Saturday, August 17, 2024
We left from Farmington, New Mexico and headed towards Amarillo, Texas to stop at “The Big Texan Steak Ranch” steakhouse. I happened to come across it using Google Maps to see if there was anything to see in Amarillo and wanted to try it out. We took route 550S towards Santa Fe, NM. Along the way there were some rock formations I didn’t expect to see, but enjoyable. I had a feeling it wouldn’t last long, but I was wrong. Route 550 heads towards the Santa Fe National Forest so there was more mountainous views.
When we left in was nice and cool in the low to mid 70’s, but it was supposed to be quite hot, close to 100°F, so every time we stopped for fuel we chugged some water. We didn’t want to get dehydrated since we don’t carry water that’s easily accessible while riding. I do have a small cooler I carry to keep drinks in, but we have to stop to access them.
We continued on route 550S until we reached Santa Fe and hopped on I-25S for a short period until we reached I-40E. We got onto I-40E and rode through Albuquerque. Shortly after riding through Albuquerque, I noticed a motocross track which I thought was cool. I love the sport of motocross so that was nice to see. It was the Moriarty Motocross track just off the interstate.
We continued down the interstate, crossed back into the Central Time Zone as we crossed into Texas, saw hundreds of wind turbines, and kept riding until we got to Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo. I saw it at some point and thought that would be cool to see. It’s something different. There’s a rancher that had semi-buried some Cadillac cars and it’s open for the public to check out. Apparently, people go there with spray paint cans to make their mark on them. I thought there was a lot more to see there, but it was unique and worth stopping since we were that close.
Once we finished taking photos, we headed to the steakhouse. It was another 20 minutes up the road. We got there and it was busy. There are about 28,000 Google reviews for The Big Texan. The place was big and they served people quick. About 30 miles before we got to the steakhouse we noticed a bunch of cattle at Quality Beef Products. We joked about having eaten any of them or if they’re sold to the steakhouse. There were hundreds or thousands of them. Anyway, they sat us immediately and we ordered some steaks. I got the 16oz Texas Sirloin and it was delicious! While there, we decided where to go and end the day.
We left The Big Texan and headed towards Altus, Oklahoma. I’ve never been to Oklahoma before and wanted to go. Altus is about 150 miles and we knew we’d make it. We took I-40 for another 80 miles, then to route 256E, and on to route 62E for another 50 miles. We followed a semi truck cause it was getting dark and I didn’t want to hit any deer through all the fields out there. The speed limits on the state routes were about 70, and the lights on the bike are not quite as good as a car, and towns are 30 miles apart it seems, so I wanted to play it safe. We finally arrived in Altus, Oklahoma around 9:40pm.
We finished the day with about 625 miles.
Google Photo Album: Day 9
Adventures of Matty Q 