Full Circle

Last week the wrench wench and I made the 'round the mountain trek to Santa Fe. It was also our anniversary weekend and Santa Fe was the most fitting of destinations. Because, you see Santa Fe was our original destination when we set out by motorcycle on that hot July morning in 2005.



A Hot Day On The Pavement

After a brutally hot ride which included a stop over in Kingman, AZ we arrived in Sedona and spent another VERY HOT day tracking down a marriage license and other appropriate documents. Then the next day we got hitched. Due to the beauty of Sedona and the heat we decided just to spend our remaining time there.

So, it was indeed fitting that for our third anniversary we finally made it to Santa Fe. It was easier to get to Santa Fe this time because we were setting out from Albuquerque not Bakersfield and we had the insider scoop on how to get there.




Tourist Map of NM 14





The Wrench Wench Caught the Essence of the Area


Along the way is the charming little town of Madrid. Although it has taken on a very touristy tone their are still a lot of genuine artists there who are very serious about their work.





BMWeerman and the Wrench Wench in front of a popular biker spot



Did I mention chiles are popular around here?

From there we went hit the road to Santa Fe which was a great road around the mountain.



The Road Into Santa Fe

I hate to be a spoilsport here but the part of Sante Fe we visited was kind of a downer. Which, for sure, does not speak for Sante Fe in general, it was just our lightning fast tour, which included the main plaza and the Georgia o' Keeffe musuem.
I have to admit that the museum was impressive although I was was fan previously.
On display with the O' Keeffe exhibit were some original Ansel Adams. I am also a huge fan of Ansel Adams and what I found extraordinary about seeing his originals was how dark they were.

I honestly do not know what the photo editors of magaszines displaying his work are up to, but they definitely show his work to bright. His work is much darker in person than we are led to believe in print.

After we had exained that we were going to make our way to Taos which is one of the places I have most wanted to visit since I have been here but I was just too tired to drive there.



We did, however, have the oppornutity to visit the Caomel Head National Monument.

Which, althogh not that great was if interest.



Then we headed home...more adventures to follow

BMWeerman and Wrench Wench

Premium Touring With Ayres Adventures and Good Eats!

On this installment of Road Show we have a chat with Ron Ayres of ayresadventures.com
Ayers has one of those great stories, the kind we love here at Road Show of lives being transformed by motorcycling.





In his book, Against the Wind, he skillfully recounts the tale of of a high-power, high pressure executive who, after a couple of missing the run a couple of times due to work conflict, runs the Iron Butt rally in 1995. Although it is his first attempt, he scores well, gets hooked, and after retiring in 1999 formed his tour company.

Now operating off of several continents Ayres is quick to point out that, although some of his destinations represent the holy grails of adventure motorcycling, his tours are of the premium variety meaning mostly pavement and five star hotels.

Having just returned from a 14,000 mile scouting trip in the Ukon and Alaska Ayres continues to expand his horizons and makes new opportunities for his customers.

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Also in this edition....



A shout out to my friends at the Willard Cantina and Cafe who served me such a great meal. Look for a full review in the next edition of Road Show Magazine.

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AAAAAAAAAAAAAnnnnnnd finally, the return of Ghetto Garage and the weirdest wrenching day ever.


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The Roswell Episode...

The making of this episode of Road Show has been so freaking' bizzare if I didn't believe in Aliens before I can certainly see there input in this situation.

Rewind a couple of weeks. We had just recently arrived here and I had alredy met up with some of my new biker buddies. We had only been in town a few days and they invited me out to the major boonies. I Googled the address they gave me and thought I had everything wrapped up. But out here in the high desert maps and reality seem to have little correlation outside of the major metro areas.

Long story short hereI ended up being lost, at night in the desert. Even though I was nowhere near Roswell at the time I can easily see why people see things out here. It is WILD!

Ok back to the present....

The fourth of July was coming up and with it the Roswell UFO festival. Since our downsizing from a 3 bedroom house with three car garage to 750 square foot pad with micro porch we have had doggie-hosting issues. Since the house we left also had a big back yard we would just leave the doggie door open and she was good for a night or two. Now she has to be taken out manually everytime. Possible solution turn her into a motorcycle dog!




Here Tuesday aka Motorcyle Dog is Ready for her first test run

A quick run down to Einsteins Bagels and a little dog friendly public hanging go so well I, yes believe it our not, dog skeptic me, says "oh, she will be fine let's just take her to Roswell.

NOT!

What my brilliant mind failed to compute was that a trip down to the local market DOES NOT equate to a hardcore slab-ride. It is astounding how aggressive the semi-trucks are on 70 going through Albuquerque. Actually it is amazing how aggresive all cage drivers are around here. Unfortunately a great percentage of them drive aggressively, but not well. Shoulder checking and rear-view mirror using seem to be against the rules. Fortunately we had only gone 23 miles so turning around and dropping off the Wrench Wench and the pup. Then I turned around and started over.

Fast forward to Roswell....






During the UFO festival at least most of the action takes place on Main St. from Second Ave to the South running to about Fifth Ave to the north. There were also some events being run from the Civic Center and the Military Insitute about 9 blocks North. Some may call that walking distance, but me, Nah!

Alas that, like many other details of the story are beyond the scope of this blog and must wait for the next issue of Road Show Magazine.

Here are the things which are specific to the podcast.


An interview with one of the proprietors of Planet Roswell who gave us a great interview and recommended reading.

Highlights from a conversation with the proprietor of Earth Station Roswell.

A bit of fun and a bit of terror from the road...

Please see the accompanying slide show, directly to the right for a kind of random sampling of the last couple of days of photography.


Keep your eyes peeled for the full story in Road Show Magazine.

A Bright Spot in the DARK UNDERBELLY of Podcasting

Some of you who follow my blogs and Facebook postings know I have railed bitterley against the wish of many in the podcasting world to monetize content at the expense of the user. This is just one more step in making podcasting the realm of "suits" and not creatives. I have said many times that it is my fear that our beloved form of publishing will go the way or AOR (Album Oriented Rock) FM stations in the late 1970's. What was once a cool, free, and art-driven thing was made a vast wasteland by wanton monetizeation.

A bright spot in this bleak picture is Todd Cochrane's blubrry.com Using the radio station business model, his company has given a large number of podcasters the opportunity to make some money from legitimate, reasonable advertising.

If you are a podcaster or love podcasts jump on over to Blubrry and check it out!