With the end of our trip approaching, we spent the morning utilizing Blanding's cell signal to attempt to sort out the logistics of our return trip.
The loose plan had been to rent a U-Haul with a trailer to pull the bikes home starting on Monday or Tuesday, making a 3-4 day high-speed road trip on the way home. Driving past various U-Haul dealers and surveying their equipment, we had envisioned pulling an open cargo trailer behind one of their pickups or cargo vans.
Turns out U-Haul severely limits what kinds of equipment are available for one-way trips. Pickups? Out. Cargo vans? Out. 6x12 utility trailers? Out. How about a 10 foot box truck pulling a 5x9 utility trailer? Will our two big adventure bikes fit in a 5 foot wide trailer? Maybe. Will we then be able to thread the needle with tie-down straps through the remaining space in a way that will leave the bikes reasonably secure? Maybe. Will it be fun to push an empty 10 foot box truck all the way across the country? Definitely not. Oh, and the price? Around $1600 before fuel, which would be considerable over 3,000+ miles at 65mph or whatever they govern the max speed to.
How about shipping the bikes? There are specialist motorcycle haulers that run relay-style across the country. The price is reasonable, but you've got to be flexible on timing for the pickup and drop off. We called the first one that had been recommended on our favorite motorcycle forum, and within minutes we learned that our bikes could be picked up in Santa Fe in a timeframe that was ideal for us. We'd just leave them at a Santa Fe BMW dealer for a day or two until the truck showed up. The price? $850 for both bikes. We'd see them in Boston in two weeks. Done.
What about us? We were still kind of interested in a road trip home, how about a rental car? $1,100-$1,300 for a compact, before fuel. Um, no thanks. How about flying? $800 for both of us from Santa Fe to Boston. Done.
Naomi really wants to spend one of our last nights at this hot springs resort in New Mexico, so the last piece of the logistics is booking a room there. Their website doesn't believe that our credit card numbers are valid. Calling their phone number gets you put on hold for 30 minutes at least. While on hold you get to hear all the helpful rules they have for the resort. No cell phone use in these areas, no talking in these areas, this price includes the use of one towel, more towels are extra. Bring your own robe, etc. Mike hears this on speaker, and between the great customer service experience of being on hold for an age and the fact that they've chosen to use that time to list all the rules, begins to hate the place. Naomi keeps the faith, she's excited about it.
When we finally get through to a person, they explain that our failed attempt to use the website has resulted in a "hold" being put on the room, and that they can't book the room for us until we close all the web browsers we've used, wait half an hour and call back.
It's noon before we get the kickstands up, and we still don't have a reservation at the hotel.
It's a relatively short ride to Mesa Verde. Mesa Verde is a plateau, and the entrance to the park takes you up a switchback up the sheer face of a cliff. There is much more vegetation here than we have seen in days, though at the top of the mesa the trees are burned out from a fire a few years ago.
We secure a campsite in the park. The campground is teeming with extremely tame deer. Shortly after we arrive, a fully loaded BMW 1150GS pulls in and stops by our bikes. Heath is from New Zealand, and traveling the US for 6 months while writing a book on his travels.
We take a quick trip up from the campsite to the main part of the park with Heath before making dinner and doing laundry, then swap campfire stories of our travels with Heath.
The loose plan had been to rent a U-Haul with a trailer to pull the bikes home starting on Monday or Tuesday, making a 3-4 day high-speed road trip on the way home. Driving past various U-Haul dealers and surveying their equipment, we had envisioned pulling an open cargo trailer behind one of their pickups or cargo vans.
Turns out U-Haul severely limits what kinds of equipment are available for one-way trips. Pickups? Out. Cargo vans? Out. 6x12 utility trailers? Out. How about a 10 foot box truck pulling a 5x9 utility trailer? Will our two big adventure bikes fit in a 5 foot wide trailer? Maybe. Will we then be able to thread the needle with tie-down straps through the remaining space in a way that will leave the bikes reasonably secure? Maybe. Will it be fun to push an empty 10 foot box truck all the way across the country? Definitely not. Oh, and the price? Around $1600 before fuel, which would be considerable over 3,000+ miles at 65mph or whatever they govern the max speed to.
How about shipping the bikes? There are specialist motorcycle haulers that run relay-style across the country. The price is reasonable, but you've got to be flexible on timing for the pickup and drop off. We called the first one that had been recommended on our favorite motorcycle forum, and within minutes we learned that our bikes could be picked up in Santa Fe in a timeframe that was ideal for us. We'd just leave them at a Santa Fe BMW dealer for a day or two until the truck showed up. The price? $850 for both bikes. We'd see them in Boston in two weeks. Done.
What about us? We were still kind of interested in a road trip home, how about a rental car? $1,100-$1,300 for a compact, before fuel. Um, no thanks. How about flying? $800 for both of us from Santa Fe to Boston. Done.
Naomi really wants to spend one of our last nights at this hot springs resort in New Mexico, so the last piece of the logistics is booking a room there. Their website doesn't believe that our credit card numbers are valid. Calling their phone number gets you put on hold for 30 minutes at least. While on hold you get to hear all the helpful rules they have for the resort. No cell phone use in these areas, no talking in these areas, this price includes the use of one towel, more towels are extra. Bring your own robe, etc. Mike hears this on speaker, and between the great customer service experience of being on hold for an age and the fact that they've chosen to use that time to list all the rules, begins to hate the place. Naomi keeps the faith, she's excited about it.
When we finally get through to a person, they explain that our failed attempt to use the website has resulted in a "hold" being put on the room, and that they can't book the room for us until we close all the web browsers we've used, wait half an hour and call back.
It's noon before we get the kickstands up, and we still don't have a reservation at the hotel.
It's a relatively short ride to Mesa Verde. Mesa Verde is a plateau, and the entrance to the park takes you up a switchback up the sheer face of a cliff. There is much more vegetation here than we have seen in days, though at the top of the mesa the trees are burned out from a fire a few years ago.
We secure a campsite in the park. The campground is teeming with extremely tame deer. Shortly after we arrive, a fully loaded BMW 1150GS pulls in and stops by our bikes. Heath is from New Zealand, and traveling the US for 6 months while writing a book on his travels.
We take a quick trip up from the campsite to the main part of the park with Heath before making dinner and doing laundry, then swap campfire stories of our travels with Heath.
Wild horses on the way to Mesa Verde