My Big Fat Drive to Colorado and back.

[Benny Profane]

Just got back from over three weeks driving across the country to Taos and then Colorado and back. Started and finished in Baltimore, where my girlfriend lives.
Took a southern route out, because my first stop was 48 hours in Franklin, N.C. to visit an old high school buddy. Blue Ridge country. Very pretty, but, phew, not only Trump country, but Matthew Cawthorn's district. Lots of old hippies, though. Good beer, too.
Did a little drive on the Blue Ridge highway, it was nice, but, a cloudy dreary day, so no pics. My buddy did turn me on to a very cool motorcycle museum I had never heard of, https://wheelsthroughtime.com/, which would appeal to any gear head. Mostly American stuff, but some went all the way back to the birth of motorcycles.

The American flag bike is one of Evil Kneivel's jumpers. Small. The black bike is a 1909 track racer. It was pristine. Absolutely a steel bicycle beautifully engineered to take a motor.

 

[Benny Profane]

This may take me a while. Bear with me.

 

[tirolski]

This may take me a while. Bear with me.

This should be good... Might even have to make some popcorn and/or soup.

 

[Benny Profane]

After I left Franklin, Google had me drive across lower NC, a little Georgia, northern Mississippi, before my next stop, Memphis. Man, did I pass a lot of churches. And it was Sunday, lots were full.
Second time for Memphis for me. Fun town for a tourist. Did all the big attractions the last time (Graceland, Sun Studios, Stax museum, Civil Rights museum), all recommended. This time was just a Sunday evening on Beale Street. Good food, great music. Paid ten bucks to see the best bar band ever in BB Kings. Funky street scene.

 

[Benny Profane]

Next stop Oklahoma City. Third time there (I have driven through there twice before on the way to Taos. I stopped there because it's the last place for a decent bed before Taos. Otherwise, generally, a kind of bland, miserable place (I drove though a lot of miserable places). I think I got a slight case of food poisoning from dinner there, in a place I should have done a 180 at the door after the smell hit me.
But, If you are ever there, you should visit the OK city bombing memorial and museum. Very powerful. Made me choke up when you saw the pictures of the children who perished. Been there twice.

 

[tirolski]

My buddy did turn me on to a very cool motorcycle museum I had never heard of, https://wheelsthroughtime.com/ , which would appeal to any gear head. Mostly American stuff, but some went all the way back to the birth of motorcycles.

The American flag bike is one of Evil Kneivel's jumpers. Small. The black bike is a 1909 track racer. It was pristine. Absolutely a steel bicycle beautifully engineered to take a motor.

The piece of shit old truck I drove in Oxford Miss didn’t have AC.
So purchased a 2 strike Yamaha 125 for a hundred bucks from a local who he said he traded his dog for it...
The son a bitch had put a lawnmower spark plug in one of the 2 cylinders.
She limped along on one hot day coming back from the local lake when it pounded a hole in the cylinder head.
That thing caught fire about about a year later.
Bought a much nice Honda 175 4 stroke from a pharmacy professor and still have it.
It’s never been ridden in NY. I try to have my skin and bones intact.

 

[tirolski]

After I left Franklin, Google hard me drive across lower NC, a little Georgia, northern Mississippi, before my next stop, Memphis. Man, did I pass a lot of churches. And it was Sunday, lots were full.

Amen,
Did ya make a pit stop in Oxford?
There were quite a few hippies around Oxford when I was there.
They’d be old hippies now.

 

[Benny Profane]

Finally, after the vastness of the Texas panhandle with the smell of natural gas in the air and very large, ugly stockyards mixing in, made it across the New Mexico border up into the mountains, and into Taos. My buddy bought a condo right at the base, and invited me there for four days. The Snakedance condos, if you're familiar with Taos. Literally walk out the door to the base quad. Totally sweet. Real kitchen, too, which come in handy, because dining choices are limited in early April (last week).
Place was empty. Good base, just flying around on groomers in the sunshine. Off piste was rough, never softened for us. Whatever. World Pro Ski Tour was there, competing on the runs below Kachina. We did the Kachina chair once, just because, on the last day. It was hard, scratchy bumps, but, I'm happy I finally got up there on my fourth Taos visit. I'll be back.

 

[Benny Profane]

Amen,
Did ya make a pit stop in Oxford?
There were quite a few hippies around Oxford when I was there.
They’d be old hippies now.

One of these days I'm doing a Delta specific road trip. Never been to New Orleans, so, that's the finale.

 

[Benny Profane]

After Taos, drive north to visit another National Park before Aspen. Great Sand Dunes NP, which is like a giant beach right next to the San Christo mountains as they drop to a high plain. Took a lot of pics on my real camera, which await editing, but here's one from my phone. Does not do the dunes justice, a few are 800 feet high. You can rent a board to slide down them. The guy second from right is carrying one. I did not.