Billy the Kid

As I was driving along, I saw the sign saying Billy the Kids grave stone just ahead.  It was 3.5 miles off the main road, but another fun thing to visit.  His tombstone was stolen twice, now they have it behind a fenced area all locked up.

Billy the Kid (William Bonney) was killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett on July 14, 1881.

I rode about 300 miles today, ended up getting a room in Moriarty, New Mexico. I’m in another time zone, now 2 hours different from home (Maine).  It was in the mid 70’s when I got here at 3 pm.  Feels good, it was 50 when I left Amarillo, Texas this morning.

Different things a biker deals with, along with interesting signs that we don’t have in Maine….

Road Kill, the smells and signs!

When there is road kill, we have to try and avoid it, especially fresh kill, it will splatter up on our bikes and even our legs, along with being dangerous if we hit it.  I have seen a lot of road kill along the way, some looked very fresh.  There were a couple of times I almost got sick from the sight.  I have seen deer, skunks, rabbits, squirrels, fox, coyotes, birds, possums,  armadillo, porcupines that I recognized.  A lot was unrecognizable!

If it’s old and rotten, we smell it! And it isn’t good.  I passed a farm the other day it was a cold damp day and they were spreading the manure in the fields.  OMG did it stink and it lingered for a good mile.  (there manure smells different than what I’m use to). I came back through the same spotwhen I was heading back to the hotel – ugh it was gross!  We smell skunks, sometimes before we even get close.  Along with whatever else we pass.  We are out in the element, not inside a vehicle that you can close the windows to help with eliminating some of the smells.

Signs in a car mean just keep an eye out, on a motorcycle can be scary.  “Watch for Falling Rocks”, “Mud Slide Area”.  When I saw a couple of rocks along side of the road about 15” in diameter that got my attention.  When it was raining hard for a couple of hours and I saw the Mud Slide sign I knew that was the right ingredients to make that happen.  Puts us on a higher alert that’s for sure.