Riding from the Silver City to Lubbock, TX
2LaneLife
Two moto-vloggers passionate about traveling and the open road.
Now it goes without saying that our previous day's run through Arizona and New Mexico had some unbeatable sights, but even though we ran through vast open plains of New Mexico on this leg of the journey, it had its own unique views to offer. From the bright blue skies and wispy clouds to the subtle changes in temperature in the various elevations we passed through, we enjoyed every minute of it...it's just what we do!
We got up early in Silver City, grabbed a quick breakfast at the local Denny's, and began our ride towards...well, at the time we weren't quite sure. We knew we would either end up staying in the Carlsbad area after visiting the caverns, or we would head further to reach Texas in order to be closer to our next day's destination of Dallas.
That's the beauty of the open road though, you can just go with the flow and figure it out when the time comes. Sure, having a detailed plan is great and all, but have you ever just tried wingin' it here and there? It makes for an exciting yet relaxing day with endless possibilities.
Anyway, shortly after heading out of Silver City, we were enjoying the view cruising down the 180. We ran through some road work, almost got ran off the road by a passenger van who didn't know how to use their mirrors, but best of all, we got to ride our favorite machines down the open roads of New Mexico.
Being that our main destination of the day was the Carlsbad Caverns, we were burning miles most of the day on all sorts of highways without stopping for much in between. We passed through Las Cruces, then on to El Paso, and shortly after that we wound up on the Texas State Highway Loop 375, which was a cool highway that brought us over and through the Franklin Mountains of the Franklin Mountain National Park. We stopped to fill up our tanks and grab a bite at the local Taco Bell before getting back on our way! Don't get us wrong, we love a good sit-down meal, but getting a quick snack in order to keep the momentum going has to be done from time to time!
After some easy miles, the 375 brought us to the 62, which would essentially be the only other highway we would travel on for the remainder of the day. The 62 brought us through some awesome long sweepers through gold and green rolling hills, back to some flat lands, and then on to see some really awesome rock structures! Out of nowhere came a really cool looking rock face deep within a random salt flat. We were just a short ways away from the Carlsbad Caverns, and we were excited to see the area!
We started to see some signs, and turned on to New Mexico State Road 7 to enter the national park. This section of road turned out to have some views unlike many of the roads prior, leading us up through twists and turns into the hills with large rock structures all around. We eventually wound up towards the top of the hill at the visitor's center.
We explored the area and got to learn tons of history about the caves and surrounding areas! While we only had time for a quick look down in the caverns, we made it back over to the natural entrance afterwards to see the large opening that was initially discovered in 1901 by James Larkin White. In 1923, Carlsbad Caves was declared a National Monument, and seven years later, the Carlsbad Caverns National Park was created in order to protect the largely uninhabited cave region. Today, the park museum boasts more than a million cultural artifacts, including many ancient fossils and skeletons.
It's always a great experience seeing places like this because these natural structures are always so humbling. Hidden up in the hills of New Mexico, one would never guess that something like this is up there. Despite being short on time, we were glad we were at least able to get a peak inside the caverns before heading out.
We took the road back out into town as the sun began to go down, and the golden light lit up the hills making for an epic ride out of there! We stopped for gas in Carlsbad wondering if we should stay the night there, but eventually ended up with the plan of riding out to Lubbock, which was a good two hours away. Luckily the weather was decent, so we got back on the bikes and made our way out there! We were excited for our travels the next day, as we would end up in Dallas and get to see Jace from the Fast Life Garage, get some local insight into the area, and sit down to record a great podcast!
Stay tuned for next week's adventures!
Here' the route we took for our entire Texas Loop! It took us about a week to make our stops and enjoy the areas we wanted to see, but you could easily take three times that to see everything at a leisurely pace. Whether you're on four wheels or two, our goal is to inspire others to get out and explore this beautiful country and all of the great roads and destinations it has to offer! Google periodically alters the route that we input on here, so make sure to double check if you'd like to see specific stops.
**2LaneLife is not responsible for peril**
While there were definitely some different views compared to the day before, we enjoyed our mild day of riding back and forth between Texas and New Mexico, to end up in Lubbock Texas. We got a great dinner at BJ's right next to our hotel, celebrated the day, then hit the hay before riding out to Dallas the next day. We were stoked to not only see the city of Dallas, but to meet up with Jace and friends to get a local's perspective on the area, see some behind the scenes stuff, and talk life with Jace on his podcast! Another day in the books! See ya down the road...
Stay safe...stay inspired
-2LaneLife
Focus on the Journey
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Love the blogs! The video content and quality is awesome. But having the blog along with a map of the route is really appreciated.
Love the blog and the videos. I live in lubbock and just started riding a couple years ago. You guys are awesome and sharing your stories has encouraged me to get out on some two lane roads and explore!