Tex-New-Rado 5-23-13 Day 2

Amarillo To Garden Of The Gods, Colorado

As we start out this morning it is sunny and in the 60s? We are supposed to run into a cold front so I go ahead and wear my inner lining in my coat. As we settle in to a nice ride the wind is out of the south and pushing on our left side. About 20 miles down the road we hit the cold front. One moment the wind is out of the south and the next it rolls around the front of the bike and it is out of the north. With the change of wind comes the cooler air.    I am so glad I had on my heavier coat. We pass into New Mexico and we stop and top off with gas and everyone else adds a layer to their jackets.

 



We pull out and Lupi our crazy little GPS decided to have an attitude and directs us to go west for 4 miles. Chuck follows her directions.  At 4 miles there was no road!   We continue west and find a road to head north.  We make a pit stop in the little town of Roy, New Mexico.  Interesting that the lady at the restaurant we stopped at tells us that they are going to have gas available on Sunday very soon.  WHAT!!!!  A town that has no gas on Sunday, out in the middle of nowhere.  Yes, that is right....but because they are going to put in new pay at the pump pumps, they are now stepping into the 21st Century.  She even says that most of the locals keep an extra 5 gallon container for the people that get stranded there on Sunday. 



Our next stop in Raton NM and we have lunch at K-Bob's.
Gassed and ready to get into Colorado. 

 Nothing exciting as we make our way to Colorado Springs. We stop at Outpost Harley Davidson and did a little retail therapy. Chuck and I came out empty handed.  No, can that be?? 

On to the Gardens of the Gods. Doreen grew up in this area of the world so this is a bit of a homecoming for her. She says things have really changed.  Really commercialized.  

Next stop is the La Quinta in Colorado Springs. The rooms are nice even though we are not grouped together, and on the 3rd floor.  Thank goodness they had an elevator  :)  The only reason I say this is because we are not pulling the trailer so the bike has to be unloaded every night, and hey the altitude does make a difference  :) 

There is a restaurant in the front of the hotel so instead of getting back on the bike I suggest we walk there and eat. Note to self. Remember to see what kind of food the place serves before you enter establishment! We are not that much of an experimental group. We don't have Lynn with us!  Come to find out Doreen likes to try different food as well.   

First clue is the sign that they will have belly dancers here on Friday night. Yep. Mediterranean food! OK we can do this. Or maybe not. As we all searched the menu for something that sounded half way normal I was wondering what I had gotten us into.  I know for a fact we are struggling to find something to eat, and it looks like I need to take this bull by the horn and fix it.  As the sweet waitress comes back to see if we would like to order, I explain to her, that I think we are going to have to just go ahead and leave.  She seems to understand....probably thinking, damn bikers....LOL...Allen pulls out a $5 and leaves on the table for us drinking their water.  Felt really bad about doing this, but I think it really is the best thing to do.  Hope I didn't totally embarrass everyone.  :/

OK, we are free.  The Capsian Cafe is just not for our palates tonight....now, lets really find something to eat.  You aren't going to believe it, but there is a Carl's Jr. on the side of the motel.  You guessed it, we vote to eat there.  One of the best $6 burgers I have had in quite a while.  The lady was very nice that took our order.  Told her a little of the story about the restaurant, and she said she had lived here for over 25 yrs. and had never tried it.  Wow,  I guess some people really never get out of their boxes.

Our bellies are full and we sit and talked for a couple of hours at the Carl's Jr.




Time to get some sleep and get ready to head out in the morning. More places to see  :)