Similar to my Sturgis 2001 journal, this report will be more of a photo album than a day-by-day account of 12 days in late August-early September 2001. My initial destination was the Iron Horse Rally at Four Corners. I also enjoyed several days in northern New Mexico, including a breathtaking train ride from Antonito, Colorado to Chama, New Mexico.

Before leaving Dallas, I downloaded detailed county maps for the Four Corners area into my Garmin GPS III. On the flight from Dallas to Albuquerque the GPS showed us to be at 36,800 feet and 480 miles per hour.

I took advantage of southwestern Colorado's great rides a couple of times, including a run up to Ouray (photo 01). Bartender Dominic at Chili's in Farmington, New Mexico dispensed draft Dos Equis for me (02). Unlike last year, this time I actually went to Four Corners (03), the monument where you can stand on a bronze marker (04) and be in four states at one time.

The bronze marker is on a pedestal (05). The detail on the GPS is amazing (06). “The Cha” tells me I'm a few hundred feet from The Chapel (07) off to my right. In Dolores, Colorado, I shot Exon Mercantile (08) in a fascinating old building.

At the old train station in Dolores is a quaint old track inspection car (09). I also hit Telluride, Colorado (10). In Pagosa Springs, Colorado, I stopped by the Pagosa Bar (11) where I met storyteller James Stevens and Janet Porter (12) from Pleasanton, Texas.

Before leaving Pagosa Springs, I shot the front of the bar (13) and James and Janet by his scoot (14). In Española, New Mexico, where I spent several nights, I met Connie and Jim Sugg from Wynne, Arkansas (15). A truly memorable scooter experience was rounding a curve on a mountainside and riding head-on into an oncoming cattle drive (16). Behind the cattle was one cowboy on horseback accompanied by a couple of scurrying dogs and a line of cars and trucks. You'll see another cattle drive on this road a little later from a different perspective.

This time of year is harvest time for New Mexico green chilis (they insist the spelling is chile, but to me, Chile is a country). The chilis turn red when they're dried (17). Which is correct - the altitude on my GPS (18) or on the sign at Bobcat Pass (19), which is west of Red River on Highway 38? Red River is a little (a lot) on the touristy side and the T-shirt stores (20) take many forms. I had hoped it was a real saloon.

Roadside memorials to victims of accidents abound in New Mexico (21). Last year (see UFOs, Firecrackers and Barrooms - July 2000) I sipped a Bud and posted a buck at Chili Rojo Lounge in Chimayo. I checked on my investment this year and it was still there (22). Owner Wilfred Ortiz showed me an adjacent bar (23) that I missed in 2000. Luckily, I didn't electrocute myself on the motel-furnished blow drier plug (24).

My notes don't tell me where this lake was, but it was scenic (25). I'm 6' - 1” tall, but I cast a much taller shadow (26). I spent a couple of nights in Chama, New Mexico where I met Ron Cofield from Leon, Kansas on a Honda ST-1100 (27). I paid an extra 30 bucks for a seat (wicker, no less) in the so-called Parlor Car (28) on the Antonito to Chama train ride. As it turned out, I spent maybe 10 minutes of the four-hour train ride in that car because the adjacent open-air gondola car was so much more fun.

Photos 29 through 32 are various shots from the train. The ride was spectacular. My GPS said our fastest speed was 19 mph, and it tracked our multiple criss-crossing of the New Mexico-Colorado state line.

During our lunch stop, another passenger shot a photo of yours truly in the fireman's seat (33). I saw another cattle drive on the same road where I rode through one three days earlier (34). During one water stop on the train I shot the fireman adding water to the tender (35). The shut-off valve on the water tank stuck open and we had a minor flood to deal with (36).

My last train shot was this spectacular rainbow in the trackside steam (37). Antonito, Colorado and Chama, New Mexico are 34 miles apart as the crow flies, 49 miles by highway and 64 miles by rail. This amphitheater rock (38) is 41 miles south of Chama on US 64/84. The church (39) is in quaint Abiquiu, New Mexico. One hassle with a dresser is the need to use your key to open the gas door every time you buy gas. The way I see it, every time you handle your key is one more opportunity to lose it. I solved that in a parking lot in Santa Fe with a little piece of plastic that covers the latch hole forward of the gas cap (40). Now, a simple push on the bottom of the chrome gas door opens it.

Trip kudos: Desert Sports Harley-Davidson in Farmington, New Mexico for replacing my derby cover that was warped because it had been improperly torqued; Jessica's, a great little diner in Springer, New Mexico for its spectacular sopapilla breakfast entree; La Paragua (The Umbrella), the Mexican restaurant in Española, New Mexico that was started in 1958 when the owners' sons sold mama's tacos and tamales at the same corner where the restaurant stands today. One more kudo to officer Christianson of the Colorado Highway Patrol for the “warning” (no ticket) after I fudged a stop sign west of Durango.

I have evaluated almost 200 hotel and motel rooms as a semi-hobby since 1991. When Muthuh saw my 55-item rating form recently, he accused me of having too much time on my hands and suggested that I take up a hobby like drinking. I mention this because I'm also sending accolades to Beron Briscoe, owner of the Days Inn in Española, who responded appreciatively to the evaluation I sent him after I stayed there. I'll stay there again this year.

I flew back to Dallas on September 10 and was back at my desk by mid morning. The following day, colleague Lori Marroquin and I flew to Houston in the line of duty, arriving at Hobby Airport at 7:30 a.m. (8:30 Eastern). Butch Ford from our Houston office drove us the hour-plus to Freeport, Texas, beginning just minutes after the first aircraft hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Like the Kennedy assassination (I was playing ping pong with Steve Deck at an SMU fraternity house), it was one of those life events that you'll forever remember - where you were, what you were doing and with whom.

 

 
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