My winter trip

[Wildkat]

Welcome aboard David!

Oh crap! there's two of you here now... xs11.com will never be the same...
lol

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Ha-ha-ha...................... I KNEW it!

Most definitely your fathers son.

Mom'll come around. They always do.

When you talk her into it I've got the perfect project bike for you. Not an XJ or an XS but an XV, a 750 Virago.

Really good engine and new tires. A good starter project and I can get it cheap.

Your mom and dad will probably want to kill me for even bringing it up. Ok, so don't tell 'em.

OH CRAP!!!! Tod can see this.

[4.0xj]

Besides, he probably knows what's true better than any of us!

(Yet... mom still needs some convincing.. but I think she realizes it's going to happen)

I agree but hopefully mom doesnt read this or she will both of us

Hey everybody......Yea I had to borrow one of your bikes to join up on here. It asked me what was my model of xs/xj. I sat there and was like hmmmm I don't even know what year dads are. Then your signature told me that they were all 82's so i just picked the one that is just a frame. I didn't think you would mind if I borrowed it for the time being.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

If he's old enough to drink he's old enough to decide what's true and what's a lie right?

Besides, he probably knows what's true better than any of us!

I'll be the first to welcome 4.0xj as a legacy member.

We'll talk to mom about a bike.

[trbig]

LOL... I called my oldest son last night and whined a bit to his answering machine and told him he could see the pics here about my trip. So... everybody welcome the non-motorcycle owning (Yet... mom still needs some convincing.. but I think she realizes it's going to happen) new member 4.0XJ.

His name is David, and in just two months, I can legally have a beer with him, even though he won't drink one. lol.

Dave, just remember any stories these guys may tell you in here.. they are all LIARS! Every one of them.

Tod

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Man!

It looks like a great time.

I've always wanted to see the caverns. Been by there a time or two but circumstances wouldn't allow the stop.

Be real careful on those highways, I see there are lots of sharp curves.
Nevada is the same way. You can see the road 50 miles ahead of you......straight ahead of you.

Keep the pics coming man, they're great. And don't hang around those cotton fields too long, I've heard some of those cotton pickers are out of thier cotton pickin' minds.

Be safe bro' and be careful in the mountains.

[Wildkat]

They even had some natural cave porn there!! And yes, the stains were there BEFORE I got there, thank you! Lol.

Most of them anyway...
lol


As much as it will suck being away from your wife and the kids... your Mom will have a memory that will be cherished for a lifetime...

Continue to enjoy your trip, have a great time... and as always... be safe...
(as you can anyway)


By the way, that window washing job? your riding partner and I have decided that is the absolute last job on earth we will ever get... unless they figure out a way to lower those windows to basement level...
lol

[4.0xj]

Well if it starts to snow too bad remember, I do have a xj with 4 wheels and a heater you are welcome to anytime.

[trbig]

So I arrive at the Carlsbad Caverns. A warning to folks riding there… You either have to leave your stuff on your bike, or carry it with you the whole time. There are no lockers available. I don’t like leaving my helmet and stuff in the parking lot, so I ended up lugging it along, but it ended up being a blessing in disguise. You can’t touch anything but the stainless steel railing. To get a decent shot, you have to set up the camera without a flash and let it just light gather for a while as it sits still. I would put the coat on the rail, then the helmet on the coat… then the camera on the helmet.



This is the pretty color you got if you used flash.



I was honestly not looking that forward to coming here. I’ve been to the Grand Canyon and was like.. “Yup, it’s a hole in the ground.” I was expecting to walk into a cave a hundred feet and take a few shots. WRONG!!! It was just $6 to get in for adults, and I was blown away. First, you get in an elevator that zips you down 750 feet into the ground. The park ranger is jabbering away, and you can see the wall of the elevator shaft flying by just inches away. Your ears will pop several times on the way down. After you get off the elevator, you just follow the footpaths around. I was astounded at the sheer size of everything. In some places, you had to almost duck to walk through, but others were 2-300 feet high to the ceiling, and many of the bigger rooms were hundreds of yards across. It is nearly a mile and a half walk to get around this cavern, and it’s just one of several! In many of these photos, if you look close, you can see people in the background to kind of show you the scale of things.









They even had some natural cave porn there!! And yes, the stains were there BEFORE I got there, thank you! Lol.







They had an exploration into the cave in 1924, and a guy left his ladder for others to use. Many people didn’t like the swaying of the ladder as they climbed down over 90 feet into the 2nd level. Look at those rungs! ??? Looks safe to me?? Lol.









This one looked like a sheet hanging out of the hole.




The sun was starting to go down, so I took a parting shot from the hill the caverns sit on.




Then I went back to town. Here in Carlsbad, they have a thing called Christmas on the Pecos. Basically, everyone along the Pecos River in town decks their yards up with Christmas lights. You pay $17.50 to hop on a pontoon boat for 50 minutes with a bunch of other people herded on like cattle, and they cruise up and back showing you the lights. Sounds cool enough.. only… I’m a cheapskate, and for me to pay nearly $20 to go on a pontoon boat for an hour, there better damn well be a fishing pole on the thing. So I went looking for this Christmas on the Pecos, and see if I could get a shot of any of the houses for nuttin’! I saw this fountain along the way.



This is where the pontoon boats launch from on the other side.



I found a dead end road and got this shot of part of the lights…




Then I saw this idiot’s place on the way back. There wasn’t a square foot of his yard not being used. They had a nativity scene, a working ferris wheel, a train going around, a teeter totter, and lights set to music.






Then it kinda hit me. On one hand, it’s been a few years since I’ve seen my parents and brother and his family. So I’m excited about that, but then… I’ve never been away from that gal I’ve got at home during Christmas since I was 17 and we were just dating. And I’ve never been away from the kids…

So… Tonight I’ll sit and drink a couple. Tomorrow, I don’t have many plans really. I have to go over a mountain pass in the morning.. hopefully some good views for pics.. then just ride. I only rode about 250 miles today.


Tod

[trbig]

A new morning, and I’m sure the bike likes all my stuff off of it. It sure is better off the start… but soon it’s time to load it up like a mule again and head out.





Big Spring Texas has a nice feel to it.. a bit like home. Maybe it’s because there’s a big asylum there for the criminally insane? I think I sat next to an escapee at breakfast. That chick was a PSYCHO deluxe! I couldn't get my coffee chugged fast enough.

So I started out and looked up, and saw a guy changing out a window. I thought this would be a good job for Kat to get since she likes heights so much…





I headed out on the road. After a while, I started seeing lots of cotton fields.. as far as the eye can see…



And here is one of the bales after harvesting. No telling how many t-shirts that thing could make.





Ya know, I ragged a bit on Texas yesterday, but to be honest, at least they had a few scraggly trees to look at. Eastern New Mexico is not the most scenic byway I’ve ever ridden



So I pull into Carlsbad fairly early, find a motel to stash my stuff, then headed out to the Carlsbad Caverns. Still no fun roads… until you turn into the park, then the scenery changes completely.





I haven’t seen decent twisties in days, and you want me to take a corner at WHAT speed now that my bike is unladed?? Ummm.. yeah, ok. The pegs now have a couple new shiny spots on the bottoms.





To be continued...

[XS1100 Newbie]

I still remember having to dive under my desk at school during the air raid drills. We even got to go below the courthouse to see an air raid shelter. Little did they know at that time, but the air raid shelters were only death traps.

[xs11jack]

I agree with DGSER,

I like the private stuff too. In fact there are pieces of our military history that no one sees, and this is one of them. If your friend had not given you the opportunity to post the pictures, only a handful of people would ever see the "Silo Era." Thanks Tod.
Jack

[joceiphus]

That was very awesome! Thank you for the great pics.

Joe

[1st bike]

tod that was great! thanks for posting that, it was so cool to see! what a great trip this must be for you. that guy was really nice for letting you take pictures of his home, but what an awesome home! i can't imagine the feeling of that door closing though!

thanks tod. travel safely.

[Ivan]

Cool stuff. That had to be kinda eerie standing in a place that could have started the apocalypse.

Hope your trip is as good the rest of the way.