When Trumpets Fade....

I awoke around 7 or 730 this morning after staying up past 1AM with a somber feeling in my heart and a hint of fatigue in my shoulders.  Rockabilly on the Route in Tucumcari was over and folks were starting to filter out of the town. 
A weekend of high comed pomps, petticoats and the chugging slapping sounds of double basses had come to an end and it was time to return to normal life. 
I'm sad not so much because the festivities had ended, but rather because I would soon be pointing my front wheel towards my own home and putting in my rear view mirror people that I genuinely care for and miss when I can't be around them.
The energy in Tucumcari has faded as quickly as the bands and hotrods drove out of town and I am left looking at a sleepy route 66 town. The sun bakes the asphalt and continues its work of fading old paint and neon signs that once glowed brightly during its heyday.

I find myself emotionally ready to leave and head back to Missouri...

...and I hate that feeling.

I'll be here another day so I can go over my motorcycle and make sure everything is tip top and such and to make sure I'm adequately rested for the start of the following day's journey.

Route 66 really is the people and the experience and not just the sights.

Good Morning Tucumcari and Good Morning Rockabilly on the Route!

I would have posted more yesterday evening but not only was I swept up in a reunion of sorts with various regular attendees to the Rockabilly on the Route festival who are like extended family now.... aaaannnnd.... I was dog tired from the road. Thoroughly crispy too.  So I'll start off today the right way with a few shots of a few of my favorite morning time things here in Tucumcari.

Grubbin and Rainwaiting....

So its a little uncharacteristically rainy at the moment and my buddy Josh n I are getting food and waiting for things to blow over again.  It's nice to be back out on the bike for a long haul again. I've needed it something fierce after a very crazy May. 

While stopped earlier at the old Sinclair station in Gay Parita, we ran into two fellow road wanderers.  These cats were from Germany, near Hamburg. They're out doing their bucket list ride! Good on them and many safe and adventerous miles!

Here is to wind therapy, good riding buddies, fantastic roads and hopefully cooler heads prevailing....

Waitin' Out the Rain in Gay Parita

Well... looks like my buddy Josh and I are taking a longer break at the old Sinclair station in Gay Parita, MO. I'm so glad that Gary's family decided to keep the old place open!

On the Road Again

Once again I am on the open road.  The Mother Road calls to me with her siren song.... aaannnd there is a big rockabilly event that happens annually out in Tucumcari, NM.  That is where I am heading!  So stay tuned for old neon, old cars smiling Route 66 "Roadies," pompadours and victory rolls as I once again head out to get my kicks, on Route 66.

A Surplus of Time and a Whole Helluva Lot of Highway

Well, my intrepid readers, today marks my final day on active service to our Nation as a member of her Armed Forces. 
It's sort of bittersweet as I know I will miss working with the people I have had the opportunity with over these past 11 years and seeing the places I have seen.

So here before me lies an entirely new world of opportunity. One full of unexplored pavement and towns, shops, restaurants, new interestimg people and experiences to be had.

Now all I have to do is figure out which way to point my front wheel first!  Stay tuned for more posts and pictures and rambling musings from this particular drifting greaser!!

The Train'll Stop in Tucumcari......

For me, Tucumcari was a big deal in a few different ways.  It being a Route 66 town aside, two big things for me were 1: staying at the Blue Swallow Motel and 2:..... getting to make a cheesy reference to an old Spaghetti Western to my dad.

Tucumcari is a small town on Route 66 that has a number of restored hotels on it.  It's historic downtown area has become somewhat of a ghost town but the main drag of old 66 is still hanging on.

The crown jewel of the strip is the restored Blue Swallow Motel.  Family owned since it opened in the 1940's it has passed down from generation to generation, so to speak, and now it is run by the original owners' son and his wife.  They have done a great job of trying to keep things as original and oldschool as possible. 
Each room has a small garage and there are murals and/or bits of old Americana signs and ads hanging on the walls.  The rooms have been decorated in vintage 1940's and 50's accessories and furniture to really tie everything together.  The room that Matt and I ended up with had an old cabinet TV set that was doubling as a stand for the modern TV that was provided and the night stand had a small selection of original newspapers and periodicals dating from the late 40's and early 50's stacked on it. 
We rolled up to the motel, parked next to the main office and headed inside to check in.  The main office was virtual cornucopia of post cards, license plate frames, magnets and t-shirts.  Road gifts were there a plenty.  We checked in and chatted briefly with the owners and they mentioned that, when they can, have a bonfire and invite the guests to it to hang out and share stories from the road.    

When we arrived the main sign had been switched on but the sun was still bright enough to overpower the neon as well as the lighting that was around the buildings themselves.  We snapped a couple of pictures and then parked our bikes in our garage and began to download our luggage and

clean the road out of ourselves.  We decided to head to the place that the owners recommended for supper. 
Our food was decent and we talked about how we wanted to tackle the rest of the ride home.  We had specific things that we wanted to see but we weren't sure if we wanted to follow I-44 or follow Route 66 only.  We decided that since I-44 and 66 paralleled each other through the majority of Texas we would take I-44 so that we could maintain a higher rate of speed in an attempt to make up a little time for time spent at stops.

We came to the decision that we needed to try and capture the neon signs on the way back to our room.  We set up our GoPro cameras to maximize their view and headed out.  Unfortunately only a couple of the signs were lit up that evening so it didn't turn out as spectacular as we had hoped.  At least we were able to get the Blue Swallow on camera.

We got back and called it a night and turned in.  The next morning we loaded up and checked out.  The owners recommended a spot for breakfast and we headed there after checking out. 
Upon entering we were greeted by Route 66 artwork and and signs.  I ordered up an omelet and Matt ordered some eggs and bacon and we both set to writing postcards to send home from the road. Once finished we zipped back over to the Blue Swallow and, utilizing their gigantic mailbox, sent our post cards out into the world to find their way to their recipients and got back on the road home.

Enjoy the pics I've included and stay tuned for the next installment y'all!

Matt snapped this little staged number for me.  I wanted to set up a real artsy fartsy retro shot of the front.  So I set up the shot and he snapped the shutter!

Neon and classically styled machines is a hard combo to beat
visually speaking

I was really digging on the old sedan they had parked out front

It really helped to tie things together and give the shot a really oldschool feel

I love seeing the reflection of the neon in the paint of the Harley's front fender.  I had the
Route 66 shield hand painted by a pinstriper when I went to Rolling Thunder who goes by
the name of LetterFly.  Look him up on FB he does great work and is a real cool cat to boot.

Here is a shot of the garage that was attached to Matt and I's room.  The dirt and gravel floor made things a little interesting at first when we parked the bikes
but after a little shuffling around and kicking some gravel around we got the jiffy stands on a solid footing.

Heres a nice wide shot of the motel from the street that ran next to it right off the main drag.

Another exterior shot from the street.  the building in the center is the main office area. Off to the left by where the fence starts is the area with the bonfire pit.

A fellow guest snapped this shot to send to some of his motorcycle friends and
was kind enough to send a copy to me as well. :-)

Here are the vintage periodicals on the night stand.  Look a vintage rotary
dial phone that was functional!

The cabinet TV TV stand that our room was equipped with.  I think that the age of the TV eliminates the whole "You might be a redneck if..." vibe on this one, hahaha!

Downloading our gear from the bikes for the night.

Omelets and postcards!!