While packing up the R1100RT for the trip to Jemez Springs, we chatted with an old biker (70+ at least) on a Yamaha but with BMW side bags. I asked him about that and he said the bags had been moved from 3 different bikes he owned starting with an old BMW before ending up on the Yamaha. He enjoyed talking to us, probably as we were closer to his generation than the other bikers in the Taos area. He liked the jacket my wife had on as I had all the navy ship names I had been or worked on sewed on and each one had a story. Here is a picture of the jacket and I used a BMW MOTORRAD probably identical to a Joe Rocket except for the name and the price.

   We left Taos with the Rio Grand on our right and near Espanola we then took the scenic loop ride thru Los Alamos (nuke bomb facility) past all the national forest, thru Sulfur Springs to supposedly stop overnight at Jemez springs where they had those geo-thermal bath houses. The entire ride was scenic with large mesa left and right rising out of the valleys. Some pictures are here . The sun started setting just as we approached Los Alamos and for about 10 miles or so was directly above the road where I had to look exactly into the sun. When this happens I cannot see thru the windshield due to all the little particles of dead insects and I had to lower the windshield which can be retracted to about just below the chin level. This allowed me to see, but I still had to shield my eyes as the sun was directly on the center of the road. While doing this (riding with one hand shielding my eye) we made a sharp turn and sure enough there was a wreaked sports car being loaded onto a large flatbed with traffic backed up in the oncoming lane. No cops directing traffic and I was lucky that the oncoming vehicles did not attempt to pass the wreaker or there would have been a 2nd wreak.

   We got into Las Alamos, the streets were named for famous physicists who built the first atom bomb. It was already getting dark and as we left we noticed right at the city limits all these "technical exits". I.e.: An intersection would show up, a white SUV with a guy holding binoculars, the exit sign saying "exit here for technical location 12, 17, 18 ". This happened two more time before we finally got out of the Los Alamos area. Same type of "white SUV" with a single guy looking at us using binoculars. I think some of our Homeland Defense money went to buy that "White SUV". I guess uncle sam saved a small amount by getting white paint and no mag wheels but that makes them stand out among all the "Real SUVs". My guess is that "Technical Exit 8" sounds better than "Exit here to assemble plutonium triggers" and with the terror threats up for memorial day, the SUV's were out in force.

   After getting out of the Los Alamos area we saw evidence of forest fires that you can see in those pics above. It started getting really cold and we had to pull off and break out the rain suits just to use them was wind breakers. The last pic in the above group shows Terri getting the "pants" while I used the rain suit top as that jacket I had with the tiny holes in it was causing me to freeze. There were deer and elk all over the area and I had to watch out for them and navigate all the twisties and hair pin loops. There was one that the speed was recommended as 10-15 and I had trouble keeping from weaving at that speed due to 2 up and (I found out later) all the interesting rocks Terri had picked up and put into my backpack. On the next hairpin, the recommended speed was 25 and I came in about 30-35 as I knew that 10-15 was too slow on the last one and ended up on the wrong side of the road as this turn probably should have been marked at 20 or less. Lucky there was no one coming.

   We never saw Sulfur Springs but we could smell the ugly sulfur odor in the air and was wondering if the bath house in Jemez Springs had the same sulfur order. We finally got into Jemez Springs, the entrance was gravel, no lighting except headlamp, no lobby anywhere and pitch black. One of the bath houses (these were lodges actually, each one had natural hot water from volcano activity) was light up and a couple was unloading. We climbed up and asked them where the lobby was. They could see we were tired and invited us in even though they saw we were bikers and didn't know us. Anyway they said the didn't know where the lobby was or if there was even one. They had signed up a month in advance, already paid, and had been told there was only one room available. When they got there, just a few minutes before us, there was a sign on the doors of the lodges that if you knew the room number, go in and you will find the key on the bed. There were several lodges still marked that way and we did not have reservations so we left for Bernalillo where we knew there was an Indian casino hotel.

   We passed thru San Ysidro and finally got onto a real highway, 550 to Bernalillo. First time we were able to get above that posted 45mph all along that scenic loop. The speed limit was 75 and we finally got into the hotel/casino but we could not find the hotel entrance (was none as they went bankrupt before the hotel was built). There was a Days Inn adjacent so we pulled in there. We went from $100 -> $160 -> 0 on the slots at the casino the next morning. Originally we just wanted to eat at the casino buffet as we knew that casinos offered really cheap buffets and free cocktails. We were allowed to park our motorcycle right at the door on the casino proper. The security guard did ask about oil leaking and I told him I had a BMW, not a HD and we were allowed to park on the patio. The buffet was "Mexican dinner night" and the mariachis played for a $1 a song, cheap by San Antonio standards. I attempted to get a "free cocktail" but quickly found out that it is still illegal to "sell firewater to Indians" on their reservation. It is a strange feeling to have a cocktail waitress, full blooded Indian, come by and ask if we want apple juice or cranberry juice. I would think they would get laughed out of Las Vegas. At least there were no drunk Indians hassling us as we have had that happen on two occasions on previous trips in NM and Arizona.

   We left after the buffet and headed thru Albuquerque onto HW 40 toward Gallop. At the casino we had been recommended to see the extinct volcano and so-called "ice cave" at the Grants exit on the way to Gallop. Somewhere after exiting at Grants, my GPS system ran out of maps as I didn't originally think we would get his far and didn't bother loading in the roads going to California like IH-40. I heard a voice from the GPS telling me to take the next exit even though I knew it was not right. I took the exit, and ended up in a dead end into the desert. Not sure what happened so I turned off the GPS for the rest of the trip out there and headed back to that volcano.

   It was hot by the time we got there and we welcomed the trip down into the bottom of the ice cave as it was freezing cold. The ice was frozen 3,400 years go and has not ever thawed out. Because the trip took so long and it was so hot, we decided not to ride to Gallop and instead to go back to the "SkyCity casino" we had passed earlier and do the same type of buffet as we did earlier.