Day 12 - Break(fast)ing Bad and bombing to Los Alamos (250 km, give or take)

We are sitting in Los Pollos Hermanos (which, for those of you who don't know Spanish - as if I do - means 'The Chicken Brothers'), which when it isn't a location for Breaking Bad is actually a burger & burrito joint called Twisters. The huevos rancheros are surprisingly good, as is, Colin tells me, the 'Rio Grande' breakfast burrito. We came here on a mission, of sorts. To find the fried chicken restaurant operated by Gus, the drug kingpin of very few words on our favourite show. Colin and I have hatched, as it were, a theory that Gus has a brother, perhaps a twin, who operates his 'business' with him.

There is an emu pacing in the lot next to Twisters, and a llama, too. I begin to wonder if they aren't destined to find themselves part of someone's lunch special.

After we've eaten (I'm so glad I got the red and not the green chilli!) and taken a couple of pictures, we are off in search of the car wash that Walt, the protagonist of the show that is our main reason for wanting to stop in Albuquerque, has recently purchased.

Our route from the hotel to Twisters had taken us through some thoroughly sketchy neighbourhoods, where I expected to find crystal meth tweakers digging holes in their front yards. The ride to the Octopus Car Wash is much more sedate. When we pull up in the parking lot next to the car wash, it looks almost exactly like it does in the show. Sadly, they don't wash motorcycles.

We had one more stop on our Breaking Bad tour of Albuquerque, and after riding past Walt's house, we heading back down to the highway to make our way North and West to the birthplace of the nuclear age, Los Alamos.

The ride up the I-25 was uneventful. The highlight was the cop who crossed road to get a closer look at us, but didn't bother to introduce himself.

After riding through Santa Fe, we reached the junction with the much more interesting state highway 502, which led us by twists and turns to Los Alamos. The scenery in the Jemez Mountains was spectacular.

In Los Alamos, we head to the Bradbury Science Museum, whose gift shop supplies me with more stickers for my bags. One, featuring a picture of Einstein sticking out his tongue, says, '186,000 miles per second isn't just a good idea, it's the law'. I wonder if that would hold up in court?

After touring the museum, with it's exhibits on genetics, the brain and, most pertinently, the Manhattan Project, we decide to head back down and go to Bandelier National Monument. Unfortunately, it isn't progammed into Colin's GPS, and there isn't a sign indicating where to turn on the way down the mountain. (There had been one on the way up.) When we reach the casino at Cities of Gold, we give up, and head back to Santa Fe. There have been so many long days on the bikes, a couple of short ones seem like a good idea.

After booking ourselves into the Best Western Inn (these have proven to be the most reliably un-nasty motels), we decide we're both due for oil & filter changes. (My last one was about 10,000 km ago.) As luck would have it there is a BMW dealership a mile and half from the motel, and a Suzuki dealer two blocks from that for Colin.

After getting our bikes sorted, and ourselves showered, we head out in search of dinner. The BBQ joint I found in Google is no longer where Google says it is, so we walk a couple more blocks to the Blue Corn Cafe and Brewery. Colin gets a steak, and I order the special, Tacos Satanicos, which are disappointingly devoid of chillies, considering their name.

All in all, we've had a good day. Tomorrow we'll explore Santa Fe a little more, then head to Chaco to check out the ruins there, before going to the Four Corners Monument on our way to Cortez, Colorado. I'll be sad to say goodbye to New Mexico. It's a fantastic place, and I'll be sure to return again soon.

Here's Colin's video of our visits to White Sands and El Paso, as promised. As always, enjoy!