Shark Week VIII came to a close last evening with the selection of next year’s location as Deadwood, SD. This morning everyone started packing up and departing for home or some additional touring.

 Our morning ride was very enjoyable. The sky was overcast and the temperature was cool as we headed south on US-550. We stopped for gas in Aztec, NM, at a truck stop.They had a small restaurant, so ate breakfast there. The breakfast biscuits were very good and the coffee was fine.

We turned left on to I-40 in Albuquerque, NM. We spent the rest of the day traveling east on I-40. We stopped for lunch at a rest area. There were some very nice sheltered picnic tables.

We should have put on our wet vests at lunch. The temperature rose to 97 degrees very quickly. We pushed on aiming for Russell’s Travel Center in Glenrio, NM. All afternoon we rode with a very strong cross wind. Beth’s Road Glide handled the wind easily. My bike is taller and more susceptible to cross winds. I just leaned into the wind and motored on. The toughest part was hitting the air dam at the front of each truck we passed.

Russell’s has a free museum featuring cars from the 50s and 60s surrounded by shelf after shelf of auto-related toys and memorabilia. They also have a restaurant with a 50’s decor. There is a second Russell’s in Springer, NM. I’ve been to both and enjoy visiting both locations.

The Ford Skyliner was an innovative convertible. It didn’t last because the space that would be a trunk was used to hold the retracted hardtop. I remember that the parents of one of my elementary school classmates had one. The mom put the top down for us one day after school so we could see how it worked.

We had coffee and a snack in the restaurant.

We got gas at Russell’s. I was amazed that Beth got almost 50 mpg over 195 miles while cruising at about 79 mph. We recently put the stock mufflers back on her bike and put in a new ECM map.

Tonight we are in Amarillo. We did laundry and had dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant.