Farmington to Cimarron, New Mexico on Route 64
On the coldest day of my trip, I followed Route 64 in New Mexico about 260 miles from Farmington (where I’d met Sunny) to Cimarron. With no knowledge of the road or areas I’d be passing through, it was a wonderful surprise that it turned out to be a beautiful ride through the mountains.
When I rolled away from the hotel in the morning, the temperature on my dash said 45 degrees. But it was still early and the sun was barely up. I was sure that with a stop for gas and a little dillydallying in town to see a few sights, that it would warm up in no time.
As I rode east and began to climb in elevation where I had been hoping the sun would warm things up for me, I instead found the temperature readout dipping. When I rolled into the Jicarilla Apache Nation Reservation, my hands were aching. It was only 33 degrees.
Continuing east and through Taos, the sun was finally riding high and everything began to warm up. But you know how it goes, once you get chilled through, it takes a while for your body to feel truly warm.
When I passed near a town called Angel Fire, a looming storm seemed to just hang over the mountains south of me. I could see the sheets of rain falling in the distance. While I sat waiting to make a left at an intersection, I thought, “Boy, am I glad I’m going the other way.” After being cold all morning, getting wet was very low on my To Do list.
From Angel Fire all the way to Cimarron, the clouds looked like they were just waiting over the next ridge to pounce. More than once I found myself pleading with the universe ~ “please, please, please, just stay over there.”
Someone must have been listening because I stayed dry the whole way.
Great shot of the raven….was that photo with your phone?
No, i had to zoom to see it across the parking lot. That was my point & shoot camera.
Rachael, another very interesting post with beautiful photos, especially the Idle Hour Cafe with your motorcycle. The Idle Hour Cafe reminds me of a place I rode by in 2018, called “The Bar,” which had obviously been closed for some time, l later found out it used to be the only bar you could buy beer in Gila Bend, Arizona.
Thank you for making the time and effort to share your trips.
PS: In this post you wrote “As I rode west and began to climb in elevation….” should that be “rode east?”
Thank you very much! Writing about going west from where i live is probably an unconscious habit! 🙂
Love the photos. The first one with all the colours and the café ☕ nicely done