April 11, 2013
My computer locked up last night and displayed the "blue screen of death". Frightening! I don't know what that's all about? Perhaps I'm feeding it too many video clips? I have two, small external hard drives with which to transfer files when they get too many. Maybe I'd better start doing that?
 |
| Blue Screen of Death |
Then, this morning, I discovered the GPS didn't hold last night's charge. I think the motel plugin was defective? I selected another plugin and it worked, but delayed departure while waiting for it to fully charge. I never had these problems during the USA ride of 2000, when a ballpoint and notepad filled my needs.
Once again I was fooled by a bright sunny day. Almost warm in the motel parking lot, it cooled off quickly at highway speed. Being leathered up it wasn't bad. Just the same I think I'll start out with long johns when I leave Alpine tomorrow. The motel manager here said it was near 40 degrees last night, which means it won't be much more than that in the morning.
I am surprised to learn the altitude at Alpine is 4485 feet. When I rode through this area in 2000, in the month of September, it was long, hot and flat. It's still long and flat but a bit on the chilly side.
Except for my white-knuckle ride through the bowels of El Paso, it was an enjoyable ride today. I think that city is 20 miles from one side to the other.
Though I wasn't desperate for fuel (I should have topped off in Las Cruces) I wasn't sure what was available between El Paso and Van Horn, so figured I should fill up wherever I found it convenient. El Paso was far from that. I didn't think it would ever get to the other side of it.
The convenient stop was at the Fabens interchange, a few miles south of the big city where I pulled into an impressively clean station. The pumps looked brand new. But they didn't like my debit card. Yep ... "see cashier". Perhaps these Oregon debit cards have moss on them that clogs their machinery? But it did work inside the store.
Interstate 10 was very smooth most all the way to Van Horn. A short stretch was "grooved", awaiting an overlay, causing a little wobble, which, as long as you know the cause, it isn't a concern. It didn't help matters when blindsided by heavy wind gusts. Although the wind wasn't as bad as yesterday it did slap me around from time to time. Most of the time it came from the rear, boosting me along, and was probably the cause of my record high of 52 miles per gallon.
I know I won't get a speeding ticket in Texas, at least not on the freeway where the speed limit is 80. Though I might get one for impeding for moseying along at 70 to 75.
I lost count of how many Border Patrol vehicles I saw today. There were lots. And, they have an inspection station set up on Interstate 10. The patrolman asked only if I was a U.S. citizen. He must've believed me when I said "yes" because that was the extent of his interrogation and he waved me on.
Further on, on Hwy 90, I saw a cloud of dust blowing across the road ahead. It was a Border Patrol SUV towing a metal apparatus along an adjacent dirt area (couldn't really call it a road), a practice I'd heard about. They smooth out the dirt and check it later for footprints, an indication of illegal alien activity.
I rolled into Alpine past a Ramada Inn and Hampton Inn but figured I wasn't deserving of such luxury and continued through town in search of a cheaper place. I found it on the far end of town. $42 plus tax. Free wifi.
This place must be Alpine's first motel and I'm guessing there hasn't been an upgrade since. Couldn't find a three-prong plugin for my computer until discovery of one below the light over the bathroom sink (have to use the window sill as a shelf by the way). I dragged the room's table up to the doorway of the bathroom to reach the now dangling cord. ...... I could go on and on but I won't.
Speaking of gadget rebellion, the pictures I posted here don't seem to be showing. I guess one will just have to read the captions and imagine?
 | ||||||||||||||
| Still Under The Covers at Las Cruces Waiting For The GPS To Charge
|
1 comment:
I'm with you Glen, the 'Big Blue Screen of Death" gives me the Heebee Jeebee's. SCARY! I also think those "Free Wi-Fi's" should be posted as "Slow Free Wi-Fi". Thats probably why your pictures didn't come up sooner. However, they did show nicely in your blog. The last time I was in El Paso was right after Marty Robbins released his new single called El Paso in 1959. We drove through El Paso at night in December and that song played the whole time we were in El Paso. El Paso was scary but the song was OK. It must be exhilarating riding your Harley 75 mph and have cars (& trucks?) passing you.
Have a safe journey and warm weather ahead.
LA in Tustin
Post a Comment