I left Castle Rock, just south of Denver, around 9:00 and had my first easy day of riding on the trip. The partly cloudy skies around Denver cleared as I went south and no wind ever picked up.
After my experience in Vail Pass the preceding day I pretty much had my heart set on no more passes, but I still encountered one in Raton. Fortunately it was no big deal at 7,824 feet which is comparable to all the passes I did in California, Nevada, and Utah.
Once I was past Raton and on Route 64 the landscape opened up to rolling range land with a large number of pronghorn deer grazing right along the side of the road. While it was entertaining to see so many deer, I did keep wondering if one might suddenly decide he just had to try the the grass on the other side of the road.
I was pleased that it was only 5:00 when I got through Amarillo and 106 miles to Childress which would be a good stop for the night.
That left me 222 miles to get to the house the next morning. Still no wind was forecast, but temperatures were supposed to get into the 90’s so I was up at 5:30 so I could be on the road by 7:00 and hopefully get home before the heat.
If you are riding out 287 be sure to keep a look out for the herd of camels just past Wichita Falls on the south side of the road. When I headed out for California through the dust storms they were running around and looked right at home in those conditions. On the return trip they were either standing around or laying on the ground. Just a bizarre image to see camels in Texas.
For some dumb reason I kept putting off the final fuel stop and had my only close call on fuel for the entire trip. When I was out in the middle of nowhere I stopped when I saw a station since I didn’t know when I’d see one again. Outside Decatur, TX I put 4.02 gallons of gas in a 4.2 gallon tank. That’s a little closer than I’d like to cut it. 
I am pleased to say that while I carried a liter bottle of fuel for emergencies, it returned home full and unused. I made the decision to take the bottle right before leaving so I made my own holster for the fuel bottle I purchased at REI and attached it to the front case bracket with elastic straps and buckles. Easy to put on and take off, very secure, and kind of comforting to have just in case. You can see the bottle attached in front of the left side case.
Pulled in the driveway with the temperature reading only 82 degrees at 10:30 AM and was unloaded by 11:00. It’s always a good feeling to get me and the motorcycle safely home after a long trip — especially after my longest solo trip.
I’ll be posting slide shows and trip details to the web site soon and will post a trip summary here on the blog page. Right now I’d better go play with my dogs…
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