Day 21 – Chihuahua to Las Cruces.

Home stretch. Up at 6:15, packed and ready by 8AM. Off to the dining area for another light breakfast and down to the vehicles for departure by about 9..

Out of the hotel parking lot, we make a quick run across our frontage road to the highway entrance and merge into the flow unscathed. The day is sunny, but still rather cold on the bikes, so some of my rain gear stays put, mainly to keep the hands warm. Rain over-mitts on the gloves with the heated grips(work like a charm) turned up to position 2 of 4 and the hands stay warm. Should have taken my heated insoles, but hindsight doesn't make it so...

Out of Chihuahua and onto the highway. Nothing unusual for the morning and we beat feet toward mid day and a planned lunch stop at a seafood family restaurant. Most go for shrimp, Roger has a tray full of small lobster and three of us opt for marlin fish tacos. I should have had the shrimp. Just to fishy for my taste. The other two orders were wolfed down, but mine went half eaten. Oh well, not that hungry.

Onward, still sunny and getting warmer so a nice ride. Eventually, the Mexican border station appears and we park to go inside and get the passports stamped. Back out, and we file into a line to turn in our bonding tags. Did I mention that going into Mexico in a vehicle, you need to post a bond($350) on a credit card that you won't sell your vehicle in Mexico? When you leave, they take the bonding tag back and refund the fee to your card.

Once done, we proceed to the US border crossing for questioning about citizen status and whether any liquor is being brought in. I have my bottle of almond tequila liquor and let the young lady know. One bottle, no duty. Most of the bottles are in the truck, and Ken declares 15 bottles, which are $42 in duty, which we split up. The real good news was that Aero(our lost, then found Mexican pup) made it through with nary a glance. She now has a good home with Ken in Alamogordo.

That done we crank up the throttles and hit the 10 freeway(back in the US, remember) back the 30 miles, or so, back to Las Cruces, and the Days Inn. Checking in, the manager welcomes us back and hands out the room keys. We get a much nicer room, than when we got our arrival room, no cigarette smell anyway.

We rest a bit then Jim and I, with Ken's help, get the bikes back onto the trailer and strapped down for the trip home. A bit more re-packing and we head for our farewell dinner at the Double Eagle Restaurant. It was originally a large home where the final signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed to end the Mexican American War. It's now a Very high end restaurant and we dine in the room where the mother found the son and maid “engaged” when returning early from a trip, and stabbed them both with her scissors . Her ghost is said to still haunt the room. The meal was started with margaritas that are supposedly award winning, but too sweet for most. I did order an appetizer of baked Brie, which was great. A main course of Boueuf Bourguignon was almost Julia(Childs) perfect.



Celebrate Good Times!

 We discussed our trip and the things we liked and the things we might change. We all agreed, the trip was a corker, a real taste of each of the stops, and that was the key. I would have liked more time in some of the stops, but the idea was to give us that taste that might bring us back to the places we enjoyed most. The ride itself was discussed. The most fun twisties and the best off highway roads were debated and celebrated. The Camino del Diablo was my pick for the twisties and the off highway pick was the entire Copper Canyon “road”. The goat trail out of Real de Catorce was enjoyable, but more of a learning experience than a joy to ride. It was a great evening of camaraderie and we finally retired back to the hotel.

Roger announced he was treating to breakfast in the morning at the Cracker Barrel, but Jim and I decided to leave by 7AM, so declined the offer. We said our goodbyes and retired to prepare for the trip back to San Diego.