Gunghy

Gunghy Bike Trip from CA to TX (IV)

Ruins of the Pecos Pueblo. Pecos means running water. The settlement was started around 1100 and died out after the Spaniards moved in and established a mission. At it's peak, it supported over 2000 people and was very rich and powerful.

A reconstructed Kiva, a ceremonial room.

The inside of the kiva. The hole behind the ladder is an air intake vent. The structure in the foreground is a protective wall for the fire. The entrance was also the chimney. Circulation is evidently quite good, preventing the air from becoming too smokey.

The reason the Pueblo was so rich. This pass is the easiest way from the great plains to the desert, so they taxed all the trade moving through. Down there, you can see a little of I-25 between Las Vegas and Santa Fe.

Cliff dwellings about an hour north of Santa Fe. The building is a reconstruction. It has since been decided that the entries were on the roof, like the kivas.

The material of the cliff is called tuff. It's volcanic ash. Most of the caves were hand carved into the rock. They think that they all had houses built in front of them.

More of the caves.

A shot of an area in the cliff. It was fenced off, so I couldn't go further in.

From the house on the cliff. This pueblo was a mix of cliff dwellings and ground buildings.

A vanity shot. I got there at 5:30 and it closed at 7, so I rushed through without even removing my armor.

Note: Gunghy finished 13 miles short of 4000 in 11 days in his Yamaha Raider. Click here to see all his photos.

Gunghy Bike Trip from CA to TX (III)

Could you imagine Las Vegas, NV operating out of this?

Historic Las Vegas. This is only 25 miles from Santa Fe with its South-West architecture. I didn't spend any time in Santa Fe, it's either a week or two of museum visits or a screaming run from blatant tourism. I didn't have 2 weeks, so I ran screaming.

12 X 12 tiles. This was my introduction to a South West Monsoon. My first clue that I hadn't dodged the cell was taking one of the marble-sized ones in the bicep while doing about 80 MPH.

45 - 60 minutes of this. I always thought that monsoons would be warm. But between Las Vegas and Santa Fe, it's about 6,000 feet high and I needed to put on every stitch I had afterwards. I found this place only 2 miles after the storm hit, but was soaked in that time.

Typical north NM terrain. I took this less than 30 minutes after the storm when I stopped to strip down again. There was no sign of rain in this area.

There were lots of signs around warning about rattlesnakes. For some reason, they didn't request that we not pick the flowers.

Camel Rock, about 20 miles north of Santa Fe. I couldn't get around to the side to shoot at the angle that really looked like a camel. It would have meant a long hike or stopping on the freeway.

This is part III of Gunghy's series. The scenic ones. Click here for all the Gunghy photos.

Gunghy Bike Trip from CA to TX (II)

The obligatory shot of the Alamo. There are barracks off to the left, and grounds around it, but it really is amazing how small it is. I really didn't try to photograph it much because of the massive amount of people. I waited for a tour group to clear out to get this 'few' people.

I'm currently reading a fantasy about a world that has very little water. Combine that with California's water woes, and San Antonio's Riverwalk blew me away. This is a fountain area behind the convention center.

The river is actually 10-15 feet below street level. There is a island that is about a mile walk around and several miles of park on the main river. Most of the island and the banks across from it are lined with restaurants and hotels. The Tower of the Americas is in the background. It's similar to Seattle's Space Needle.

Sunday the 4th, 90 minutes up the road in Austin. Willy's July 4th picnic. I got here at 1:30, missed 3 bands and still saw 20 acts. This shot was taken after 11:30 at night. (That's when he started performing. I listened to the last song while in the parking lot at 1:45 AM. Food lines at the 'Picnic' were one and a half hours long, but you could get a beer with almost no wait.

Post, Texas; just out of Lubbick. Jack Ingram, one of the act the night before sang, "Some folks say the West Texas air is bad, but we know it smells like money." This was taken from the side of Texas highway 84. Just to the left was an auto supply store and a Dairy Queen. (Love DQ, and there are very few in Cal.)

During the rain on the way in, I passed a old oil derrick made out of wood. I would have loved a photo of that. On this day, I also passed a windmill supply store. Several of my rancher friends would love to have one of those here. This photo has 2 of my daughter's favorite things: An angus heifer and another angus heifer.

A 15 mile detour yielded this. I also paid 3 bucks to visit the "museum" on site. The state museum was on the highway in Fort Sumner, NM; 10 miles after the detour.

A New Mexico fixer-upper. This was on the way to Las Vegas, NM. As the natives were quick to point out, "the real Las Vegas." I have to agree, since Vegas means 'meadows.' Lots of those in southern Nevada.

Note: Gunghy finished 13 miles short of 4000 in 11 days in his Yamaha Raider in early July. This is part II of his series. Click here for all the Gunghy photos.

Gunghy Bike Trip from CA to TX (I)

Tuesday, Day one. From between Palm Springs and the Arizona Border. The dominant feature is the Joshua tree.

Still day one, but in Arizona. The dominant features are the Cholla cactus and the Saguaro. By this time, the temperature was over 105, on its way to 114.

Day 2, passing through New Mexico. At least the yucca was in bloom. The clouds are the edge of Hurricane Alex. The benefit was the temperature never exceeded the 92 in Phoenix when I left at 7:00 in the morning. The downside was the 25 mph headwind I fought all day.

Wednesday Day 2, East of El Paso. I rode an extra 4 hours trying to beat the storm. The weather channel said it would hit Thursday afternoon in San Antonio. It hit at dark with 30 miles to Fort Stockton and a 'no fuel' light on.

Thursday, Day 3, about 8:00 AM. Just east of Fort Stockton. As a side-note, when I entered the freeway leaving Ft Stockton, my GPS announced, "Prepare to merge left in 301 miles."

Thursday, Day 3, 8:30 AM I parked under an overpass to don rain-gear and wait out the hail. This is just 30 minutes after the last picture. Note the small waterfall coming off the embankment. An easy 5 hour cruise turned into a 9 hour nightmare. I have no idea what that area looks like.

Note: Gunghy finished 13 miles short of 4000 in 11 days in his Yamaha Raider.