Day 4 - Crosswinds to the Rockies

Keystone State Park, OK to Taos, NM (via TX)

Daily mileage: 605mi

Trip mileage: 2,080mi

State count: 8

Got up ready to attack the day at 0600, but for some reason, breaking camp and getting on the road wasn’t as quick as we had thought it was gonna be.  We ended up rolling ~7:30am with a little diner in Stillwater picked out for breakfast.  We had our sites set on Taos, and neither of us verbalized it, but we were both very doubtful that we’d make it.  It’d been a hard few days on the road so far, and we needed to go over 600 miles today…

Breakfast was amazing and cheap in the cute college town (which was pretty vacant due to the summer).  We had the Pig Biscuits (biscuits and gravy topped with cheddar, diced ham, crumbled sausage and bacon along with a cinnamon roll.  Totally meant to take a picture, but we snarfed it down before we could… Need to get better at that, lol.

Oil rigs in OK:


Neat little metal artwork of buffalo and cowboys in a small OK town:
 

We hit the road, with toll avoidances on, ready to attack this state and her straight roads.   Arrival was around 5:00pm, and we were gaining an extra hour.  But the farther we went, the windier it got.  It was a chore to keep the bike straight.  Luckily the speed limit was 65 (on a two lane non-divided) so we were able to roll at about 75 to try and get across the state.  But at those speeds, when a tractor trailer goes by, it gets kind of sketchy, especially with a light bike.

There were some really pretty areas for a good distance, something called the Oklahoma Painted Desert.  But it didn’t last nearly long enough, and it was pretty desolate out there.  We had to make sure we planned our fuel stops carefully.  Larkin wanted something to pick him up as he was getting very sleepy, and we had to wait 30 miles on the major road we were on in order to come across something.  They did have some tasty burritos though, and we ran into some really nice people, one guy who offered to put us up for the night.  We asked what people do out here, and he said that he paid $53K in taxes last year, and that they oil industry is VERY good for people.  That explains the houses amidst nothing else.  We had to pass on his offer though, as it would have cut our mileage very short for the day.  So we pressed on, with an aim of Cimmaron, NM (where Philmont BSA ranch is, and where Martinique backpacked in her youth).  

Painted desert in OK:
 

Larkin riding through OK:

We passed through the rest of OK, then dipped down into TX (where the non-divided, two lane speed limit is 70mph).  Crazy how fast the speed limit down here is, but when you can see cars coming for DAYS because the roads are so straight, I guess it’s not a big deal.  TX was gone in the blink of an eye (thank goodness) and we headed into NM.  We were starting to see the Rockies and it was so exciting!  

Truck rolling down the tracks in TX:

Baby, old school windmill next to huge, new school windmill (center):


Larkin riding through Texas (still not quite sure how I captured this photo on my P&S):

As we got close, we were right on top of the mountains Martinique backpacked over 10 years ago.  There was a brown cloud looking thing that look like it had fallen from the sky.  We can only imagine that it was a legit dust storm because when we drove through it, we started getting sandblasted!! When we arrived in Cimmaron, we decided we had enough steam, and powered on to Taos.  Absolutely beautiful views as we started through the Rockies. 

Gaining an extra hour, we made it into Taos in not so bad time.  After spending a little time trying to locate a place to stay that wasn’t $100+, we found a cute little motel that let us park our bikes in the courtyard right in front of our room.  We showered up, and headed down the street to a nice little Mexican restaurant.  Met the owner, who is also the Mayor of Taos! After a few too many beers, we stumbled back to our room and passed out.  We’d made it to Taos in four days!! Now the fun would REALLY begin, and the days would be shorter distance with more time to relax and take in the views, AND the people.

Our hotel let us park our bikes right in front of our room in the grass in the courtyard!