Written by Kyle
When I saw Ray Wylie Hubbard was playing over my birthday weekend back in August, we decided to take a little wiggle down to Red River, New Mexico. We’d never been there before, so we weren’t exactly sure what to expect, so we jumped on the bikes and headed out!
Our trip started smoothly with clear weather, and we stopped at the Wagon Wheel Saloon in La Jara, CO for lunch. We’ve driven and ridden past this place a bunch of times, and it always seems to be full so we gave it a shot. It did not disappoint, it definitely seemed like more of a local restaurant and had good food. Guess we went just in time, evidently the restaurant is now permanently closed!?!?!
As we were nearing New Mexico, we saw thunderstorms on the horizon.
We got thoroughly soaked and cold, but luckily rode out of it and into the sun as we headed towards Taos. As we got closer to Red River, the terrain became more mountainous again and the weather began to get a bit colder and we caught a bit more rain. The last 10 miles or so of twisty mountain roads was pretty wet, but luckily nothing we have not encountered before. For the record we did have rain gear with us, but decided not to put it on both times….
We arrived at our hotel, cleaned up, and headed into town for dinner. We decided to grab a little Mexican and saw the real life Hank Hill having dinner as well.
We walked over to the Mother Lode Saloon, which was taking part in the yearly 8750 Festival, a celebration of music and barbecue. Although there were some other great bands this weekend, we specifically came in for this one event which was held independent of the main festival. I’ve loved Ray Wylie Hubbard for a long time and finally got a chance to see him live. No better excuse for a road trip right?
His first song or two started a little shaky, but his voice just got stronger and better as the show went on. He played the best of the best out of his large catalog, told stories, and played for about a hour and a half ending with a drunken singalong of Up Against The Wall, Redneck Mother…I was not disappointed!
After the show we headed across the street to the Bull O’ The Woods Saloon (in operation since 1939!) to shoot a little pool.
The next morning, on my actual birthday, we hit the road and passed through Taos and into Carson National Forest. We’ve ridden this stretch before, but on this particular day, there was almost no traffic and we were just able to really enjoy the roads and clear warm weather.
We headed up past Chimney Rock National Monument and into Pagosa Springs.
We decided to end the trip with a stop at Rachel’s Keep On Keepin Onfor some delicious sliders and mac ‘n’ cheese before heading up the valley towards home.
A fun trip to another little mountain town, good food, great music, and open roads. What more can you ask for?
Ramble Around 