Raven's Roads
Living an interesting life: the travels and musings
of motorcycling author Linda R. Moore

Apr 13, 2005

Leaving Winslow (11th April)

I conquered the luggage, ironically enough since this is the last time I will have to schlep the whole lot on; I will be sending some stuff home pretty soon.

Then I was on my way out of Winslow.

I stopped for gas in Holbrook, Arizona and not long afterwards turned south on 191, heading into the Navajo reservation and later the Zuni. The roads I took - 191 and 61 and later 53 - were gorgeous, splitting into the desert with views of mesas and rocks and a lot of trees.

I crossed into New Mexico. It was a magical moment and I was very happy.

The desert here is a lot greener; while the trees don’t grow so tall, there are lots of them, and it makes for a very attractive, almost magical landscape. In fact, just take out the “almost”. It really *is* magical, especially when you come over the top of a hill and see the whole thing spread right out. I later discovered that I stopped at 7300′ - I discovered this because I was breathless when I just walked around a bit!

I stopped in a small town called Ramah for lunch. It was a locals’ place but I got a very warm welcome and had a great time chatting to the residents, some of whom were veterans and bikers. Lots of joking and fun. I am very glad I stopped there.

I also passed through the Zuni pueblo, and stopped at a historical marker just a short way from the El Morro national monument, a large cliff which will be described in greater detail later ’cause it’s wonderful. Up the road from there was our campground, which I promptly discovered to be owned by a couple of female bikers and smiled because the sign hanging up there said “Bikers Welcome”. Made me smile!

The whole place was great - very rural, very laid back, very uncommercial. I liked. A *lot*.

I managed more gravel and set up home in the little cabin. I then chilled out, unable to get online, or even a cell signal. It was a nice feeling for once, everything felt more relaxed.

To make things even more fun, I found a sealed and abandoned CD in the dirt at one of the campsites: “Under a Raven Moon”. What are the odds? :-)

Sherri (Oakwoman) and Alex arrived about seven. They spotted my bike right away. We’d never met irl before, but we got along right away. Sat and had food, and beer, and relaxed.

Life is good.