I awoke well rested and clean. Excitement set in for the day ahead and that energy got me out of my warm comfortable bed. Gathering everything I threw around the room the night before, I quickly packed everything. Walking out to my bike, I felt the cold chill of the air. This is New Mexico. Why is it so cold? I grabbed my big jacket out of my pack and put it on rather quickly. I strapped everything to the bike once more. My bike had been burning a little oil. It is 30+ years old after all, its going to do that.I checked the oil and it was a little low. Reaching into my gear, I pulled a quart of oil out and topped of the oil.

I went back and searched the room for anything I may have forgotten. I checked out and set off for the gas station down the road. As I pulled out onto the road, I felt my right foot slip on the foot peg. Looking down, I saw a hole where the oil cap goes. My heart stopped. Oil was pumping out of the engine. I shut the engine off and pulled it to the side of the road. I forgot to put the cap back on. Where was the cap? Im stuck with out it. After a quick search, it was right where I always put it. Sitting on the engine block. Just sitting there. It hadn’t fallen off in the 40 yards I had gone. I breathed a sigh of relief. I had been unbelievably lucky.

After finally getting to the gas station and trying to clean the side of my bike with dingy little paper towels, I was finally back on the road. Not before on more stop. On my way out of town I figured I would stop and see Walter White’s house from ‘Breaking Bad’. I plugged the coordinates into my phone and set off. After pulling into what looked like a normal neighborhood, I saw it at the end of the street. The lawn had been replaced with rocks and many signs littered the front saying ‘Keep Out’. As I got closer I saw the garage door open. A man sitting in a lawn chair in the middle of an empty garage, shotgun in hand.I quickly stopped. My plan to get a picture of my bike with the house in the background now seemed incredibly stupid. Changing plans, I quickly plugged the coordinates of my next campground in turned around and got the hell out of there leaving the man who hated his famous house but refused to leave, behind.

Back on the highway, the air was chilly to say the least. Powering down the road and out of town, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw something amazing. Dozens of hot air balloons were in the sky behind me. It was the Balloon Fiesta. I had no clue it was going on. It was an amazing sight, seeing such colorful balloons fill the sky, but I quickly lost view of them and rumbled down the road trying to escape the cold.

Not too long after I lost the balloons, I saw something ahead of me that made me jump for joy. Route 66. I pulled of I-40 and onto Route 66 which paralleled the Interstate. I had always dreamed as a kid of road tripping down Route 66 and now I was here. I was on the legendary highway. Me and my bike sped down the historic highway. I had not expected Route 66, but I was ecstatic. You can see how well I researched my route. The sun started to rise high up in the sky. It was warming up and the terrain was flattening out. I was enjoying not being on the interstate. Safe from all the big rigs and speeding cars. But that quickly ended as Route 66 merged with I-40. I tried to stay on what I thought was Route 66, but ended turning down a road he turned to gravel. The road kept going. I thought of turning around, but this road had to go somewhere. A small road popped out of nowhere and a sign pointing down the road ‘I-40’. I followed the road for 5 minutes and worked my way to the Interstate. Back on the interstate, I settled in. The road was straight and there was nothing but truck stops along the way. Flat landscape surrounded me. There was nothing out here.

My gas tank was running low so I pulled into a gas station/cafe/fireworks store. It seemed safe. I filled my tank and I needed food and beverage. I pulled my bike up next to a newer Kawasaki bike. The owner was inside the store. I grabbed a couple Cliff bars and some Gatorade. As i walked back out to my bike, I saw the owner of the newer red Kawasaki next to his bike. I walked over and introduced myself. His name was Beau. We started talking about our trips. His license plate said Washington. I dug a little deeper. I found out he just finished hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada and he bought his bike in Seattle and was riding it home to Florida. Zig zagging all over the country seeing friends he had. He was not taking the quick route.  He was doing something I dream of. We chatted to each other for almost an hour. Older guys on newer Harleys came and went from the gas station on their way to the balloon fiesta as we talked.I found out he was headed to Oklahoma City. I told him I was staying just outside OKC to camp. We said our ‘see you laters’ like real travelers do. Wished each other luck and went on our way.

Headed east, I entered Texas. It was incredibly flat. No mountains in the distance. No clouds in the sky. Nothing. It was hot. 82 degrees. Mile after mile after mile were windmills. Texas must be completely eco friendly. Every single windmill was turning, creating power. Back in Oregon, we have these but I never saw them turning. Texas has theirs at 100% efficiency. Every time I pulled into a gas station, I heard that famous Texas drawl. It was incredible to hear the real thing. In Oregon, I was stuck with those wanna be Cowboys of Eastern Oregon. I pulled into a Dairy Queen for lunch. Dairy Queen is a staple in Texas Culture. Probably because its so damn hot and they have ice cream. This rinky-dink fast food joint was quintessential Texas. Two old men sat in a booth drinking Iced Tea not saying a word, but looked in full conversation. I ate my food and walked back out to my bike in the hot Texas sun.

I plowed down the desolate Texas road through Amarillo. The sun was setting once more on this trip. Today was almost over but it felt like i still had hours to go. I finally got out of Texas and reached Oklahoma. The sun was below the horizon as I reached the campground. I found my spot and set up camp.

I was the only tenter. Until Beau showed up. I saw his bike pull in and he chose the campsite on the other side of the campground. I was next to the bathrooms and he saw me when he walked by. We chatted about the days ride. He admitted he couldn’t make it all the way to OKC today. We said goodnight. I ate my dinner of vegan Oreo’s, Pop Tarts, and Gatorade. I listened to podcast and started to fall asleep after yet another successful day on my trip.

Thunder clapped in the distance and I woke up. I checked my phone. It said a thunder storm was coming my way. The radar said I would just catch the corner of it. Lightning started flashing in the distance. My tent would light up with every purple flash in the distance. It was about midnight now. I was awake. Getting out of my tent, I sat at the picnic table watching the lightning. I took my phone out and decided to try some photography. I always wanted to capture a bolt of lightning on  camera. I had seen so many photos with bolts of lightning. My android phone has an adjustable shutter speed. I played with it trying to get the perfect picture. Next thing I know its 4am. The lightning was still going but I needed sleep. I fell asleep finally as thunder rumbled in the distance.