We thought it was about time we sent out an update. Not much has been going on other than we sold the Allegro Bus and bought a Lazy Daze which we will pick up in July. We will post on that next time, for now I will tell you a little of the motorcycle trip my two brothers,Glen, Joe and our friend Dale took to Colorado. Dale, Glen and I left Staples around 3 PM on June 19th and headed out for Denver to meet up with Joe, who rode out earlier to visit a cousin of ours, to start our 5 day motorcycle trip. We drove non- stop other than a short stop from 4-6 AM for some sleep in the truck.
Later that evening when we went out to supper we decided we would need to have a t-shirt check in the morning before we left because, as you women know, it's so embarrassing when someone shows up wearing the same outfit as you.
On Tuesday the 21st we started our trip by heading west to Evergreen then down 285 to 126 which we took down to Decker, CO. From there we took a short 9 mile run up to Knight on 97 and back to Decker for lunch.
After filling up on Mexican food at Decker’s Coffee Shop we headed south on 67 to Cripple Creek where we stopped at the Molly Kathleen Gold Mine that last mined gold in 1969. We did not take the mine tour but did take some pictures. Cripple Creek looks like an interesting old town “tourist trap”.
Here's Joe operating an old crane remembering his railroad days as a crane operator.
An old stamp mill.
From there we took CR 1 to Gufffey where we stopped at some interesting old buildings that had all kinds of junk around them.
Joe is checking out some of the old cars. The one on the right is a 1953 Ford 2 door Ranch Wagon.
For all you car buffs here is Joe standing by an original “stove bolt six” motor.
One of the sheds was open and was called Bill’s Garage. When we got in there we all said that the American Pickers would have a field day here. There were alot of interesting items in that old building.
This is one of Bill’s art works. A rocking chair made from draft horse shoes.
Bill also makes lizards.
This is what happens to those that don’t pay their bill at Bill’s garage.
After spending some time chatting with Betty, who was watching the store for Bill, we headed south on 9 to catch US 50 west to Salida, CO. The temperatures in the higher elevations up to 9900 feet were between 60 to 70 degrees with lots of sun and some wind. While the in the lower elevations we had temps up to 86 degrees. It’s a good thing we put the sunscreen on early.
We had supper in Salida at the Boathouse Cantina.
This is the Arkansas River by the Boathouse Cantina.
Here are four well fed fella’s. Dave, Glen, Dale and Joe.
After spending the night in Salida we headed out on day two for our evening destination of Durango, CO. When we got to Monarch Pass just west of Salida it was still 52 degrees at 11,305 feet, but coming down the west side it dropped to 48 degrees before it warmed up to 96 degrees in some of the valleys.
We drove west on US 50 past Gunnison until we picked up 149 south and the upper reaches of the Blue Mesa Reservoir.
It’s a good thing we have digital cameras as we would be broke developing prints. For lunch we stopped in Creede, CO at a place called Kip’s Grill. Very good food! I had the Americana Taco which was a chopped up hamburger patty , chopped up cabbage with a great salsa all in a soft shell taco.
Downtown Creede, CO.
We picked up the Rio Grande River about 30 miles before we got to Creede but this picture was the first picture we took of it and was about 5 miles after Creede.
Continuing south on 149 we picked up US 160 in South Fork, CO and drove SW to Pagosa Springs where the road turned west to Durango where we spent the night. We ate supper at the Texas Serious BBQ which had won the Regis and Kelly BBQ cook off.
After we got in we began to wonder what they were barbecuing.
On this stretch of road we stopped so many times because the scenery just kept getting better and better.
We stopped in Ouray for some ice cream and walked the streets for a while. Ouray is an interesting town and is called “little Switzerland”.
Finally we get to the ice cream.
In Montrose we picked up US 50 and headed east to Gunnison where we spent the night. For supper we went to the Gunnisack and had a great a supper. I would recommend the chili burger and the others would recommend the fish tacos. Again today we had temperature that went from 45 degrees to 96 degrees.
On Friday when we woke up it was 39 degrees but by the time we left it was up to 45 degrees. We drove north out of Gunnison on 136 to Almont where we picked up 742 that took us to Taylor Park Reservoir.
After Taylor Park we had 16 miles of fair dirt road.
Then we got we got back onto tar again and picked up 306 and went over Cottonwood Pass (12,126).
From there it was on to Buena Vista where we washed the motorcycleS because they had watered the gravel with sodium chloride for dust control. After washing the bikes we headed north on US 24 to 82 where we turned west and headed to Aspen over the Independence Pass (12,095).
When done with lunch in Aspen we had planned on going back over the pass to take US 24 north to catch I-70. Instead we continued on US 82 and picked up I-70 at Glenwood Springs and headed east to Keystone, CO. This route took us through Glenwood Canyon. For supper we were going to eat at the Goat Pub. but after going inside and discovering that it smelled like a goat we decided to go somewhere else.
On Saturday, our last day of riding, we had a little frost on Glen’s bike. The day before we had noticed that my brake lights would come on while I was just driving down the road. Upon some investigation I found that a wire harness had come loose and rubbed against the rear tire. After using a make shift jack I got it fixed and we headed out for the morning.
By the time we got going and went over Loveland Pass (11,992) we were in the low 40’s. Once we got to I-70 we turned east to Empire where we picked up US 40, going thru Winter Park, Granby and Grand Lake before coming to the Rocky Mountain National Park. There are two passes in the park, Milner (10,798) and Iceland Pass (10,827).
We all thought that this was the most scenic stretch of our ride, although all the rest was amazing by itself. After going through the park we stopped for lunch at east entrance. We were all hungry as we had not had breakfast and it was after noon. From Estes Park we headed south on 7 and 72 until we got to Rollinsville where we got onto 119. We took a swing through Central City where it looks like a lot of restoration is going on. For the last stretch of our trip we got onto US 6 that went through some nice canyons. We ended up at a friend's house where we had left the truck and trailer and loaded up the motorcycles.
Dale, Ron, Glen David, Dave, and Walter.
Joe, Ron, Glen David, Dave, and Walter.
Ron and Lori treated us all to supper by grilling hamburgers and brats. We spent about 4 hours there eating and visiting. We then headed to the motel for the night we found it to be a dump, another good reason to have a motorhome, and decided that Joe would stay a Walter's and Glen, Dale and I would head back home and stop along the way if needed. We ended up driving straight through to home.
It was a wonderful trip and we are already planning for next year.
Until next time,
Dave
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