May 10, 2018 - Day 3 to CA

We had another great, sunny day.  And no rain.  However, it did get up to 99.

As we left Oklahoma City, I looked up and there was a flag.  It was like saying : "I got your back , have a great day."  It was cloudy and a bit cool.

 A little way down the road, you could see the line of the dark clouds.  Blue skies rest of the day.

We do not get too far and we see the windmill farms.  I think we road for 30 minutes and saw hundreds of them.  Normally you see white ones, in this farm we saw a few gray ones.

The Gray ones.

Few Fun Fact.

Wind turbines operate on a simple principle. The energy in the wind turns two or three propeller-like blades around a rotor. The rotor is connected to the main shaft, which spins a generator to create electricity.

The shape of the blade causes the air pressure to be uneven – higher on one side of the blade and lower on the other – and that's what makes it spin. The uneven pressure causes the blades to spin around the center of the turbine. ... And in many cases, larger turbines can also capture wind energy more efficiently.

The widely used GE 1.5-megawatt model, for example, consists of 116-ft blades atop a 212-ft tower for a total height of 328 feet.

Today we have 2 more that have joined us:  

Scott 

 And Mike (AKA:Dadbo). so I asked if I could get his pic with his bike  and he said sure.  This is what I got.

 Not sure what he was trying to explain to me but I think the other side was better..

We talked a little bit yesterday of staggered and side by side.  Here are a little better pics

Side By Side

 Staggered

Some of the current group on the ride to CA at a gas stop.  We would ride about 90 minutes then stop for gas and to hydrate.  It was pretty warm most of the day.

Also at this stop, there was a lady that asked what we were doing.  As we explained, she told us she had a brother killed in Vietnam and he is on the wall.  Small world. She wished us safe journeys.

 As we leave this gas stop, we go past Cadillac Ranch.  Last year we stopped.  Here is what we saw this year as we were running  past in on I-40.

Here is a pic of what is there.  Interesting place.

A sculpture made of ten cadillacs as a monument to the "Golden Age" of the American automobile.

Cadillac ranch, built in 1974, is the product of eccentric helium millionaire Stanley Marsh 3 (he doesn’t like the Roman numeral III) and The Ant Farm, a San Francisco art collective. The ranch consists of ten graffiti-covered cars half-buried in a dusty Texas field.The cars are positioned nose-down and face west “at the same angle as the Cheops’ pyramids.” The cars were actually moved two miles further out in 1997 to avoid the expanding city. 

If you remember yesterday, we road past a semi carrying cows.  Well not to far from Cadillac ranch was a place that had 1000s of them.  The smell was 10 times as bad and lasted a lot longer. OMG

Riding this part of Oklahoma and Texas it was really windy.  At one point  saw a sign " Gusty Winds Next 9 Miles".  Wow was that an understatement.  We ended up riding staggered until we got closer to Albuquerque. NM.  Flat and nothing around

Few more pics of some of the guys riding:

Ronnie

 Catfish

At this point I feel like we are roasting.  Larry said "check out my screen on the bike"

99 !!!!

At the next gas stop they had ice cream.  Several of us (me included) got some to cool off . It was soo good

We were out in the middle of no where and then you would see a house. They have to go 20-30 miles just to go to the grocery store or to get anything.  I cannot even imagine.

 

Then you would see these old western ranch signs. And there is nothing around them.  Just wonder how much they own and why.

As we head into Albuquerque, was start to see a little different landscape.  A little more green....

 ..... then something beside flat.  Maybe some mountains.  Look off in the distance.

 Beautiful flag as we enter into town.

 BEAUTIFUL.... these clouds looks like pillows and after a long, hot day, we will really be looking forward to some ZZZZZs

 We  stop for the night at the Route 66 Casino.. no worries on me gambling..they just take my money.

We all relaxed at dinner at Johnny Rockets, except for Brian.... hope he did not lose to much money

Rick , sitting next to me will start riding tomorrow with us.

OMG Ronnie.  That looks great but they may have to roll you out if you eat all that.

Tomorrow, we head across the desert. So we will try to start early to minimize the heat.

Total Miles = 570

Weather = 68-99 

Route  = I-40

Stopped in Albuquerque