Easy Rider 2019

The final day of our journey celebrating the 50th anniversary of Easy Rider and we continued east out of Lake Charles once again in sunny and humid conditions. Our mid morning coffee stop was at an old bank building now the Java Square Café in the town of Opelousas before riding on to Krotz Springs which is (spoiler alert) where the dramatic final part of the movie was shot and where our heroes, Billy and Wyatt, met their end at the hands of two (genuine) local red necks: From there it was a short ride to the town of Morganza home to the original café where Billy and Wyatt first came to the attention of the local red necks. Amazingly we had quite a reception with a warm welcome from the local mayor and media there to record the occasion. Our leader, Alan, being interviewed: Commemorative plaque: The original café was actually demolished in the 80s but the resourceful locals, with an eye on the tourist trade, have put in place a false frontage: On then to ou...

Very little to report today as we got our heads down and rode 330 miles and finally waved goodbye to Texas as we crossed the state line into the 7th, and final, state of this trip - Louisiana. It had rained quite heavily overnight and it was feeling very humid in Austin - when we left our hotel our crash helmet visors immediately steamed up. As the day progressed it got increasingly warmer - 90F+ - and remained incredibly humid. Also, it rained again....for at least two minutes! We rode past the Austin motor race track, the Circuit of the Americas. The ride around Houston was pretty dire (memories of the M25 at its worst) albeit with a welcome break for a BBQ lunch at the Harris County Smokehouse. In the late afternoon we made it out of Texas and in to Louisiana - our overnight accommodation is in Lake Charles just a few miles over the border and home to the famous Golden Nugget entertainment venue (Doobie Brothers, The Temptations, Alison Krauss and Patti Labelled all upcoming liv...

Leaving Abiline behind we continued south and east across Texas covering a further 280 miles on roads with long sweeping curves and some variations in elevation, too. Clearly Texas is not entirely flat. We stopped for morning coffee in Comanche at a teashop reminiscent of some of those in Bexhill i.e. very twee and very English. The owner was delighted to hear our observations as, she said, that was exactly the look and feel that she was aiming for. We never did get round to finding out why she would want to do that in the middle of Texas! Next stop, for lunch, was at the River City Grille on the banks of the (other) Colorado River that begins and ends in Texas. Certainly we have had worse lunchtime views: From Marble Falls we rode the remaining 60 miles to Austin, Texas state capital, via the fabulous Texas Hill Country road and experienced rain (!), well a 5 minute shower, and the most beautiful rainbow. We arrived at our hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott on 4th Street...

We bid farewell to Route 66 - for this trip - as we left Amarillo this morning and pointed south and east as we began our 3 day ride across Texas. Texas is HUGE (nearly 270,000 square miles - by way of comparison, the entire UK is a little over 90,000 square miles), largely flat and the only things to look at are cows (LOTS of cows), wind farms and the odd "nodding donkey" drawing oil. It is also VERY hot - from mid morning the temperature steadily rose into the high 90Fs actually breaking 100F at times in the afternoon. This was the dash readout on my bike when we arrived at our hotel at 5pm after 310 miles in the sunshine: Not a great deal to report on today other than a most excellent coffee stop this morning in Briscoe where we were served by Rowdy the only blind barista in Texas and feasted on his mother's delicious pumpkin, cinnamon and choc chip muffins straight from the oven. Briscoe also has an old jailhouse as it's main tourist attraction: Furth...

Another 300 miles today and another day of contrasting terrain and temperatures. We left Taos via the Carson National Park riding twisty roads in temperatures hovering around 50F to an elevation of 9500 feet before descending some 75 miles down the road in to Las Vegas, New Mexico. Stopping for coffee before our group leader, Alan, took us on a short guided tour of the centre including the Plaza Hotel built in the late 1800s and older than the state of New Mexico: Returning to the Easy Rider theme, the street where Wyatt and Billy joined the parade and were subsequently jailed for parading without a licence: And the fire station outside which Jack Nicholson decided to go along for the ride with Billy and Wyatt after their release from prison: We then rode a further 100 miles south down the New Mexico highway with the temperature rising to the high 80Fs to rejoin Route 66 at Tucumcari where we had lunch at Kix on 66: Continuing East along I40/Route 66 we stopped fo...

Another 250 miles, broadly east, riding through contrasting landscapes as we left the state of Colorado behind and entered the state of New Mexico. Stopping off along the way for a rather fine coffee with brown sugar syrup shot and a blueberry muffin at the excellently named Higher Grounds coffee shop in Pagosa Springs. Then we climbed up to 10800 feet elevation as we rode through San Juan National Forest  and the Wolf Creek Pass  along roads with long sweeping curves in a mountainous area again reminiscent of the Alps in temperatures ranging from a chilly sub 60F up to more pleasant mid 70s. This really was my kind of riding. We stopped for lunch at the Colorado Grille and Tap Room, in Del Norte, before heading in to the relatively featureless New Mexico landscape on long, undulating roads in temperatures back in the 80Fs. NOT such interesting or exciting riding. We passed the survivalist village in the Rio Grande National Park  and crossed the Rio Grande itself: ...

Today is our mid-trip rest day so we met our friends from the USA, Sher and Terry Newland and Carole and Doug Lant for a trip on the Durango to Silverton Steam Railway , previous winner of most scenic in the USA. Three and a half hours each way with a two hour stop in Silverton. Here is a selection of pictures from the train ride: We stopped for lunch in Silverton at a former bordello, Natalia's 1912 restaurant : Here is Silverton main street: When we returned to Durango, Doug and Carole had a surprise visit planned for us to a speakeasy disguised as a barber shop and bookshop - The Bookcase and Barber . Cocktails all round, including a mint julep for Tracey, and then a short stroll to a Mexican restaurant. On the way Tracey managed to cross the road on a red light right in front of the local Sheriff! He saw the funny side. In short, a perfect day.

By popular request, here are a couple more pictures from yesterday's visit to Monument Valley: Today we had a relatively short ride "only" racking up a tad over 200 miles bringing our total since last Thursday to 1300. We headed north out of Kayenta back through Monument Valley and out of the state of Arizona in to Utah. As we looked back fans of Forrest Gump and Bob Seger may recognise this shot:   We rode past Mexican Hat (another famous rock formation - no picture) in chilly morning temperatures and under an ominously grey sky. The distinctly British riding conditions did not detract from the beauty of the Bluff Scenic Drive as we made our way to a unique spot in the USA where four states meet, Four Corners (Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado): On then to the Loungin' Lizard in Cortez for the best lunch of the trip so far and then a short blast to Durango, elevation 6500 feet, for a two night ...

We left Route 66 behind and went north to view the Sacred Mountain gas station, or what is left of it,  where the hippy filled up Wyatt's tank causing Billy an anxious moment as he thought that he might see the stashed cash: And so on to yet another glorious scenic drive through the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. A wonderful twisty road through a black lava landscape interspersed with pine trees. At the end of the road is the spot, Wukoki, where Wyatt and Billy camped for tthe night with the hippy: In the afternoon we travelled further north, even crossing a small corner of the state of Utah, to Monument Valley for a 2 hour guided tour. Words cannot express the awesomeness of Monument Valley that has to be seen to be believed. The pictures below give a taste of the wonders that we beheld: We made it back to our hotel just as night fell and feeling a little closer to home as we are now 7  hours behind the UK, not 8.

240 miles today as we crossed the Colorado River leaving California behind us and on in to Arizona. This is the old Route 66 bridge across the river that featured in the film adaptation of John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" starring Henry Fonda: Onward, East,  along historic Route 66 we rode the spectacular Oatman Highway stopping in Oatman to check out the hotel and room where Clark Gable and Carole Lombard honeymooned:   There is even an escape room in Oatman:  Burros too: Next stop Kingman where we lunched at Arby's, a new experience for us both. On then to Hackberry and the iconic General Store: This old Ford won't be turning a wheel on Route 66 again anytime soon: We then rode alone for 60 miles along the deserted highway, past the farm where Billy and Wyatt repaired the puncture and ate with the farmer's family and arrived in Seligman for a much needed chilled latte at the very café we stopped at 9 years ago. These faded la...