked turkey leg (again, The Force) for us to snack on while we wait. We had hoped to camp in Capitan, but we have learned that there is currently no camping in NM, because the whole state is on fire. Scary. So, we are floating around with no plan of where to sleep, or any clue as to what the towns are like on the road ahead. For the rest of the ride, we are in stunning desert. Because of the rain, the air is perfumed with sage and juniper. There are more giant windmills, a train with cars-of-many-colors is way out in the desert going the opposite direction as us. There are abandoned adobe farms, poverty stricken, thirsty looking settlements and big storms off in the distance. At a cross roads in Willard we stop into a cantina for beer and more amazing spicy home made salsa; “chiles with an attitude” the sign outside says.

By 6 pm we are dodging cold rain drops and pulling into a hotel in Moriarty. We can't go to Abq. because of the smoke from the fires. It looks like I won't get to visit a lot of my old haunts, like Jemez,  because of this. As the inn keeper in Lincoln said, “New Mexico is on on fire.”