We started out the day with breakfast at Kix on 66 Restaurant. We’ve been here before and really like it. They were especially great today. They fixed a breakfast to split just the way we wanted it.

We really are having fun, but mechanical difficulties are getting old. Every day after we hook up the trailer we check the lights. This morning before we left the motel, the brake lights and left turn signal did not light up on the bike or trailer. I took the seat off to check the connections and the seat screw came out. (It’s supposed to stay in the bike.) I fussed with the electrical connections and couldn’t fix the problem. We loosened the screws that hold the body to the bike and adjusted them as much as we could. We tightened everything and still could not get the seat screw to engage.

I put the seat and back rest on without the screw. The seat is not going anywhere with me sitting on it. (No laughing, please.) We went down Main Street and got on I-40. I turned on the left turn signal, even though I knew it wasn’t working, and stuck my left arm out as I merged onto the highway. Beth exclaimed on the radio, “Hey that signal worked!” After we settled into the traffic, we tested both turn signals, the brakes, and the flasher. All of them worked. I guess the gremlins decided they wanted to stay a little longer in Tucumcari. The signals continued to work all day long.

We had a gasoline and coffee stop in Santa Rosa, NM. We found a park in Albuquerque for lunch. The gophers were very entertaining.

We changed our itinerary and decided to go on a more direct route to St. George via Farmington. We had hoped to camp in Farmington, but two campgrounds we checked were just for self-contained RVs and didn’t have shade or picnic tables. We ended up in a motel. As motels go, we got what we paid for…it was the cheapest in town. We originally were given a room on the third floor…in a building with no elevator. The prospect of carrying our bags, motorcycle gear and the refrigerator up three flights of stairs was daunting. The desk staff asked if we’d like a first-floor accessible room that was available… Yes, please! The bathroom is a toilet, sink, shower combination in one space. The towels are adequate, but there are no plastic cups. Beth ended up swallowing her vitamins with an IPA, which she had just poured into her travel coffee cup. The carpets are worn, and the sofa in our room has seen better days. It is a pullout, but it has a rope tied around the frame so it can’t be opened up. There is a guest laundry (yea!!) and no evidence of bedbugs. It will suffice.

Tomorrow’s goal is St. George, UT.

Travel distances (day/total): 359/2237