May 25, 2018 Santa Rosa NM to Tucumcari, NM

58.95 miles. This was my thirteenth day of riding in a row, and we've gone 768.07 miles. That is an average of 59.08 miles a day, including that day where I only did eleven miles because of a dehydration problem. The heat is cranking up a bit, and it was a warm start out of Santa Rosa. My mileage was determined by the fact that there is really only one town between Santa Rosa and almost Amarillo, Texas, and that is the historical US66 town of Tucumcari.
My ride was once again all on interstate 40. There were several areas of old 66 that I could have ridden on, mostly in the form of frontage roads, that were not my preferred riding surface. Many were chip seal, which is really rough to ride on. I preferred the decent shoulders of the limited access highway, even though it was pretty dirty on this stretch, and I spent way to much time watching for road gators instead of watching the scenery, especially since I've had two flats in recent days. The mountains were beautifully different here, with lots of red rocks and soil mixed with the layers of limestone and sandstone. I saw four more pronghorns as I started out of Santa Rosa, ( Pam and I saw two skunks as we were walking around Tucumcari, also). Pam stopped about halfway through my ride as she passed me so I could grab some lunch, then the trouble started. Everything was fine with me, but the Rv started giving Pam a hard time, losing power as she drove. She limped into Tucumcari ahead of me, found a diesel mechanic, and began the process that is going to keep us stuck in this town for at least four days, maybe five. The Memorial Day weekend is shutting the garage down for three days, then a day or two ( probably more!) for repair work to the engine and associated parts.
The option was for me to go ahead alone, while Pam hangs back, but I'm not going to do that, for a couple of reasons. I don't want to leave the little woman here alone, and to a lesser degree, it's gonna be about 100 degrees around here for a few days, and services are so spread out between here and all through Texas, that I just don't want to do it alone. It has been nice having her around to make sure I get breaks, and carry all my gear. She is doing her best support, and making it possible that this old geezer gets where I'm going. I've crossed the country solo two times, and I'm done with that. I hate making consessions to age, but I enjoy doing this as a team.
After finally getting the Rv parked at the Cactus Rv Park in beautiful downtown Tucumcari, went for a walk and found a great restaurant ( Del's), and walked around town a little looking at the Rt 66 stuff. ( Mostly deteriorated buildings!) Old neon signs, antique dealers, plaques, painted murals, etc.