Labor Day Ride and More - Day 8 - Almost Home

September 12, 2009
Fort Collins, CO

We were up early. Today's agenda - ride home. Unless... the weather turned good in Colorado - then, we might take the long way home. Ha! But first, we agreed to start the day with a good breakfast. So, we walked in the brisk morning to the Pancake House we spied last night. What a pleasant surprise! The atmosphere was right out of a childhood memory of Sunday morning trips to the Pancake House with the folks. We had a good ol' country style breakfast with delicious buttermilk pancakes served up hot and tasty. The menu offered pancakes in dozens of different flavors. The coffee was good, the service was excellent and the prices so reasonable, we had to double check the ticket. It was busy (appears to be a favorite with locals) when we arrived although we didn't have to wait to be seated. By the time we left, the line was getting long.

We returned to our motel (which was a little on the cruddy side - but clean), loaded the bike and rode across the street to Dorothy's House. I have long been a fan of the Wizard of Oz so finding this attraction as we rode into town last night was a fun surprise. The park includes a yellow brick road and a house that was donated in 1907 which is allegedly decorated with antiques and memorabilia from the movie's era. The house was not open for viewing so we only saw the exterior. Out front, stands a bronze sculpture of Dorothy holding Toto. Scattered along the yellow brick road are hand-painted images of Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion. No sign of Glenda, the Wicked Witch of the West or flying monkeys... sigh... which is as it should be I suppose. Adjacent to the house is a Munchkin Playground. The gift shop facility is shared with a historical museum. Of course, I had to have a souvenir. I purchased a pin for my vest and a tee shirt that says Don't make me break out the flying monkeys... Ha! Can you guess which WOZ character is my favorite? Liberal hosts an annual event called OZ-Fest the first week of October. At least one of the original munchkins or stars from the movie along with the grandson of L. Frank Baum (author of The Wizard of Oz) are scheduled to appear. There are parades and live performances. Looks like fun!

Dorothy's House, Liberal Kansas

Before riding out of town, we stopped at Liberal Harley-Davidson. It was a nice dealership with a friendly staff. We roamed through looking at the bikes and tee shirts but didn't splurge on anything new.

The morning was chilly and damp so we shrugged on the leather jackets. We rode due north on Hwy 83 to Garden City, KS. We stopped once along the way at a truck stop (can't recall exactly where that was) where we visited at length with a friendly trucker from Lubbock, Texas but who lived in Alabama and rode a Harley. He asked about riding through Colorado on the way to the Grand Canyon in a few days. We advised the southern route and warm gear. Tim pulled on his full-fingered gloves at this point. It began to rain so we hustled on out of there. We didn't tarry in Garden City, stopping only for gas and a cup of convenience store coffee. I pulled on my full-fingered gloves at this stop.

The next part of our journey took us west on Hwy 50 through small Kansas and Colorado towns. It was 69 degrees when we rolled into Lamar, CO. The clouds broke and the skies had lightened and we had intermittent sunshine. We were hoping for good weather the rest of the trip. We stopped in a cafe for a light lunch. After a right out of the can meal for Tim and soup and salad for me, both of us were thinking we could have managed with a candy bar and it likely would have tasted better. Oh well!

As we rode on through the small towns of Las Animas, La Junta and Rocky Ford toward Pueblo, the darkening western skies dashed our hopes for a fair weather ride. This is farm country. Lots of produce stands dotted the roadsides. Having stopped for gas at a tiny spot in the road called Swink, we had no need to stop anywhere other than the rest stop on the north side of Pueblo. The skies looked bad, but we thought we might just make it to the Springs. We did not. Clouds were rolling over Pikes Peak and Cheyenne Mountain faster than we could ride. About six miles out, the temperature dropped and we hit a cold, hard, drenching rain and wind.

We got off at the first exit that advertised hotels and checked into the Comfort Inn. We dripped our way across the Lobby in soggy leathers basically terrorizing a gathering of Shriners and their ladies all dressed in evening attire. No matter to us. We had a nice, comfy, warm room on the third floor. Better yet, the night clerk allowed us to park the Harley under the awning and we could see it from our room.

After drying out some and calling the folks, we ventured back out into the rain for a brief walk to the Village Inn where we had a bowl of chili and brownie pie with ice cream for dessert. Afterwards, Tim prepared a cup of hot chocolate for me in the room and we chose Angels and Demons off the pay-per-view menu for our evening entertainment.

It rained hard, all night, but The Ride was cozy under the awning and its rain cover. We rested well.

Today's mileage was 343 miles.

From Liberal, KS to Colorado Springs, CO