Tuesday, July 22, 2008

April 08 Trip - Day 9

Day 09
Friday, April 11, 2008
Socorro, NM to Alpine, TX
411 miles

"Screw that!" was my immediate thought this morning when the GPS presented me with an ETA of ~9 PM.

I threw out my original highly optimistic route that was going to take me over some scenic NM backroads and past Carlsbad Caverns NP for a quick stop.

Instead, I punched in a direct route to Alpine for a much more comfortable ~4ish arrival time. I spent the day racing along I-25 and I-10. The last hundred miles was on US-90, but the speed limit was still at interstate speeds.

The only bright spot worthy of mention flashed by with a double take. I didn't turn around for pictures, but I looked up the Prada Boutique in the middle of nowhere that night in my motel room. (It's "art")

I had made excellent time and really hoped to arrive at the motel in time to nap for an hour or two before having to put effort into being social. Instead, I found half the parking lot already filled with sport-touring bikes. Fortunately, the smiles came easily to my face and I happily greeted old and new friends.

At the appointed time, we strolled across the street to a steakhouse. My black and blue steak was excellent, although I think some of the other attendees were a bit put off by the idea of meat with a cool center (yum!). The accompanying (and also yummy) portobello mushrooms got a few sidelong glances: "Those look like cow ****!"

No photos today. I was insufficiently inspired and reluctant to stop on the side of the interstate.

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