Day 3 – Monday, July 2nd (360 miles, Weatherford, TX to Tatum, NM):
Going on just a few hours of sleep from camping the night before, my dad and I began heading west on backroads, avoiding traffic and riding through smaller towns. Traveling through the farmland and rolling hills was much more enjoyable and bearable than taking the major highways.
Just outside of Tatum, NM, as we were on our way to Roswell, NM for the night, we ran into a massive thunder and lightning storm. We waited on the side of the highway thinking it would pass in front of us quickly, only to turn around and head back into Tatum as the storm began heading our way. We took shelter under the roof of one of the local businesses for about two hours until around dinner time we decided to skip Roswell for the night and to just stay in Tatum. We didnt mind the rain much, but there was quite a bit of lightning and riding through that would be too dangerous.
Thankfully right across the street from where we took shelter was the only lodging in the entire town! We got a room at the motel and as we were moving our stuff into the room, the power went out. Not only did the power go out at the motel, but it went out in the whole town (Tatum is tiny!), causing all of the stores and restaurants to shut down for the entire night. This wasn’t the most fun situation, but we were happy to have a place to lay down for the night with a somewhat soft bed.
Waiting on the highway for the storm to pass.
Day 4 – Tuesday, July 3rd (400 miles, Tatum, NM to Springerville, AZ):
We got an early start to the day to make up on lost time from the delay in yesterdays storm and left the motel around 7am. It felt great in the morning, around 70 degrees, which was a nice relief from all of the heat from previous days.
We stopped for a quick breakfast in Roswell, NM at the Cowboy Cafe and then continued west. New Mexico has always been one of my favorite states because of the diverse and beautiful landscapes and todays ride added to that. Heading out of Roswell, the scenery was beautiful! We rode through mountains and into a canyon, following a river for several miles before taking another road headed north. The cloud cover for most of the day made the riding that much more enjoyable. We visited a few small towns in NM that were established in the late 1800’s and rode across several more mountains before ending the day in Springerville.
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