In Albuquerque

[frankd]

Barb and I are at our daughter's house in Albuquerque where we'll stay for the next 4-5 days and then head home. We left home (near Joliet, IL) last Thursday morning with our friends from southern Illilnois. They ride a 2012 Gold Wing and pull a small trailer with it. We went to Pierce Ne. where they auctioned off the 498 cars that had been stored by the Chevy dealer. The cars went for big money (the first day of the auction was on TV---I don't remember if it was the Discovery or History channel) and the cars went for big $. We only stayed for the viewing day, but walking around looking at the lot was amazing. They had a 1928? Durant with wooden spoke wheels, a lot of 1960's Chevy C10's with 6 cylinder motors, and 4 speeds that had never been sold and only had 3-9 miles on them. I saw one of them go for $42K. Most of the cars were very rusty, and all of the motors I tried to turn over were frozen. Then we went into Denver and then west for a bit on I-70. I-70 just west of Denver is an interesting interstate highway. Very beautiful and some good grades and long tunnels. We headed south and ended up on the Million Dollar Highway, which was the first time for us. Great. We went south into Durango, and then west through "Pagosa Springs" (from C.W. McCaul's song "Wolf Creek Pass". Now they've added some tunnels on Hwy. 160 near Wolf Creek Pass, so the road isn't as challenging as it used to be. About 20 years ago, we pulled our 5000# camper over it and it worked my truck very hard. We rode Hwy 160 east to Interstate 25===our friends headed for home, and we came south to our daughter's.

 

It's been a great trip so far.....the bike has been running great. Our gas mileage has been from 5 to 10% better than the Wing. It was as low as 35 MPG into a strong headwind, and the last tank was 46.7 MPG. I'd originally planned on going to the "VLA" (very large array==a group of radio telescopes about 120 miles south of Albuquerque for their open house Saturday, but because of the federal budget issue that's closed. The hot air balloon festiva starts this weekend, so we'll probably go watch the launch one morning at daybreak.

 

To the other radio amatuers here: This area has the most active VHF-UHF repeater usage I've seen lately. They have several nets everyday, a couple of breakfasts per week, and a linked repeater system that covers all of New Mexico and some of Western Texas. Lots of activity. At home, even the big Chicago repeaters (one on Sears Tower--I know, the name has changed to Willis Tower I think) is quiet even during rush hour. A welcome difference here.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

 

To the other radio amatuers here: This area has the most active VHF-UHF repeater usage I've seen lately. They have several nets everyday, a couple of breakfasts per week, and a linked repeater system that covers all of New Mexico and some of Western Texas. Lots of activity. At home, even the big Chicago repeaters (one on Sears Tower--I know, the name has changed to Willis Tower I think) is quiet even during rush hour. A welcome difference here.

 

 

The system is called the MegaLink...

Somewhere around 40 repeaters all linked....lots of fun to chat on.

 

 

Enjoy the balloon fiesta..I'm not in New Mexico right now but maybe later in the week..

[Guest tx2sturgis]

I checked in to the net this morning and said hello to 'Frank' from the Chicago area but no indication of a reply so maybe next time. I will be in and out of the system today.

[frankd]

I checked into the local Alburquerque net about 7:45 this morning, but this is on the 145.33 repeater which is linked to the 444.000 repeater but not the MegaLink.

 

I have the MegaLink on the HT right now (444.325 here in Albuquerque). Neither of us have our calls listed in our profiles so I can't just give you a call. My call is KA9J---give a call when you get a chance.

 

Frank

[frankd]

This morning Barb and I will pack the bike and head home. It should take almost 3 days to travel the 1350 miles and the weather looks fantastic for the trip.

 

Had a great chat with Brian (TX2STURGIS) via amateur radio on the great repeater system they have in New Mexico. He was down in El Paso driving his 18 wheeler and we had to take a few short breaks while he shifted gears.

 

Frank