Our Harley Days

PGR Mission: TX-USAF Vietnam Veteran

2012-01-24T05:00:00.003-07:00

January 24, 2012
Colorado, USA

Texas - Today Patriot Guard Riders of North Texas roll out to honor the service of:

SM/SGT Michael R Voyles, USAF, Vietnam Veteran who during his twenty years of service was the only enlisted officer to work in the Office of the Joint Chief of Staff under President Ronald Reagan.

Patriots will stand the flag line at the funeral services in Wichita Falls, TX followed by interment services in Olney, TX.

Our hearts go out to the family and friends of this Veteran.

Rest in Peace Sir, And Thank You for your Service!

Obituary: SM/SGT Michael R Voyles

Remembrance: Marine Sgt Gary S Johnston

2012-01-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

January 23, 2012
Colorado, USA

A moment of respect for our friends

"Nubbin" and Angela Johnston
and the family and friends of

~~~

Marine Sgt. Gary S. Johnston

May 24, 1985 (Windthorst, Texas)
January 23, 2007 (Anbar Province, Iraq)
3rd Reconnaissance Battalion
3rd Marine Division
III Marine Expeditionary Force

What we have once enjoyed
we can never lose.
All that we love deeply
becomes a part of us.
~ Helen Keller ~

mBSc Alert

2012-01-21T08:18:00.005-07:00

January 21, 2012
Colorado, USA

This just in from an unknown source:

Texas - Oh nooooooooooooooooooo!

The mBSc was spotted last night at the "Cotton Patch" eatery. Let me tell you... all 5 members and of course auxiliary personnel were in attendance along with 4 other people making a lot of noise and rowdy conversation. I did notice people gazing at them and probably wondering what they were so hyped up about. I overheard one person say I think it is somebody's birthday, because I saw some kind of funny birthday cards being passed around the table of about 14 people. Whoa that is a lot of people. The table consisted of 12 people eating and then two younger ones left to do other things rather to sit around and listen to the mBSc discuss worldly problems and how to solve them.

It was a fun evening, the food was tasty, and the company was extraordinary. But beware! I think I overheard they are planning a repeat event this morning at RRHD. Do you think I should put out a bulletin warning RRHD that there will probably be 5 so called motorcycle bikers heading that way? No-no-no, let’s let them take care of the coffee-drinking, donut-eating and loud-talking supposed customers wanting to buy a ten dollar hat, I said ten dollar hat, not a ten gallon hat.

Beware the mBSc are on the loose today and nobody knows, the trouble these rough bikers can get into...

Signed: Unknown source

My sources confirm the rumor although I have it that one mBSc almost went MIA... as he had yet to come out of his pj's - LOL!

PGR Mission: TX-Belated Welcome Home for Vietnam Veteran

2012-01-19T09:05:00.009-07:00

January 19, 2012
Colorado, USA

Texas - This evening Patriot Guard Riders of North Texas will ride out on a Welcome Home Mission for Vietnam Veteran Carl Gustafson. Severely injured in 1967 while serving, Gustafson is returning home today from a VFW-sponsored remembrance trip to Vietnam. His daughter has asked the PGR to welcome her Dad home from Vietnam in a manner that should have been the standard over 40 years ago.

Welcome home Sir! And thank you for your service!

Followup: January 20, 2012

Vietnam Vet Received Hero's Welcome Home

By: Mechell Dixon

Great video report! Thanks Mechell!

Carl Gustafson was an E-5 Marine Sergeant in the Vietnam War.

A $1 million dollar endowment grant to the VFW provided him with an all expense paid trip to Vietnam.

He returned home from that trip today, and thanks to his daughter and dozens of other Texomans, Gustafson received the hero's welcome home he never got 40 years ago.

As soon as Carl Gustafson walked off a plane this Vietnam Veteran became curious.

However, once he walked into the lobby of Wichita Falls Municipal Airport curiosity turned to crying.

Gustafson's daughter organized this hero's homecoming to give her father the welcome home he never got four decades ago.

"I never dreamed that it would get this big. I hoped it would but it feels like a dream that I was able to do this for my dad," says Shannon Turnbo, Gustafson's daughter.

Active duty military, civilians and Patriot Guard Riders all joined in to show their support.

It's support thousand of soldiers say was missing when they returned home from the war.

"I came back in 1968 and we were not allowed to wear our uniforms," says Vietnam Veteran Carl Gustafson.

"People spit on you. They'd give you the bird sign and it got to the point when we got home we took our uniforms off and we wouldn't even tell nobody that we was Vietnam Veterans," Gary Tedford, who is a Vietnam Veteran and a Patriot Guard Rider member.

"They didn't want to see us. We were the bad people. They didn't realize that we were helping them and they didn't care," explains Ted Foster, Patriot Guard Rider and Vietnam Veteran.

But folks here used cheers, smiles, hugs, flags and military music to show they cared.

That caring continued as Gustafson received a police and Patriot Guard limousine escort to a reception at Faith Baptist Church where a cake and punch reception just added icing to this sweet event.

Gustafson says today's welcome was amazing and it's something he'll never forget, but he also says he just wishes other Vietnam vets could get the same treatment even if it is 40 years after the fact.

Source: Times Record News

Behinder I get...

2012-01-17T12:17:00.003-07:00

January 17, 2012
Colorado, USA

Yep, I am the personification of the further I go the behinder I get.... In answer to you queries, working on getting out of last year before it is riding season this year - stay tuned.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

January 1, 2012
Colorado, USA

Click for a larger view

Merry Christmas to the best of the best!

2011-12-25T00:01:00.001-07:00

December 22, 2011
Colorado, USA

To those who have served or are serving our country. Know that in our collective Christmas hearts Americans far and wide wish you and yours the best of the holiday season and a Happy and Prosperous New Year. Bright Blessings! Thank you for your service!

A Soldier's Christmas Card... http://www.crosscards.com/cards/holidays/christmas/christmas-soldier.html

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T00:01:00.001-07:00

December 24, 2011
Colorado, USA

The Fat Man Cometh

2011-12-23T00:01:00.002-07:00

December 23, 2011
Colorado, USA

Veterans Pay Tribute with Wreath Laying

2011-12-18T21:00:00.003-07:00

December 18, 2011
Colorado, USA

Texas: In North Texas today a group of Veterans and other Patriots (most of them Patriot Guard Riders) laid wreaths on the graves of Veterans in the Archer County Cemetery. This is the first annual Wreaths for Veterans campaign, a grass roots, all volunteer group who plan to adopt other North Texas cemeteries in the future.

Congratulations gang - on a job well done.

See article and brief video clip here: Paying Tribute (starring Nezzie -aka Mom)

Photos to follow...

Biker Christmas Fun

2011-12-18T05:00:00.001-07:00

December 18, 2011
Colorado, USA

PGR Mission: TX-WWII Veteran

2011-12-17T00:01:00.001-07:00

December 17, 2011
Colorado, USA

Texas -- Today Patriot Guard Riders across North Texas will roll out to stand the flag line in honor PFC August Moser, US Army, WWII Veteran.

Rest in Peace, Sir and thank you for your service!

Wreaths for Veterans

2011-12-15T22:13:00.000-07:00

December 15, 2011
Colorado, USA

Yes, it is a little blurry but this photo is worth sharing. This is a fine group of patriotic people in North Texas who gathered to assemble nearly 300 wreaths which will soon be placed on the graves of veterans in a small town cemetery they have adopted.

PGR Mission: TX-Honoring Veterans is an Honor

2011-12-10T00:01:00.007-07:00

December 10, 2011
Colorado, USA

Today is Wreaths Across America day. Patriots will be decorating the graves of American Veterans all across the United States.

It is Wreaths Across America Day... for those of you out and about participating in the events scheduled all across America today - thanks for your dedication in honoring those who have honored us with their sacrifice to preserve our freedoms.

The Folks, Patriot Guard Riders and friends will participate in the day's events in North Texas... stay tuned for photos...

Dad after hanging the Coast Guard wreath today

Dad with the Coast Guard wreath

Mom with the Coast Guard wreath

Happy Birthday Friend!

2011-12-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

December 9, 2011
Colorado, USA

Lookin' good girl - Happy Birthday! Remember today's priority is fun -- and cake - don't forget the cake! Ha!

Remember: Pearl Harbor

2011-12-07T00:01:00.003-07:00

December 7, 1941

Seventy years ago today...

2403 brave souls lost their lives in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

US Navy: 2,008 KIA

USMC: 109 KIA

US Army: 218 KIA

Civilians: 68

Remembering with Respect and genuine appreciation the sacrifice of so many on Decenber 7th 1941 and the years to follow during WWII (1939-1945).

Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Day of Infamy" Speech

To the Congress of the United States:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that Nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to the Secretary of State of form reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government had deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.

Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.

Last night the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our Nation.

As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.

Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us.

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces -- with the unbounded determination of our people -- we will gain the inevitable triumph -- so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December seventh, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

The White House, December 8, 1941

North Texas PGR Busy today

2011-12-03T09:00:00.010-07:00

December 3, 2011
Colorado, USA

David Webb, USAF Veteran - Wichita Falls, TX

Rest in Peace Sir and Thank you for your service!

CPO Glen E Eickman, Navy Veteran - Wichita Falls, TX

Rest in Peace Sir and Thank you for your service!

1st Lt. Paul Erwin, US Army WWII Veteran - Wichita Falls, TX

Rest in Peace Sir and Thank you for your service!

Dress warm and dry North Texas PGR. Ride/drive safe and thanks for what you do to honor our Veterans!

PGR Mission: Smith - Burkburnett, TX

2011-11-30T05:00:00.001-07:00

November 30, 2011
Colorado, USA

Texas -- Today Patriot Guard Riders across North Texas will roll out to stand the flag line in honor M/Sgt Leonard B Smith, USAF Veteran.

Rest in Peace, Sir and thank you for your service!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T00:01:00.001-07:00

November 24, 2011
Colorado, USA

Celebrating #40 Today!

2011-11-22T00:02:00.009-07:00

November 22, 2011
Colorado, USA

Forty Years! Who woulda thunk it?

Every time in the past year when we have mentioned we are working on #40 we most times get a look, usually a double-take that says - how in the heck did you manage that! Sometimes we get a congratulations!

Honestly, if we try to explain it - we just end up sounding tongue-tied and a wee bit spooky or like some sappy by-line from a romance novel talking about drop-dead love at first sight or first bite (smirk!) or explaining we were childhood sweethearts and so on or some other kind of sentimental, mushy forever and always destiny crap. Yikth!

You know what I see when I look back over a year's worth of photos? Or 40 years of photos? Smiles. Every step along the way - smiles. And yeah - most of the recent ones are compliments of the Harley. Harley smiles are S'miles. I think it is no mistake that the word smiles is the word miles with an S stuck on the front of it. S'miles.

You know what I say when someone asks how can you stay with the same man for that many years? I say, He makes me laugh. That's it. Plain and simple - the man makes me laugh. And, if you ask Tim - he'll likely answer the same - the woman makes me laugh. Like any marriage, we've been through our share of ups and downs. We always say we have survived the good times, the bad times, the sad times, the ugly times and the weird times. But how did we survive them?

We try not to take life or money or ourselves too seriously. As they say - nobody gets out alive, anyway.

For forty years, we have found the funny in the absurd and we laughed. There's not enough room on the Harley to carry forward any memories but the good ones. Somewhere along the way we learned to leave all the baggage behind and just carry around the important stuff. The good stuff. The fun stuff. The stuff that makes us laugh.

That's it - that's my anecdote for 40 years. If you have any doubts - take a look at the following video - am I right or what!

Tim and Vik Celebrate 40 years!

To Tim: here is your anniversary card/video. Thanks for 40 years of laughs - you make lovin' fun! -V- s.w.a.k.

Here is a link to a slide show of just the photos (no music or animation):
Tim & Vik Celebrate 40 Years Slide Show

PGR Mission: Katzaman, Wichita Falls, TX

2011-11-22T00:01:00.002-07:00

November 22, 2011
Colorado, USA

Texas -- Today Patriot Guard Riders across North Texas will roll out to stand the flag line in honor T/Sgt Carl D. Katzaman, USAF Veteran.

Rest in Peace, Sir and thank you for your service!

PGR Mission: Spc4 Joseph Perkins, Texas

2011-11-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

November 19, 2011
Colorado, USA

Texas - Today the North Texas Patriot Guard Riders roll out to stand the flag line in honor of Spc4 Joseph Perkins, US Army Vietnam Veteran, Bowie, TX.

Rest in peace Sir and thank you for your service!

Shut them down

2011-11-16T09:00:00.001-07:00

November 16, 2011
Colorado, USA

Veteran's Day Tribute 2011 - for Dad

2011-11-11T00:05:00.000-07:00

November 11, 2011
Colorado, USA

Salute! And Happy Veteran's Day to all Veterans today but this is a special shout out to my Dad who I know is out early this morning... organizing and riding honor missions with and for other Veterans... I don't have to say it because you know it - but I will say it... you make me proud Dad. And, I am betting Mom is out there today supporting Dad and being her patriotic self saluting Veterans as well. You both make me proud.

VETERANS DAY 2011

I know you are not much on the whole photo thing Dad so thanks for indulging me while I show the world in my own way how proud I am to be a Veteran's Daughter.

About as great a definition of a hero as I have seen...

Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid... He is the hero, he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor, by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world. -- Raymond Chandler

Veterans Day Tribute 2011 - for Tim

2011-11-11T00:04:00.000-07:00

November 11, 2011
Colorado, USA

Happy Veterans Day to all those who have served and are serving!

I saw this comment posted out on the web... When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep? - George Canning

It is a question that some may puzzle over. My answer is NO! Not as long as I can stand or sit or lie with a flag in my hand... never. -V-

The following is a Veteran's Day Tribute to my Harley Guy... s.w.a.k.

VETERANS DAY 2011 - Tim

Yep! I am a military brat, the daughter of a Veteran and the wife of a Veteran. Today my Veteran Dad is out paying tribute at several memorial functions in north Texas. Today, I will ride with my Veteran husband and lots of other patriots in a Veteran's Day Parade in northern Colorado.

Gary Hart once said: I think there is one higher office than president and I would call that patriot. I would go him one better - there is no title that should claim higher regard in this land than Veteran.

About Veterans Day

2011-11-11T00:03:00.000-07:00

November 11, 2011
Colorado, USA

This is last year's post and thought I'd share it again... not much has changed. All my good guys are still fighting the good fight and I am still out there cheering them on...

I was raised on patriotism although I did not know it as that growing up. In our home, pride in country, reverence for the flag and respect for the men and women who served in the military was status quo. We were proud Americans. We are proud Americans.

Veterans peopled my life... but, I knew them as Dad or Uncle or friends of the family. Veterans wives nurtured my life... but I knew them as Mom or Aunt or Mrs. The men served our country and the women as well, just in a different capacity. My perception was these are "the good guys", doing their "duty", fighting the "good fight". To me, they were all men on the same caliber as movie heroes John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart. Later, it should come as no surprise, I became the wife of a boy who became a military man. Carrying on in military family tradition came naturally.

My Dad served in the USAF for twenty years. He is a Vietnam Veteran (boots on the ground and in the air), but also a Veteran of other conflicts. My husband served in the USAF for eight years. He is also a Vietnam Veteran (thankfully, the closest his boots got to Nam was Guam near the end of the war effort). I say thankfully because war becomes a different animal when you can put a face in the midst of the chaos, when you hang on the words of the evening news broadcast and breathe a sigh of relief when your loved one's location is not spoken, when you wait for the postman to bring a worn envelope, worried by many hands as it made its way across the seas. Gratification was not as it is today... it was not instant via cell phone and internet... it was wait and worry, it was hope and carry on.

There were no flags waving or bands playing or fanfare when Dad returned from Vietnam. It was just US, the family, grateful to have his boots on American soil once again. There was no party when Dad retired from the USAF. One day he was active duty and the next he was retired with not much to show for it other than a document or two, a hard-earned bronze star and a few well worn uniforms. What I know to be an unspoken fact, is the sense of self worth, accomplishment and assurance that while it [his service] may have gone unrecognized - the contribution to society and this country as a whole was significant. The same goes for many who have served and those who serve today.

The key word here: unrecognized.

Veterans Day, as I remember it was acknowledged as an important remembrance day and the meaning and import of it was taught in our classrooms. I grew up attending military celebrations -- air shows, parades and fireworks where patriotic music blared across open fields and down city streets. We climbed in airplanes boosted up by powerful hands of men in uniform. We wore flags on our lapels. We stood and saluted the flag when it passed. We recited the Pledge of Allegiance and we sang the National Anthem (without question and without doubt).

I cannot think of a single faction of our society more deserving of tribute than an American Military Veteran. They deserve our respect, our homage, our heartfelt thanks. No single day set aside on our calendar could be more important.

A Veteran is someone, who at one point in their life, wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount up to, and including, their life. Sadly, we (We the People) have cashed the check on far too many soldiers without many of us ever pausing to remember their sacrifice, or the sacrifice of their families... When you hug the neck of a Gold Star Mom or Dad trying to hold it together while we celebrate their son or daughter, or acknowledge the price they have paid, try putting the face of your child in their child's place.

Nowadays, Patriotism is vilified at every turn by the powers that be and their minions (the media). Being patriotic is the new kooky. FYI: it's a kookiness I whole-heartedly embrace. People march down streets and rally at our national monuments carrying signs that proclaim themselves to be Patriots, real Americans. I've participated in a couple of rallies and enjoyed the overall experience, but I have to tell you -- after examining the motivation behind the guest speakers and politicians (all brimming over with eloquent rhetoric), I grew weary of the the double-talk and slander. Not enough speech is red, white and blue rhetoric. Not enough of what I hear is grounded in red, white and blue ideology. Real American Patriots carry Ol' Glory and vote. Real Americans defend our country from enemies no matter where the culprits may reside. Real Americans voice their opinion where it counts - the voting booth. And Veterans? Veterans are the best of us.

What I believe is We are All Americans (at least those of us who can legally call ourselves American) so it should follow that we are all American Patriots. That's the logic of it. Unfortunately, there is a glaring deficit of proof in regard to such logic. It's a rather revolting revelation to learn that not all Americans are patriots. On second thought, perhaps those people are neither - really.

Because of my association with and appreciation of Veterans, I do not have to figure out who I am or which side of the fence I am on. I am an American. I am a Patriot. I am the daughter of a Veteran. I am the wife of a Veteran. I am friend to many a Veteran. My ties are firm. My beliefs are set. I am not conflicted.

I am not kooky either, despite evidence to the contrary... evidence collected by those suffering from a severe attack of politically correct delusions.

I believe in times of chaos and uncertainty, it is the philosophy of the Veteran that makes the most sense. Country First. Veterans are American Patriotism personified. The character of a Veteran is earmarked with traits and respectabilities that are above question: Duty, Honor, Truth, Justice, Freedom, Liberty, Allegiance, Respect, Courage and Remembrance.

Veterans wear flags on their lapels (on suits and leather jackets) and on their backs. Veterans fly flags at their homes and take issue with those who disrespect Ol' Glory. Veterans stand and salute the flag as it passes. Veterans recite the Pledge of Allegiance and consider it an honor to do so. Those who dismiss the pledge as an archaic children's poem - would be encouraged to reevaluate that position by a Veteran. Veterans know the words of the Declaration of Independence... or, more importantly they know when words have been altered, twisted or omitted. Veterans know the words to the National Anthem aka Star Spangled Banner. They also know, another Veteran would never belittle a teary eye or a moment of choked off silence after hearing oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave..... o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Veterans are not politically correct. A thing is what it is. A truth is a truth. A lie is a lie. A wrong is something that needs to be righted.

An enemy is an enemy.

Case in point: Terrorism. Oh, that's right, we are not fighting terrorists... our sons and daughters have died correcting the course of misguided (albeit murderous) extremists. Say that to a Gold Star Mom or Dad and I guarantee your backside will be permanently embedded with a Veteran's boot print.

The Veterans of my acquaintance would not hesitate to stand again to defend this country or the ideals that make the United States great. When Veterans learn that military families need assistance, they band together and provide that assistance.

When Veterans learned that others planned to dishonor our military sons and daughters, they soldiered-up and found a way to silence the deluded and protect and honor the fallen and their families. I am speaking of The Patriot Guard here, because most of our family and motorcycle friends are involved with that fine organization. Dad and many of his friends serve as Ride Captains for the North Texas Patriot Guard.

It should go without saying, there are countless other Veteran-based organizations that provide services too numerous to mention, all of them worthy and selfless in their endeavors -- most of them formed out of a proclivity to serve their fellow man - not because of some political mandate.

Veterans never stop being soldiers. They are still "the good guys", doing their "duty", fighting the "good fight".

Veterans walk among us. Young or old - the least we can do, when we run across a Veteran is to say a simple and heartfelt - thank you for your service! And, if you run across a Gold Star Mom or Dad, the least you can say is -- thank you for your sacrifice. And, if that all seems too personal - fly the flag, from your house, from your car and wear it on your person. Trust me, they will notice.

Following in another post is my Veterans Day Tribute to Ted (My Dad). He was my first hero. This years images show Dad and his friends, riding out, on roads that are "free", protected by their vigilance, determination and the blood of the brave, flags unfurled behind their motorcycles, or standing the flag line, honoring veterans and their families and generally doing what is "right". We could all learn from their excellent example. And, there is a tribute posted as well for another Veteran with whom I share my life. He knows I am proud of him but I am saying it again anyway - I am proud of you Tim...

To All Veterans. My thanks to you today and every day. You know who you are. You make me proud.

Semper Fi!

2011-11-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

November 10, 2011
Colorado, USA

PGR Mission - Wichita Falls, TX - Veterans Day Parade

2011-11-05T09:00:00.001-06:00

November 5, 2011
Colorado, USA

Texas -- Today the North Texas Patriot Guard Riders will ride in honor of all those who have served this country in the military. My Dad rides out as a PGR ride captain to join his fellow riders as they roll through downtown Wichita Falls, TX in the annual Veterans Day Parade. Today's ride for Dad aka Ted aka Frosty as a Patriot Guard Rider this year is #50 - that's 50 missions so far.

You Rock Dad!

Another PGR (Jimmy aka Smurf) in Wichita Falls escorted the Warriors on Wheels out of town on their journey to Fort Worth, TX and beyond this morning.

Never forget...

2011-11-05T05:00:00.002-06:00

November 5, 2011
Colorado, USA

Today marks the two-year anniversary of the Fort Hood massacre.

1. Lt. Col. Juanita Warman, 55, Havre de Grace, Md.

2. Maj. Libardo Caraveo, 52, Woodbridge, Va.

3. Cpt. John P. Gaffaney, 54, San Diego, Calif.

4. Cpt. Russell Seager, 41, Racine, Wis.

5. Staff Sgt. Justin Decrow, 32, Plymouth, Ind.

6. Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, Kiel, Wis.

7. Spc. Jason Hunt, 22, Tillman, Okla.

8. Spc. Frederick Greene, 29, Mountain City, Tenn.

9. PFC Aaron Nemelka, 19, West Jordan, Utah

10. PFC Michael Pearson, 22, Bolingbrook, Ill.

11. PFC Kham Xiong, 23, St. Paul, Minn.

12. Pvt. Francheska Velez, 21, Chicago, Ill.

13. Michael G. Cahill, Cameron, Texas [civilian]

Thirteen men and women, plus the unborn child of Pvt Francheska Velez died at the hands of jihadist soldier Nidal Hasan.

Never forget 11-05-2009.

PGR Mission: Wichita Falls, TX to Fort Sill, OK

2011-11-04T05:00:00.000-06:00

November 4, 2011
Colorado, USA

Texas -- Today North Texas Patriot Guard Riders will stand the flag line in honor of PFC Cassandra Hemming - US Army, Naval Reservist Veteran

Our hearts go out to the family and friends of this Veteran! Rest in Peace and Thank you for your service!

As Veterans Day approaches...

2011-11-03T00:01:00.001-06:00

November 3, 2011
Colorado, USA

Some people are doing more important stuff like protecting the right of others to be destructive in the name of -- well, ya got me there - what!

Hallowe'en Hitchhiker

2011-10-31T18:00:00.000-06:00

October 31, 2011
Colorado, USA

Out on a witchin' ride...

2011-10-31T00:01:00.000-06:00

October 31, 2011
Colorado, USA

Standing the flag line today for family

2011-10-29T00:01:00.002-06:00

October 29, 2011
Colorado, USA

Donald “Keith” Ulrich
April 2, 1954 – October 24, 2011

Donald “Keith” Ulrich 57 of Mead died October 24, 2011 at his home. He was born April 2, 1954 to Donald and Carolyn (McCune) Ulrich in San Diego, California. On June 21, 1975 he married Barbara Downing in Long Beach, CA.

Keith retired from the Navy in 2007 after 26 years of service. 2001 – 2004 he was the CU Boulder NROTC Executive Officer. He served two tours in Japan as a senior staff officer, last duty was 7th Fleet Force Protection Officer. He played baseball at Long Beach State in the 1970’s. He earned his Masters Degree from San Diego State in Education in 1986. He also earned a Masters in Strategic Studies at the senior Army War College in 2005. He loved baseball, playing his guitar, reading about history, talking politics with friends, and playing with his grandchildren.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara, of Mead; his daughters: Arlynda and husband Steve Breeds of Thornton, and Trisha Ulrich of Westminster; Grandchildren Bryan, Katelyn, and Melanie Breeds of Thornton; His father Don Ulrich of Mesa, Arizona; Three Brothers and Two Sisters.

He is preceded in death by his mother Carolyn.

Visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Friday, October 28th at Carroll-Lewellen Funeral Chapel. A funeral service will be held 11:00 a.m. Saturday, October 29th at Calvary Community Baptist Church in Thornton (11980 Irma Drive). Interment will follow at Foothills Gardens of Memory in Longmont with full military honors.

Barbara Ulrich is Tim's cousin.

Celebrating #57

2011-10-26T00:01:00.001-06:00

October 26, 2011
Colorado, USA

Texas -- The Folks, Ted (aka Frosty) and Inez (aka Nezzie) celebrate 57 years of marriage today!

RIP - David Hall, Belladier and Proud Patriot

2011-10-11T11:55:00.007-06:00

October 11, 2011
Colorado, USA

David Hall, the patriot who conceived of and rang the Liberty Bell at the final services for fallen soldiers, their families and Americans everywhere is gone from our midst today. The bell of freedom now tolls for him.

Rest in Peace Sir and thank you for your selfless service to this country!

See updates at: Proclaim Liberty.US

Purple Skies of Texas

2011-10-05T12:50:00.003-06:00

October 5, 2011
Colorado, USA

Beautiful skies in Texas today... the folks are up early... and Dad is delivering the coffee before his mBSc ride.

TEXAS: mBSc Alert

2011-10-05T12:30:00.006-06:00

October 5, 2011
Colorado, USA

Texas -- From an anonymous source... Beware, warning, attention residents of Wichita Falls and surrounding area

The mBSc riders are out and about this morning. Last I heard, they were on their way to Red River Harley-Davidson to have, free, must I say again "free" coffee and will probably be there until the pot runs dry. Then they will be in route to a location to drop off a bike trailer to some resident outside of Wichita Falls... So be aware! Who knows what might happen next. They have a habit of going for coffee and going to have more coffee and after that going to have more coffee until about noon. When the owners of whatever coffee-serving establishment start getting ready for the lunch crowd, then they move on to other things... There's no telling what mischief they might get into the rest of the day.

So if you see an "old" man with a beard, watch out for him because he just follows along with the others (yeah - right) and then watch out for a "less older" bearded man who seems to be in the middle of everything and then there is this younger guy that really gets them into trouble or maybe not exactly trouble but all are likely to pay a visit to Miss Behavior at any time... and Lord knows what sort of hijinx if the other two members are along for the ride. So beware of these guys on Harleys who ride around trying to find free coffee. Approach them with cautuon if they have to pay for coffee... because they may ask you to join them and stick you with the tab.

These guys are sometimes armed and dangerous with opinions that dominate their conversation about world problems and how to solve them...

That's their motto ya know: Solving the ills of the world... One cup of coffee at a time.

October! I love it!

2011-10-02T00:01:00.001-06:00

October 2, 2011
Colorado USA

It is my time of year... when I am not out on The Ride wth Tim kicking up leaves as we roll down some country lane - I am out kicking up leaves while I haunt the yard and if we carry a few in on our boots - no big deal!

Happy Harley October!

2011-10-01T09:00:00.000-06:00

October 1, 2011
Colorado USA

Jack-O-Harley - What everyone needs in their Fall decor... maybe I can get Tim to make me one of these... Ha!

POW-MIA Recognition Day

2011-09-26T12:00:00.000-06:00

September 26, 2011
Colorado, USA

Today is POW-MIA Recognition Day. It is always the third Friday in September. We hoisted our new POW-MIA flag for the first time today and we are proud to see it waving beneath Ol' Glory.

It is Gold Star Mothers Day

2011-09-25T01:00:00.004-06:00

September 25, 2011
Colorado, USA

TEXAS -- The Patriot Guard Riders of North Texas (Wichita Falls area) honored four Gold Star Mothers and their families today. The following is a speech delivered by my Mom (Nezzie) during the event.

Greetings and welcome to this gathering in recognition of Gold Star Mother’s Day.

In the words of Gold Star Mothers Monument sculptor, Andrew Chernak: The loss of a child in any circumstance is a grievous blow to a family, but, uniquely so to the mother who bore that child. One group of Mothers that especially stands apart from the norm are the Gold Star Mothers of America's fallen heroes. They are patriotic, loyal, and sympathetic. They understand our nation’s freedom is not to be taken for granted. The grief and loss these women have endured never leaves them, yet the Mothers rise above their pain in tribute to life going on. The Mothers have collectively served millions of hours in volunteer work, personal service in our nation's Veterans hospitals, and to the Veteran and his family in their community. In serving this way, the Mothers have turned their grief into a positive force. If you want to know quiet greatness, spend a little time in the presence of a Gold Star Mother.

A child is the life’s work of a Mother. Being a Mother supersedes all other interests, goals, and desires. No work is more important to a Mother than the proper raising of a child.

Mothers of soldiers send their beloved sons and daughters out into the world instilled with a heightened sense of purpose, a love of country and a profound dedication to a duty that serves to protect all that is dear about the American way of life.

Mothers of soldiers stand proud as their sons and daughters venture forth to do the work so few in our society openly acknowledge as important. Mothers of soldiers somehow find the strength to support children who choose to serve our country, knowing in their hearts that protecting freedom often exacts a heavy toll.

When we hear about the loss of a soldier, we do not always acknowledge that this brave soul was some Mother’s son or daughter. Mothers of fallen soldiers live with the realization that they have contributed their life’s work to the greater good. We do not often hear that out of such tragedy emerges the Mother of a Hero, a Gold Star Mother, a woman shouldering a designation any Mother would gladly forgo.

General James A. Garfield said in 1868: They summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and virtue.

Mothers of soldiers already know their children are heroes. Brave sons and daughters become heroes the day they sign on to serve and defend this country with the whole of their beings, including their life.

It is a humbling experience to be in the presence of Mothers such as these today -- the mothers of our bravest and best. Under the most abject circumstances, these women do their children proud by rallying to serve others, by helping to preserve and honor the memory of the fallen, and by embracing the soldiers who do come safely home.

To properly honor our dead, we must honor our living. With that said, it is an honor to gather in appreciation of Gold Star Mothers, on not only this day set aside for it, but also every day. We do that by surrounding these Mothers with our love, support and encouragement in return for what they have given us. We celebrate the face these mothers put on overwhelming adversity, the face of courage and quiet strength. We are proud of your soldier sons and daughters and we know they would be proud of you. It may not be your choice, but it is your legacy and every American’s charge to make certain we always remember your soldier’s service to and sacrifice for this nation.

The streets of freedom are paved with the blood of our brave and the tears of those whose lives are forever changed by the loss of soldier sons and daughters. The memorial we build in our collective hearts in honor of those brave souls is fostered in the spirit of unity, pride in nation, and a lasting culture of remembrance we create out of our commitment to build upon the alter of their bright and shining gift to humanity. The gift of Freedom.

If you carry nothing more away from this Gold Star Mothers Day, please know this: In the presence of a Gold Star Mother, we all become the better part of ourselves. Most Americans realize there is a debt, that you and yours paid in full on our behalf and we will remain eternally grateful for it. Because of your dedication to others, the families of soldiers who safely return home will celebrate that good fortune for the rest of their lives. In your presence, a grizzled Veteran stands taller, flag at his side and toughens his resolve to honor the fallen.

We gather here today to celebrate you; our Gold Star Mothers in appreciation of the work you do to keep alive our great traditions, and out of respect for the example you set that inspires hope and patriotism in your fellow citizens.

God bless each of you and your families…
God bless the men and women of our military who protect our freedom and liberty…
And God Bless America…
September 25, 2011

Just prioritizing

2011-09-24T05:00:00.000-06:00

September 24, 2011
Colorado, USA

Yep! I am behind on blog posts, photo editing, the movies, yard work and the housework -- and I am likely to stay behind for a while. The weather is fine in Northern Colorado. This is my favorite time of year and I have a really hard time staying in the house when there are leaves to be kicking. So, if you do not see anything new posted here right away -- just stand by until... well, until... Ol' Man Winter puts a chill on our fun. Ha!

Remember

2011-09-11T00:01:00.000-06:00

September 11, 2011
Colorado, USA

Riding for a cause

2011-09-10T10:00:00.000-06:00

September 10, 2011
Colorado, USA

Texas -- Dad (aka Ted aka Frosty) rolling out this morning on a ride that benefits the Fire and Police museum. I hear it will be a busy day with open house and demo rides at Red River Harley-Davidson, HOG meeting and probably catfish somewhere later on...

What is interesting in this photo is that Dad is wearing a jacket... things have cooled off a bit in North Texas after a record-breaking heat this past summer - 100 days of 100 plus weather. Yikes!

Ride safe - Ride cool.

PGR Mission: PFC Roy Edwin Thompson, US Army

2011-09-09T10:00:00.001-06:00

September 9, 2011
Colorado, USA

North Texas Patriot Guard rode out this morning to stand the flag line for a homeless Veteran. Rest in Peace US Army Veteran, PFC Roy Edwin Thompson and thank you for your service Sir!

Road Trip #6 - Day 1 - North to Wyoming and Wind River Canyon

2011-09-02T22:00:00.029-06:00

September 2, 2011
Colorado, USA

Greybull, WY -- This morning, about 8:30 am, we rolled north out from under some clouds hanging low and dark over the foothills. Tim pointed out the odometer was sitting at exactly 27,100 miles. Normally, we will roll south or west but there is rain in the New Mexico forecast, it is still too durn hot in Texas and Oklahoma and we just spent nine days riding in the Colorado's southwest corner. The Wyoming forecast is sunny and warm so, here we are sitting in a cozy little motel in Greybull, WY.

It was jacket weather riding out but we ran out from under the clouds not long after we crossed the Wyoming border. First stop was for fuel and breakfast in Wheatland, WY. We had a great breakfast at the Wheatland Inn (right next door to the Shell). When was the last time you had a breakfast special (2 eggs/bacon/hash browns/short stack) priced at $3.99? Add a couple (ok several) cups of rich, black coffee and color us fat and sassy and ready to ride on.

We stayed on I-25 through Casper, then travelled Hwy 26 the long, long, long, hot, hot, hot 100 miles across no-mans-land Wyoming to Shoshoni where we turned north on Hwy 20. It has been several years since we have been through these parts. We were surprised to see the deterioration of the small town of Shoshoni. We had planned on stopping at a historic malt shop that was once very popular, but the building where it was located is deserted. Rats!

The best part about turning north in central Wyoming is the ride through the Wind River Canyon. The canyon drive is about 35 miles or so and runs through the edge of the Wind River Indian Reservation and Boysen State Park skirting the edge of the Boysen Reservoir. The canyon walls loom over 2000 feet above the road. Interpretive signage all along the way points out the geology of the area, many of the rock formations from the Precambrian period (some of the oldest rock formations in the world). The road runs beside the Wind River until near the end of the canyon where we get the Wedding of the Rivers as it joins the Bighorn River.
Vik - Wind River Canyon, WY

Thermopolis, WY is home to the world’s largest mineral hot springs. The state park is worth the stop, but we have seen it before and decided to ride on through this time. Upon arrival in Greybull, WY we cruised the main drag before rolling into the charming Greybull Motel where we have secured a nice room. I had read the reviews online about this motel and knew this was likely the place we would stay. The hosts are friendly. The walks in front of the rooms are lined with beautiful flowers. There are several sheltered picnic tables and lots of cozy spots to relax. The room is clean and neat. We have booked a couple more days here.

The owner of the motel recommended a restaurant within walking distance so we took a short stroll to Lisa's Western Cuisine and Spirits. We stepped in, but it seemed a bit stuffy inside so we chose a table on the patio and ordered a couple of Ultras. The food was a bit pricey, we thought. Tim says his steak was OK, but rather small and he liked the sauce. I ordered the special (chicken and pasta). The Young and somewhat snooty waitress said it was not a special it was a feature. La-tee-dah! The pasta was OK, the chicken - mostly rubber, so I have to agree with her -- there was certainly nothing "special" about my $18 "feature". Ha! The atmosphere was simply buzzing. I think Lisa's should invest in citronella candles or install something to move the air - flies were a nuisance.

After dinner, we strolled down the all but deserted streets of sleepy little Greybull, listened to a man broadcasting his own music across quiet main street from a swap shop (he was pretty good) and picked up some beer and snacks at a convenience store. We met a group of Vietnam Veterans staying at the same motel and talked over a couple of beers at a cozy table near our room about our ride tomorrow. The owner of the motel is a motorcycle rider... he recommended a ride to Cody, Chief Joseph Scenic Byway (both of these we already had in mind) and the Beartooth Scenic Byway.

Today's ride was 440 miles... looking forward to tomorrow... yawn!

Slide show of today's ride to Wyoming (76 photos):

Alternate link to this slide show

Road Trip #5 - Day 9 The ride home through Snowy Range, WY

2011-08-27T23:00:00.002-06:00

August 27, 2011
Colorado, USA

Day nine found us within a day trip's distance to home so we decided to head in that general direction. We rolled out of Meeker about mid-morning in no particular hurry. We rolled lazily north on Hwy 13 to Craig where we topped off the tank and found breakfast at The Village Inn.

After breakfast, we continued north on Hwy 13 and traveled out of the state into Wyoming. In Baggs, WY we turned east on Hwy 70. Something about this route bugged me. About 30 miles out or so I remembered rather abruptly why when we ran upon a caution sign - one lane road ahead. Hwy 70 in Wyoming made the news back in May when about 600 foot of highway collapsed in a landslide. Repairs have proved difficult, obviously, since it doesn't appear much has been done. It was sort of a HS moment when we rolled over the nasty one lane part wondering what was holding the rest of the road in place. (Sorry - didn't have the camera handy enough as we rode by.)

We picked up Hwy 130 north of Riverside and rode east over the Snowy Range which is part of the Medicine Bow Mountains. This is a great scenic ride, much of it traveling through the Medicine Bow Forest and past rugged, jagged peaks, crystal painter's lakes and alpine meadows blooming with wildflowers. It can snow here any time of the year. It is usually chilly and damp and so it was today. We pulled on our jackets at one pulloff near Battle Pass (elevation 9955) and continued on.

Alpine Lake - Snowy Range, WY

As we rolled up on the jagged part of the mountain range popular with tourists we pulled into a small, secluded picnic area we have used before. Tim dug the thermos out of the saddle bag and announced the coffee was still warm enough to drink. We munched on animal crackers, m&m's and sipped coffee. Before long a couple of Gray Jays, better known as Robber Jays started working our table. They are beautiful birds and fun to watch. They made off with a good portion of our cookie stash. (I shot some video of the stinkers - will get that up soon.)

Snowy Range, WY - Medicine Bow Mountains

We had thunder and the clouds started spitting on us as we fed the last of our cookies to the Robber Jays. Time to go. We managed to ride out from under the rain clouds but the skies remained iffy all the way home. We picked up Hwy 287 in Laramie and rode south to Fort Collins. Much to the amazement of our neighbors, we managed to roll in dry in between thunder storms.

Slide show of today's ride home through Snowy Range, WY (92 photos):

Alternate link to this slide show

Today's mileage = 355 miles
Ending mileage 27001 (for real - we rolled over 27,000 about two blocks from the house).

It was a great road trip, one we are sorry to see end... but I can betcha by the time we get around to drinking that second pot of coffee in the morning, we'll have the road map out figuring out where we will ride next weekend.

Road Trip Recap
Day 1 - Fort Collins to Colorado Springs to Veterans Rally in Cripple Creek and back to Colorado Springs
Day 2 - Colorado Springs to Woodland Park POW-MIA Recognition Ride to Veterans Rally in Cripple Creek and back to Colorado Springs
Day 3 - Colorado Springs to Cortez, CO
Day 4 - Mesa Verde Ride, Indian Dances in Cortez
Day 5 - San Juan Scenic Skyway Ride - Cortez to Durango to Silverton (Million Dollar Highway) to Ouray to Ridgway to Telluride to Dolores and back to Cortez
Day 6 - Cortez to Gunnison via Wolf Creek Pass and Silver Thread Hwy
Day 7 - Gunnison to Crested Butte, back to Gunnison to Blue Mesa Reservoir and north Rim of Black Canyon of the Gunnison to Grand Junction
Day 8 - Grand Mesa Ride, Rim Rock Ride of Colorado National Monument, to Rifle to Meeker CO
Day 9 - Meeker Co to Craig Co to Baggs WY to Snowy Range WY to Laramie and home to Fort Collins CO

Nine days, 2187 miles, 1 rally (Salute to American Veterans Rally), 1 organized ride (POW-MIA Recognition Ride), 12 passes, (Ute Pass, Wilkerson Pass, Trout Creek Pass, Poncha Pass, Wolf Creek Pass x2, Coal Bank Pass, Red Mountain Pass, Lizard Head Pass, Spring Creek Pass, Slumgullion Pass, Battle Pass, WY) 3 divides, (Continental Divide (several times), Molas Divide, Dallas Divide), 2 mesas (Mesa Verde, Grand Mesa) and too many canyons, lakes and mountains to name -- plus 4 new friends. Wooooooo! Hooooooooooooooooo!

Road Trip #5 - Day 8, Riding the Grand Mesa and Colorado National Monument

2011-08-26T23:30:00.030-06:00

August 26, 2011
Colorado, USA

What a great day! We managed to get in two rides we have been meaning to do for quite some time and both of them exceeded our expectations.

After a restful night in our little motel, we rose to beautiful blue skies and the hope they would last most of the day. Heck, a whole day of blue skies sounded like heaven, but we would take what we could get.

We swallowed some oatmeal, craisins and a cinnabun which were the meager offerings at the motel's continental breakfast. The coffee - geez - is there some rule that motel coffee has to taste awful? Ha!

Part 1 - Riding the Grand Mesa

The idea we came up with last night over a couple of beers still sounded plausible this morning so we rolled out on Hwy 50 to ride The Grand Mesa. We approached it from the south side via Hwy 65 just outside of Delta, CO. A friend who is from Grand Junction told us about riding the Grand Mesa. He was right. I would have never guessed how much is going on up there. In addition to the forest, lush green alpine valleys and outstanding vistas of the Grand Valley below, there are little towns, motels, small businesses, farms, camping, fishing, hiking, the Powderhorn Ski area and all kinds of fun stuff. Grand Mesa is allegedly the world's largest flat top mountain, being about 40 miles long with an area of about 500 square miles. There are over 300 lakes on the mesa. Rising about 5000 feet above the valleys below it reaches an overall elevation of over 11,000 feet. It was warm enough to ride out of Grand Junction in short sleeves, but about a third of the way up the mesa, we stopped and pulled on our jackets. We had a little intermittent rain. We stopped at the Visitor Center and roamed around for a while and snapped a couple of photos beside Cobbet Lake. The descent on the north end of Hwy 65 lets out into a great canyon before the road junctions with I-70.

Tim enjoying The Grand Mesa ride

Slide show of Grand Mesa ride (69 photos):

Alternate link to this slide show

Part 2 - Riding the Colorado National Monument

We have visited Grand Junction many times and have often wondered about the Colorado National Monument. A little research revealed there is a drive along the rim of the monument that sounded like fun. It is fun. Riding the few miles back to Grand Junction after Hwy 65 dumped us out on I-70, we followed the signage in town to the monument entrance. Next time, we will look for a better route as the signage led us through the urban area of Grand Junction where we encountered too many lights and too much traffic. As soon as we paid our entry fee to the park ($5 for a motorcycle), we pulled over and shed our jackets. On top of the mesa, the temps had dropped into the 50s. Now we were in the 90s.

Rim Rock Drive is 23 miles of fun riding. The monument is about 32 square miles and encompasses over 20,000 acres. The road immediately ascends to spectacular height via some tight twisties. There are several great pull offs, a tunnel and observation points all along the way. Monument Canyon runs the width of the park and includes rock formations with names like Independence Monument and the Coke Ovens. From several vantage points you get a spectacular view of The Grand Mesa, the Book Cliffs and Mount Garfield across the Colorado Plateau.

Tim and Vik - Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction, CO

Slide show of the Rim Rock Ride (95 photos):

Alternate link to this slide show

First stop after the Rim Rock Drive was a convenience store for ice cream and something cold to drink.

Part 3 - The road to Meeker, CO

We had thought we might ride scenic Hwy 139 north out of Grand junction today as Douglas Pass is another fun ride. Black clouds and rain shafts hovering in that direction changed our minds about that. Instead, we rode east on I-70 to Rifle and picked up Hwy 13 north to Meeker. Meeker was more-or-less the destination we had in mind for the end of the day.

Elk Mountain Inn - Meeker, CO

We checked into the last room available in the Elk Mountain Inn. There was another Harley in the parking lot. The rest of the vehicles belonged to road construction crews. The room is a pleasant surprise! Actually, this is the best room we have stayed in since we left The Mecca Motel in Colorado Springs last Sunday. Nicely appointed, roomy and clean. Immaculate is a better word.

After freshening up, we headed across the street to a Mexican Food restaurant in search of sustenance and maybe a margarita. We found ourselves slowly approaching the Fiesta Guadalajara Restaurant, contemplating whether to venture into a restaurant that had not a single car in the parking lot. We entered the foyer which is basically a mud room or mud hall, typical of older restaurants in snow country. It was not clean and furniture and other stuff was piled up at one end. I was about to voice my opposition to the idea of eating there when Tim homed in on a beacon at the end of the hall and was already half a dozen steps ahead of me. The beacon being a beer sign. Too late - said the little voice inside my head - might as well live dangerously. Ha!

Through the glass doors we went and found ourselves in a nicely appointed, brightly painted Mexican decor. We were greeted immediately and seated in a booth. Well, since we were the only customers in the place, we agreed if we didn't like the menu, we would order a margarita and some chips and salsa and take it from there. You can judge Mexican food by the quality of the chips and salsa and a margarita. As it is, the menu was wide open, listing all the traditional Mexican dishes in the proper lingo, including those with fish, shrimp, pork and chicken. The chips were fresh and the salsa was good. The margarita was a bit on the sweet side for me but Tim liked it. Our meals were served up hot and plated nicely, camarones diablo (spicy shrimp and mushrooms) for me and a huge sampler platter for Tim. Both meals were great, that includes the real freshly prepared, refried beans and rice (no canned stuff). The red chili sauce on my dish was tangy and warm with body. Very tasty. We took our time and enjoyed the meal. By the time we left, the restaurant had a nice crowd of locals, construction workers from our motel and tourists.

After our meal, we strolled across the street. I called The Folks while Tim settled in at table in the lush, green common area with a beer he had purchased earlier from the convenience store across the street. Before I had finished my conversation with Mom, the couple on the other Harley had joined Tim. We enjoyed an evening with Vivien and David from Utah, swapping ride stories and laughs until well after curfew. We swapped contact information and promised to touch base with each other when we rode into the other ones territory.

Here is a slide show of the ride to Meeker, CO (20 photos):

Alternate link to this slide show

Today's mileage = 219.6 miles

More info:
The Grand Mesa
Colorado National Monument
Rim Rock Drive

Road Trip #5 - Day 7, Blue Mesa Reservoir and Black Canyon of the Gunnison

2011-08-25T23:00:00.006-06:00

August 25, 2011
Colorado, USA

We spent a restful night at the ABC Motel and had light rain sometime in the night. The morning was cool and clear.

You should have seen Tim's face when I pronounced that today was laundry day. After six days on the road - it was either time to ship our clothes home and buy new ones at Walmart (a viable option) or do laundry (a somewhat more economically viable option). The motel did not have a guest laundry but I had spied a laundromat on the way into town yesterday. Sure, I gave the guy a break when I said he could drop me off at the laundromat while he ran the bike through a car wash and searched for coffee for the thermos. This is how it went. I washed the first load. Tim showed up about the time they were dry. We changed into the clean clothes and washed the second load. Now, we had a fresh start for the rest of the trip.

By the time we were done with our chores, we thought we deserved a good breakfast. And, nothing would do but to have breakfast (OK - Brunch) at the W Cafe downtown Gunnison. Yum! We were delighted to be seated immediately. The place is small and usually packed with a group of people waiting around outside. Last time we had biscuits with our two egg breakfast and they were great. The dinner-plate size pancakes we ordered this morning were as good if not better. We managed to munch our way through the mountain of hash browns and bacon that looked more like strips of ham. I repeat - Yum! As always, the coffee was hot and the wait staff friendly and efficient.

The Ride - just washed - sits outside The W Cafe - Gunnison, CO

This is the two egg breakfast at The W Cafe - downtown Gunnison, CO -- YUM!

We learned from people at the cafe that the bicycle ride had brought over 35,000 people to Gunnison and Salida. Yikes! We are glad we missed that and vowed to continue dodging it. After brunch, we decided to ride Hwy 135 to Crested Butte. If we have ever traveled this stretch of road, or visited Crested Butte, neither one of us could remember it. The ride was great, the morning was fine and the scenery along the nicely maintained road was grand. We decided to ignore the clouds building on the horizon for the time-being. As is our custom, we slowly cruised in and out on the main street of Crested Butte. What a lively, bustling little town - we decided we would come back soon and spend the day, perhaps even a night.

We rode back out on Hwy 135 to Gunnison, made a quick stop at Walmart for camera batteries and then headed west on Hwy 50. The ride around Blue Mesa is always a pleasure, but today the water was still and reflective.

Blue Mesa Reservoir, near Gunnison is Colorado's largest body of water

We chose to ride west today because the bicycle race was somewhere north of us and we did not want to become entangled in the huge crowd we heard were following it. The north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison is not heavily traveled. Hwy 92 is one of our favorite rides. It is about 70 miles from the west end of Blue Mesa Reservoir to Hotchkiss, CO and on a good day this is an awesome ride. The walls and cliffs of the Black Canyon drop about 2000 feet in some places. We could not see as much today because we were riding in the lane farthest from the rim of the canyon and because the weather had rapidly deteriorated.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison - CO -- Tim says, we need to get our rain gear on and get the heck off of the rim drive of the canyon... I agreed.

Solid shafts of rain were moving across the canyon faster than we could drive the twisting, turning, climbing road. We stopped at a pull off near the summit of the road, pulled on our rain gear once again and wasted no time getting off the rim of the canyon. Storm clouds chased us all the way up Hwy 92 and across Hwy 133 into Delta. We have been stuck in Delta before because of rain. I told Tim it was not going to hurt my feelings if he shot the gap up Hwy 50 into Grand Junction.

We rolled into Grand Junction and after driving in the evening commute a little too close to downtown for a few minutes, decided to ride to a part of town that was more familiar. We checked into the Affordable Inn on Horizon Drive. We've stayed in this area before although this was the first time at this particular motel. We secured a room on the ground floor, unpacked and covered The Ride. The room is nice enough, decorated in country folk art style complete with quilts instead of bedspreads and a John Sliney (American Folk Artist) patriotic print on the wall. I'm still trying to figure out how to bring it home with me - ha! The room is a little shabby from normal wear and tear I suppose, but very clean. As we strolled down the street, looking for supper, we were peppered with light rain. Thunder rumbled in the distance. The clouds had caught up.

We found ourselves seated in the Applebee's not far from the motel, ordering beer and one of the two for $20 meals. We briefly discussed the day's adventure and turned our thoughts to how we would entertain ourselves tomorrow...

Here is a slide show of the day's ride (76 photos):

Alternate link for this slide show

Today's mileage = 211.5 miles

Road Trip #5 - Day 6 Riding Wolf Creek Pass and The Silver Thread

2011-08-24T23:00:00.021-06:00

August 24, 2011
Colorado, USA

We enjoyed our stay at the Tomahawk Motel in Cortez, CO. Riding the Mesa and the San Juan Skyway was a blast, but today it was time to ride on. More and heavier rains are due into the southwest corner of the state and a huge bicycle race is rolling north. The cyclists left Gunnison yesterday so we decided to head that way today.

First stop was for breakfast at the Denny's Classic Diner. The diner had great decor inside and out and our breakfast was good. Plus, we needed coffee!

We chose to ride Hwy 160 east to Pagosa Springs, back-tracking on part of the route we rode a few days ago, staying well south of the huge bicycle race. Clouds were already building over the entire horizon to the north and the south. We rolled into Pagosa Springs and gassed up as usual at the Shell station on the west end of town. I purchased a large coffee to fill the thermos. We always meet someone here.

Today, we met a couple of Harley fly-and-ride guys from North Carolina and Florida. They were on rides supplied by High Country Harley-Davidson, a dealership in our neck of the woods. They pulled out a map and we shared some of our thoughts on roads to ride and since they were headed mostly in the same direction as we were, we told them about the pass ahead and recommended the ride north on Hwy 149 (The Silver Thread). We also told them not to miss North Clear Creek Falls along the way and suggested Southern Vittles as a great place to eat in Lake City.

They rolled out before us. We lingered over a cup of coffee. Our route would take us over Wolf Creek Pass for the second time this week. Darn it! Just kidding, traveling over the pass again was not a problem or a lack of planning. As a matter of fact, it has happened before. Ha! From the look of the skies, we were going to get wet up on the pass. That prediction came true near the summit (elevation 10,857) where we had thunder as we pulled on jackets and moisture a short time later, about the time we rolled through the tunnel not too far from the summit.

The next part of the day's ride would be along scenic Hwy 149 out of South Fork. This road is known as The Silver Thread and was named for the rich mining history of the area. The Silver Thread travels through historic Creede, CO, past the head waters of the Rio Grande and North Clear Creek Falls.

Just past Creede, we ran into rain that required a stop to pull on rain gear. Riding on, we met up with Dave and Rick again at North Clear Creek Falls. We were glad to see they stopped as the Falls (with about a 100 foot drop) is quite spectacular despite the look of the surrounding terrain which is mostly pastureland.

Conversation turned to what lay ahead on Hwy 149 and food. Rick and Dave suggested we ride to eat at Southern Vittles in Lake City. We followed them (so as not to inhibit their view) as Hwy 149 wound its way over the Continental Divide, Spring Creek Pass CO (10,901 elevation) and Slumgullion Pass (11,350 elevation) skirting the La Garita Wilderness before arriving in lovely little Lake City.

Southern Vittles did not disappoint. Tim and I had our customary catfish and okra and shared a slice of apple pie. Rick and Dave had chicken fried steak. We had a great time visiting with them and sharing ride stories. We especially liked hearing their stories as they have been riding for a long time and much farther than we have yet. We want to say thank you guys for treating us to lunch just in case they check in with us here on the blog (I will have the video of your ride put together soon.). A local florist stopped in the middle of the road to take a photo of the four of us. I promised to check in with her the next time we ride through. We swapped emails and left them to check in with work and family as we rode on. They had plans to head west to Montrose at the junction of Hwy 149 and Hwy 50 for the night. Our plan was to head east toward Gunnsion.

The road dried out between Lake City and Gunnison, but the air stayed cool and the skies remained troubled. We checked into the ABC Motel in Gunnison (old and dated, perhaps somewhat over-priced, but clean and quiet). After settling our belongings, we took a short stroll to find beer a couple of doors down, which we iced down immediately and took another stroll to find snacks at a grocery store a couple of blocks away.

Despite the weather, it was a great ride, we made a couple of new friends and enjoyed revisiting a couple of our favorite roads.

Slide show of today's ride (90 photos):

Alternate link to this slide show

Today's mileage = 293 miles

Road Trip #5 - Day 5, Riding the San Juan Scenic Skyway Colorado

2011-08-23T23:00:00.025-06:00

August 23, 2011
Colorado, USA

Today, we slept in a little... I guess we needed that after riding Mesa Verde, roaming through cliff dwellings and ruins, then walking two miles downtown, dancing with Indians and walking two miles back to the motel. We do not do the clock-thing when we are on v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n unless we have an event scheduled.

Anyway, we rolled out mid-morning heading east on Hwy 160 to Durango. The idea was to ride at least part of the San Juan Scenic Skyway, the part that includes the Million Dollar Highway. We thought about stopping for breakfast in Durango, but did not see a restaurant that interested us so we gassed up and headed north on Scenic Hwy 550 toward Silverton. What a beautiful ride. Like Mesa Verde, we have not ridden this stretch of road in ten years and the last time was in a cage. Again, that cage trip cannot compare to a motorcycle trip.

Along the way, we looked for signs of the train (Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad) which runs along the highway for a while but never caught so much as a plume of black smoke. We rode the train ten years ago and loved it. Engineer Mountain (12,927 elevation) dominates the landscape most of the way while the road winds over Coal Bank Pass (10,640 elevation) and Molas Divide (10,910 elevation) just before riding up on Silverton, CO. Again, we thought about stopping in Silverton for breakfast, but the morning was fine and we were not starved and so far the skies were mostly clear. By this time we were thinking we might get to ride the whole 236 miles of the San Juan Skyway without riding into storms.

San Juan Scenic Skyway - Hwy 550 CO

So, we rode on. The Million Dollar Highway is typically defined as the 25 miles between Silverton and Ouray, CO although some refer to the whole stretch of road between Durango and Ouray as such. It travels over Red Mountain Pass (11,099 elevation) through the Uncompahgre Gorge. The 12 miles or so of road from the summit of Red Mountain Pass to Ouray is actually the stretch of road that gives the highway its name. Legend has it that the name Million Dollar Highway is derived from the idea that it cost a million dollars a mile to build in the 1920s, and that its fill dirt contains a million dollars in gold ore. The Million Dollar Highway is notorious among travelers because the gorge is challenging and potentially hazardous to traverse by vehicle, mostly because the road winds via numerous hairpin S-turns beside steep cliffs (sometimes close enough to touch), narrow lanes, and a decided lack of guardrails. Notorious or not, riding up to Ouray was a blast and we were tempted to ride back down it and back up again -- just for the fun of it.

By the time we rode into beautiful downtown Ouray, the rumble in our stomachs told us it was way past time to eat. We parked the ride and strolled down the street a couple of blocks before we spied Maggie's Kitchen. When we stopped in front of the place to look it over a little better, an elderly gent said C'mon up - it's the best place to eat in town. He said he'd been eating there for as long as he could remember and they had not killed him yet. Well, we laughed and told him that's all the persuasion we needed. As we mounted the stairs, he told us to go on in, straight to the order window in the back and said tell them Gilbert sent you.

We strolled in and paused about half way back just to gawk a minute. The entire place, every inch of wall and ceiling is signed by the people who have visited Maggie's. Amazing! Otherwise the decor was low key, mostly galvanized tin and wood - our kind of place. We told the girl at the order counter that Gilbert sent us in with the highest recommendation. The girl giggled and said - Yeah, that's my Grand-Dad. Tim ordered a monster bacon cheese burger with fries. I ordered a smaller version of the same. The place was busy so we grabbed our drinks, and yes - signed the wall, then found a small table on the street side patio out front and got a kick out of watching Grand-Dad Gilbert work the crowd of hungry tourists strolling by.

The burgers. Speaking quite literally - Oh My Goodness! They were cooked to perfection, juicy and tasty! Loaded with wonderful cheese (definitely not your standard slice)! We are still trying to remember when and where we have had a better burger.

Bacon cheese burgers - Maggie's Kitchen - Ouray CO

Slide show of the ride between Cortez and Ridgway, CO or part one of the San Juan Scenic Skyway which includes the Million Dollar Highway (75 photos):

Alternate link for this slide show

Riding north out of Ouray under partly cloudy skies, we were soon through the small town of Ridgway, CO. In the past, we have always continued north at this point. Today, we turned west on Highway 62 and immediately wondered why we have not traveled this stretch of road before. This stunningly scenic ride travels over the Dallas Divide (8970 elevation) about halfway between Ridgway and Placerville, CO over and around gently rolling hills and through lush, green valleys. Before long we reached Hwy 145 and rode the few miles into Telluride. The ride into and up to the city limit sign of Telluride was great. What I assume was Bridal Veil Falls was a trickle down the mountain at the end of town. It is a beautiful, busy, Victorianesque town but, cruising main street of Telluride was like riding a cattle trail... Seriously. We have ridden through cone zones that were better. We could not help but wonder, with all the money (movie stars, rock stars and so on) purportedly living in the area how the streets could be so bad. We did not linger, cruising in and back out of town pretty quick although cruising implies something other than the bumpy ride we experienced.

We missed a turn coming out of Telluride and rode north a few miles before discovering our error. We did not mind it - this part of the road was nice if a bit busy. Before turning south on Hwy 145 just outside of Telluride, we stopped at a scenic pullover and had a cup of thermos coffee.

The Ride, near Telluride, CO

Highway 145 travels over Lizard Head Pass (10,222 elevation) between Telluride and the tiny almost ghost town of Rico, CO. This is a beautiful, easy ride through some gorgeous terrain. Rounding a bend, just past Lizard Head Mountain we realized we would not finish the day in the dry. We stopped, pulled on the rain gear and rode through rain between Rico and Dolores, stopping just shy of Dolores to come out of the now steamy rain gear.

As we were riding through Dolores, I spied the Galloping Goose which I had read about in a travel brochure at the motel.

The Ride with Galloping Goose #5 - Dolores, CO

Here's a brief history: The 160 mile Rio Grande Southern Railroad was built in the early 1890s to accommodate travel between Ridgway, CO to Durango, CO running through the towns of Telluride, Rico, Dolores and Mancos. It served the silver and gold mines of Telluride, Ophir and Rico, hauling tons of precious metal ores and passengers, its success thwarted only by the Silver panic of 1893. After the stock market crashed in 1929, the railroad almost failed until a new type of rail vehicle was conceived that could haul freight, passengers and the US Mail. These vehicles (I believe there were 7 of them) became known as the Galloping Geese (apparently the horns on these vehicles or motors sounded like a flock of geese). Galloping Goose number 5 (sitting at the Depot in Dolores) was originally built using a 1928 Pierce-Arrow limousine body and running gear. By 1953 when roads were built in the area and the US Mail did not renew its contract, the RGS became defunct. The historical society that maintains Galloping Goose #5 has plans to build a section of track between Dolores and Mancos to give tourists a taste of its colorful history. Sounds like fun to me!

The rest of the ride into Cortez was pleasant. The view of Sleeping Ute Mountain was good from this perspective. For once, we got to ride dry through the town and into the motel. After the great burgers at Maggie's, neither one of us were hungry so we snacked and had a beer, lounging in front of the room speculating on where tomorrow would take us.

Slide show of the ride between Ridgeway and Cortez, CO or part two of the San Juan Scenic Skyway (50 photos):

Alternate link for this slide show

The day's mileage = 358 miles. Tomorrow we leave Cortez - thinking maybe Gunnison as we are trying to stay out of the path of storms rolling up from the south and some huge bicycle event going on in the state.

Road Trip #5 - Day 4, Mesa Verde Ride

2011-08-22T23:00:00.004-06:00

August 22, 2011
Colorado, USA

When we decided to ride to the southwest corner of Colorado, we had it in mind to ride Mesa Verde. The last time we visited Mesa Verde was ten years ago in September 2001 just after 911. We were in a cage.

After yesterday's heavy rain and thunderstorms, it was a pleasure to see bright, blue skies. We skipped breakfast and made a quick stop at Walmart to pick up the makings of a picnic lunch.

Mesa Verde is just a few miles east of Cortez on Hwy 160. We rode by the mesa yesterday on our way in but barely spared it a glance as we hustled into Cortez ahead of the storms.

Tim and Vik enjoy a ride through Mesa Verde National Park - Colorado

We spent the entire day riding the beautiful roads of the mesa, roaming through the cliff dwellings and ancient ruins. We had our picnic in a secluded spot near the edge of a canyon. It was everything we remembered and perhaps more. For certain, it was much more fun on the motorcycle. We met and chatted with people and other bikers at all the stops along the route.

Slide show of the Mesa Verde Ride (96 photos):

Alternate link to this slide show

As we rode down the Mesa late in the afternoon, we once again encountered troubled skies. We rode into our motel a bit damp, covered The Ride and after a while made the decision to walk (about 2 miles) to the downtown area in search of supper and perhaps entertainment of a local nature. Storms threatened on the horizon but skies overhead didn't look too bad. Besides, we will not melt.

Downtown, we found a biker-friendly restaurant called Blondie's Pub n Grub. It was larger than it looked, clean and quiet (it was still early in the evening) and the walls were filled with interesting biker photos. The place showed signs of a healthy night life, complete with space for live entertainment and a collection of bras hanging from the antlers of a critter on the wall. We settled on blackened catfish and beer. The meal was OK. That's all I got - OK. Blackened where we come from is more than just serving broiled fish with the blackening spice sprinkled on top. Our plates came out with a single, throw-back size catfish filet surrounded by a few veggies. We thought it was a bit pricey for basically what qualified as a plate lunch. OK means it filled the hole, but we will not visit the establishment again (at least, not for a meal).

Blondies Pub n Grub - Cortez, CO

Mural on side of Blondies

Tim at Blondies

After supper, we walked the short distance off the main drag to the Cortez Cultural Center. I had read about it online and our motel host reminded us that the center hosts American Indian dances nearly every night. We had ample opportunity and time to view the collection of Native American artifacts in the center and the Pueblo scene mural painted on the building's exterior before finding a seat to watch the dances.

The Lopez family (Catching Eagle Dancers) from nearby Towaoc performed Ute dances for our enjoyment. The father introduced each dancer (all girls) and explained the significance of the costuming as well as the historical tradition of the dance we were about to see. We enjoyed the dances and the music, finding it all really interesting. I wish I could remember the names and details of all the dances but the only ones I recall are the Fancy War dance, the Jingle Dress (a beautiful dress adorned with bells) dance, the Eagle feather dance and something about a Crow dance. As I said, the dancers were all girls. With that in mind I knew there would be some sort of interaction with the crowd, probably at the end of the exhibition. When the father started describing a mating dance I knew those girls were about to involve the men-folk in the crowd. The father explained that to refuse a maiden's invitation to dance was an insult and would require payment in the form of a horse or something like that. Get this. I knew Tim would be chosen and I knew which girl would choose him. When the lovely young lady made straight for him and put out her hand - I told Tim to get on out there because I wasn't about to hand over the Harley. Ha! (Sure, I have video - stay tuned for the mini-movie - coming soon.) After the mating dance in which Tim performed fairly well, the rest of us joined hands and danced a circle dance... Oh yeah - that works out great after walking two miles in biker boots.

By this time, it was dark but we enjoyed the long walk back to the motel where we got comfortable (out of those boots) and relaxed in the chairs outside our room with a cool beverage well into the evening.

Here are a few pics of the Cultural Center and the American Indian Dancers (25 photos) I shot more video than stills so the movie will be better.:

Alternate link to this slide show

This days mileage = 90 miles and we made a full day out of it. Yawn!

Road Trip #5 - Day 3, The Ride to Cortez

2011-08-21T21:47:00.018-06:00

August 21, 2011
Colorado, USA

What a great ride! We rested well last night in our cozy room at the Mecca Motel, probably a little too well as we didn't get as early a start as we thought we might. Rain rolled through overnight but The Ride was covered and all was dry by the time we rose. We rolled northwest out of Colorado Springs on Hwy 24 about mid-morning, under mostly blue skies in search of breakfast. Denim jackets were sufficient to ward off the chill of the morning after a rainy night.

A blogger friend recommended The Hungry Bear Restaurant in Woodland Park not too long ago so we rolled in and put our name on the list along with half the rest of the world. After waiting a while we spotted a couple of empty seats at the bar that suited us fine. Thanks for the recommendation motoroz of Just an Ordinary Biker Blog! We loved The Hungry Bear. It is definitely our kind of place. What we could see of the decor (the place was packed) was what some would call dated. I call it homey and quaint. The bear collection is amazing. The coffee was hot and rich and they kept it coming. The pancakes we ordered with our two egg/3 bacon breakfast were fantastic. The wait staff were all friendly and efficient. Sorry, it all looked so good I didn't even think about taking a photo before digging in. Ha! Not to worry - there will be a next time.

We rolled west now out of Woodland Park, still traveling on Hwy 24. This part of our journey would take us over Ute Pass (9165 elevation) between Divide and Florissant, then over Wilkerson Pass (9507 elevation) between Florissant and Hartsell where the panoramic view of the Collegiate Peaks in the Sawatch Mountain Range looming over the valley basin is jaw-dropping. Scenic Hwy 24 travels over Trout Creek Pass (9346 elevation) between Hartsell and Johnson Village before junctioning with Hwy 285. Traveling south now along one of our favorite roads, we rode beside the majestic Collegiate Peaks to Salida (detouring through downtown Salida - just for the fun of it) before heading south again through Poncha Springs. Just a few miles south of Poncha Springs we traveled over Poncha Pass (11,312 elevation). The approach to this pass is so mild you don't even realize it is a pass until you feel the chill of altitude or see the summit sign.

We followed Hwy 285 all the way to Monte Vista which we haven't visited in a long while. The road was great and the travel was easy. We picked up Hwy 160 west out of Monte Vista rolling toward South Fork looking forward to riding Wolf Creek Pass (10,850 elevation). This pass is one of our favorite rides. I never get over it, especially from this direction without the tune to C.W. McCall's song of the same name ringing in my head -- Wolf Creek Pass, way up on the Great Divide... Truckin' on down the other side... Right in the middle of the whole damn show was a real nice tunnel, now wouldn't you know? Sign says clearance to the twelve-foot line, but the chickens was stacked to thirteen-nine. Well we shot that tunnel at a hundred-and-ten, like gas through a funnel and eggs through a hen, and we took that top row of chickens off slicker than scum off a Lousiana swamp. Went down and around and around and down 'til we run outta ground at the edge of town. Bashed into the side of the feed store... in downtown Pagosa Springs. Wolf Creek Pass, way up on the Great Divide... Truckin' on down the other side...

Skies near Durango CO

Cortez was the destination we had in mind. Between Pagosa Springs and Durango the skies got much more interesting. The clouds were dark, sparking lightning and the rain shafts looked ominous. We ran into light rain near Durango and wasted no time getting out of the edge of the city and through the canyon on the other side. We traveled in and out of light rain all the way to Cortez. The rain got heavier as we entered town. We looked at motels, but quickly decided on one for which I remembered good reviews. We managed to get checked into the Tomahawk Lodge, hurriedly unpacked and got The Ride covered before the downpour. We had heavy rain, thunder and lightning the rest of the evening. Now, there was fast food a short walk away but it would be an ankle deep, wet walk. Tim found beer in a mad dash at a convenience store in the gas station across the street. I found a Pizza Hut in the phone book and ordered pizza and wings. We iced the beer down in one of the room's trash cans and dined at the small table in our room.

The Tomahawk Lodge is as nice as the reviews. Extremely clean and comfortable. The owner is very nice. She and one of her two huge black and white great danes (his name is Harley) greeted us immediately with a smile. She was happy to show us the room first. We will stay here three nights...

This day's mileage = 359 miles over five passes.

Slide show of today's ride (86 photos):

Alternate link to this video

Road Trip #5 - Day 2, POW-MIA Recognition Ride & Veterans Rally

2011-08-20T22:56:00.035-06:00

August 20, 2011
Colorado, USA

Day 2, 20th (part 1), POW-MIA Recognition Ride

After a great night's rest at our cozy motel, we were up early and riding toward Woodland Park before 7 am. The weather was fine and skies were clear.

This is our third year to ride in the POW-MIA Recognition Ride. We ride with Veterans. We ride for Veterans. We ride for those who gave some. We ride for those who gave all. We ride because it is fun, but we also ride with remembrance and respect in our hearts. We ride in celebration of the dearly bought freedom that allows us to do this thing [ride the Harley] we love but we ride with the certain knowledge that Freedom is not Free.

Registration is a bit funky for this ride, mostly because the number of riders who turn out for it is huge. You ride in, sign a release while still on the bike, park, dismount, walk to the registration table, pay the $5 fee, go back to the bike, ride to the staging area and park again. This works fairly well until hundreds of bikes show up at the same time to register. Every year I think to myself that organizers should consider some sort of pre-registration. We staged near the end of the second row. They packed us in like sardines this year with barely enough room to get off or walk around the bike.

Local firemen were cooking for the pancake feed this year. We got in line, put a decent donation in the jar and had our pancakes, sausage, orange juice and coffee. Afterwards, we stood around and visited with other bikers while watching hundreds of bikes roll in for the next couple of hours.

The POW-MIA Recognition Ride rolled out right on time under clear skies with Pikes Peak presiding over the whole event. Like last year, bikes were still registering as we were riding out. It was a great turnout. Patriot Guard Riders from Kansas and elsewhere led the ride through Woodland Park to Divide and on to Cripple Creek. All along the way patriots of all ages, from all walks of life cheered and waved flags alongside the roadways. We responded with waves and honked our horns. The bikes stretched out for miles in front and in back of us (the majority being behind us). Words somehow seem inadequate to describe both the thrill and the honor it is to ride in this procession.

Roaring into downtown Cripple Creek where the streets were lined with thousands of people cheering and waving and screaming rev 'em up is a one of a kind experience. Riding under the big flag at the end of main street gets me right in the old ticker every time and puts a big ol' lump in my throat.

Do not believe anyone who says patriotism is dead in America. It is not. Patriotism is alive and kicking wherever Veterans and Soldiers and those who appreciate Veterans and Soldiers gather. Patriotism flies free and proud overhead from rooftops, street lights and fence posts, in the hands of patriots, and streaming proudly behind thousands of motorcycles. Patriotism sends a message loud and clear from the patches and artwork adorning every leather vest, t-shirt and cap. Patches that say these colors don't run, try burning this one [flag] asshole, land of the free - because of the brave, proud American Infidel, Vietnam Veteran, love it or leave it, all gave some - some gave all, wind in my face - freedom in my heart, support our troops, don't tread on me, we went - we served - we ride - with USA pride and Freedom is not Free. I am proud to associate with people who remove their hats, place hands over hearts and salute as Ol' Glory marches by. The kind of people who do not choke on the words to the pledge of allegiance and who are not embarrassed to sing loudly while they shed a tear during the national anthem and other patriotic songs. I am at home with people who know exactly who they are, exactly where they belong and exactly what they stand for.

We rolled down the back street, parked in nearly the same place as last year, took our time stashing our gear and walked up to main street in plenty of time to see hundreds more bikes still riding in.

Here is a slide show of the POW-MIA Ride (78 photos):

Alternate link to this slide show

Day 2, 20th (part 2), Salute to American Veterans Rally

We listened to the speeches and patriotic songs broadcast from the tiny city park during the commemorative ceremonies. We loved the story of Bady or Bad A, a German shepherd who lost his handler in an explosion in Afghanistan. Bady is an IED & Patrol dog and is credited with saving over 100 Soldiers. Bady lost a leg as a result of injuries suffered during the explosion. Bady was presented with an honorary Combat Action Badge by Col Mike Kasales of Ft Carson. It was pinned to his vest. He was also awarded a trophy in recognition of his courage and dedication in protecting our American Soldiers. Check out the video of Bady at http://www.koaa.com/videos/hero-dog/.

Lunch was catfish and twisted taters from DC's.

The rally was packed and the weather was fine most of the day. We shopped the vendors, listened to music, strolled the streets of Cripple Creek, admiring the bikes parked and other bikes riding in. We stopped for a gander at Colonel Bill McPherson's restored UH-1 Huey helicopter. McPherson was on his 197th combat mission June 1966 when his aircraft was shot down. He was severely wounded and his co-pilot was killed. He has restored two UH-1 Huey helicopters. One he regularly pulls through parades. The other is on static display at the Veterans Memorial in Mount Pisgah Cemetery just above Cripple Creek.

We stopped for an ice cream before getting the idea we were about ready to ride down the mountain. We were kicking around here or there supper ideas. A crack of thunder convinced us our inclination to get moving was well founded - us and a bunch of others. So, we rode down the mountain in spotty rain, but the weather in Colorado Springs was fine. We found burgers and beer a short distance from our motel at tiny Mo's Diner and spent the rest of the evening watching a lightning show over Pikes Peak from the chairs in front of our motel room.

Slide show of the Salute to American Veterans Rally (76 photos):

Alternate link to this slide show

We had a great time today. Tomorrow we roll out of here on a seven, maybe eight or nine or ten day road trip...

FYI: Of course I shot video - stay tuned for the movie

Total Mileage 25190
Day's mileage = 85 miles

Road Trip #5 - Day 1 - Ride to the Veterans Rally

2011-08-19T22:00:00.018-06:00

August 19, 2011
Colorado, USA

Day 1, Friday

We rolled out of the drive this morning about 9am under partly gray skies in no particular hurry. This road trip began in Cripple Creek with The Salute to American Veterans Rally - 19th Annual. Cripple Creek is an easy ride from our neck of the woods.

Breakfast was our first stop. Biscuits and gravy at Fatso's Diner got the day off to a great start. The next stop was High Country Harley-Davidson in Frederick, CO. Since it is well over a year old and we are headed out on a lengthy road trip, we decided to replace the battery in the fob for The Ride.

The ride to Colorado Springs was easy and uneventful. We traveled familiar roads through the the small towns of Golden, Morrison, Deckers and Woodland Park. The skies spit on us near Woodland Park, but not enough to slow us down. We rolled into one of our favorite overnight stops, the Mecca Motel (see reviews page) on Old Colorado Blvd in Colorado Springs about mid-afternoon. After checking in to our great room and unloading The Ride, we made the short trip to Cripple Creek. We wanted to purchase our Rally shirts, patches and pins so we can wear them tomorrow.

The odometer rolled over 25,000 miles between Colorado Springs and Woodland Park. The Ride will be sixteen months old on the 28th of this month. We will likely add another thousand, maybe two thousand to the odometer before we call it quits on this trip. There were a good many bikes rolling down the mountain as we were headed up and there were lots of bikes parked or roaming the streets of Cripple Creek as we arrived. It was not as crowded as last year on Friday, but we were there a little later in the day. We found the rally merchandise tent and took care of that business. A shirt for Tim, a shirt for me, a couple of rally pins and rocker patches made a $50 bill vanish. We roamed through the vendors that were open for business and Tim signed the Veterans Wall while I signed it for Dad.

We admired the Lawrence David Ezell Memorial Bike. Ezell, a Texan, was a Fort Carson soldier, killed in Baghdad, Iraq in 2008. After seeing the Patriot Guard Riders in action at this hero's funeral in Arlington National cemetery, his wife donated the bike to the Patriot Guard Riders of Colorado. The bike has been customized with paint and leather work and will be placed on display in the Fort Carson Museum when construction of the facility is completed. Part of the fun of a motorcycle rally is admiring all the bikes and so, we did as we walked main street of Cripple Creek.

We decided to head down the mountain a short while later. Breakfast had worn off and supper was calling. The ride down the mountain was as easy as the ride up and the skies were looking better. Savelli's Pizzaria (see reviews page) is a healthy walk (about a mile) from the motel. The best Eggplant Parmesan we have ever had, a couple of dishes of pasta, cheesy bread sticks and perfectly chilled beer put a nice finish on the day.

Tomorrow we ride in the 24th Annual POW-MIA Recognition Ride... stay tuned.

Beginning mileage 24814
Day's mileage = 291 miles

The following is a slide show of the day's ride (43 photos):

Alternate link to this slide show

Here we come again Cripple Creek!

2011-08-18T05:00:00.003-06:00

August 18, 2011
Colorado, USA

19th Annual Salute to American Veterans Rally Poster 2011

24th Annual POW-MIA Recognition Run 2011 Poster

2011 Salute to American Veterans Rally T-Shirt Art

Last year about this time...

2011-08-17T00:01:00.000-06:00

August 17, 2011
Colorado, USA

Woo-Hoo! Can you say road trip!

We are riding out again to the Salute to American Veterans Rally in Cripple Creek, CO. This will be our third year at the Vet Rally. In 2009 we rode in the Winter Park POW-MIA Recognition Ride for the rally. Last year we rode with thousands of other motorcycles in the POW-MIA Recognition Ride from Woodland Park, CO to Cripple Creek, CO. This year we plan to ride again. It is one helluva experience riding with Veterans, members of our Armed Forces, and Patriots, engines roaring, flags flying and people cheering along the roadside.

The following is a mini movie of last year's POW-MIA Recognition Ride.

2010 POW-MIA Recognition Ride

Nother High Country Ride

2011-08-07T22:00:00.030-06:00

August 7, 2011
Colorado, USA

The Ride - Sunday morning B&G stop - Fatso's Diner

After a lazy morning drinking coffee on the patio, we decided to ride out and get some breakfast at Fatso's Diner in Loveland, CO. You guessed it - biscuits and gravy and more coffee.

Heading west on I-70

Temps were warming into the 90s. We had the whole day ahead of us so we were thinking perhaps another cool high country ride. Riding Hwy 287 South, we cut across to Hwy 95 and caught I-70 out of Golden. Riding anywhere near I-70 on a Sunday is breaking one of our travel rules. The traffic is just too nasty on the interstate at the end of a weekend. About Idaho Springs we noticed the eastbound traffic was already backed up for miles and moving at a crawl. It was just after noon. We could not get to the exit for Hwy 40 north fast enough.

Hwy 40 is a scenic route which travels over Berthoud Pass (elevation 11,307) and crosses the Continental Divide. It gets a bit chilly on this ride (let's call it brisk), but we toughed it out without stopping for jackets. The road has several fairly harsh switchbacks and travels through Winter Park, Tabernash and Fraser. The resort town of Winter Park sits at an elevation of 12,060 at one point although the village sits at about 9000. The town was gearing up for an afternoon music fest but no bands were on stage yet as we rode through.

We rode on, still sleeveless through the high mountain valley towns of Tabernash and Fraser. Soon we were rolling into Granby which sits at an elevation just under 8000. We noticed lots of new construction along the way and new houses dotting the valley in peculiarly located neighborhoods which just look out of place. We remarked that the little towns were suffering from growing pains.

Near Continental Divide

We stopped for a stretch and a coke at a convenience store on the north end of town. We spoke with a biker who was talking with the store clerk, trying to get directions to Thunder Mountain Harley-Davidson that would get him there before closing. Thunder Mountain is the closest dealership to where we live. The biker was from Pennsylvania and had ridden across country swinging south through Arkansas, picking up riding companions in Texas before riding into Colorado on his way to Sturgis. The clerk said the most direct route was through Rocky Mountain National Park. It is, but the biker balked at paying the high park fee. It is $10 per person on a motorcycle. Then a local suggested I-70. At this point Tim interjected and advised the I-70 route was a bad idea on a Sunday afternoon. The man agreed as he had traveled up that way just before us. Tim told the man, the best route was through Walden but it would be damn near impossible to travel that distance in the time required. The biker was in pursuit of a Thunder Mountain t-shirt. I was sorry I wasn't wearing one today or I would have offered it to him - ha! I reminded Tim that since it is Sturgis bike week that the dealership was likely operating under extended hours. Tim pulled a dealer card out of his wallet and the biker called the dealership. A few minutes later the biker and friends were rolling out toward Walden.

From Granby one can travel on Hwy 40 to Steamboat Springs or Hwy 34 through Rocky Mountain National Park or Hwy 125 to Walden. The latter was our choice for a return route today as well. We had not traveled this particular route, until today. Hwy 125 is a long, lonely road. It starts out scenic and travels over Willow Creek Pass (elevation 9621) and Crosses the Continental Divide. Neither one of us wanted to admit it, but we could have used our jackets for part of this ride. After a while the road and the terrain flatten out with the mountains only a jagged shadow on the horizon. The winds were howling. We passed through the tiny community of Rand which has a general store we have heard about. The store was not open so we rode on.

In Walden, we stopped to get gas before heading east on Hwy 14, traveling the familiar 100 miles or so to home. The Pennsylvania biker and friends rode by and turned onto Hwy 14. They were coming from the wrong direction so we suspect they missed the turn. There's not much north of Walden except the tiny community of Cowdrey and the Wyoming border. The wind was a terror until well past Gould.

We passed the Pennsylvania biker and friends pulled over just before The Crags. They were pulling on jackets. They passed us a short while later. We were doing the same thing at one of the scenic pullovers - putting on jackets before traveling over Cameron Pass.

The Ride - Nokhu Crags - Hwy 14, CO

FYI: The road damage just before the scenic pulloff at the Nokhu Crags is horrible. The drop off in the eastbound lane is about six inches and the only safe place to pass through is on the center line. The buckle in the west bound lane is just about as bad. The pull off has a wide crack near the edge. There are signs posted but not very far out and there is no speed reduction advised. It should say slow-slow-slow. Signs say road repairs are coming soon but they better hurry because from the looks of it the road is sliding off the edge of the mountain.

The ride home went well. As soon as we got over Cameron pass, we found a spot to come out of our jackets. We finally got tired of the traffic traveling down the Poudre Canyon and took an alternate route -- Stove Prairie Road through Buckhorn Canyon, to Masonville, around the southern end of Horsetooth Reservoir and home.

We polished off the day with a couple of beers and mikes and burned a dog on the grill.

Today's ride was a lazy 310 miles...

Slide show of today's ride (35 Photos):

Alternate link to slide show

High Country Picnic Ride

2011-08-06T21:23:00.018-06:00

August 6, 2011
Colorado, USA

Today we rolled out under warm, cloud-dappled, blue skies for a 230 mile picnic ride. We rode north on the side roads and country lanes until we reached Hwy 119 near Golden which we traveled through Clear Creek Canyon toward the gambling towns of Blackhawk and Central City. Lots of people were headed up to lose a little money in the slots so the canyon was busy. Road repairs are ongoing in the canyon. We jogged over to I-70 via Central City Parkway. We love riding this 8+ mile stretch of road. From Idaho Springs we traveled a couple of exits on I-70 to Hwy 103 also known as Squaw Pass Road. This is one of our favorite roads. We had no plans to travel to the top of Mount Evans over the highest paved road in America but from the looks of it, plenty of other people were doing that very thing. Echo Lake, the picnic grounds and Echo Lake Lodge (really just a gift shop and restaurant) were as crowded as we have ever seen them on a non-holiday weekend.

We traveled on by the crowds, our destination, one of our all time favorite picnic spots. We were happy to find our table vacant. This particular picnic spot overlooks Mount Evans to the west and verdant wooded foothills and valleys to the east. There's a great overlook down a path that many people never find. We shared the secret with a friendly young biker couple from Lakewood who stopped by our table for a chat. From the sound of their laughter and the number of photos they shot, we assumed they were enjoying the spot. Ha!

View of Mount Evans from our table - Squaw Pass, CO

Spreading out our cold fried chicken, noodle salad, fruit bowl, cookies and ice tea, we enjoyed a leisurely lunch in the cool mountain air and bright sunshine.

Before riding out, we strolled the short path to the overlook and snapped a few pics.

Vik - Squaw Pass - Hwy 103 - CO

Tim - Squaw Pass - Hwy 103 - CO

FYI: I'm sorry to report that while a few repairs have been made, the east side of Squaw Pass Road (Denver side) is in really bad shape and in dire peril of reverting to a cow trail. What were chips, potholes, cracks and crevices are (after sloppy repairs) bumps, waves and buckles. Sigh! So much for our vehicle tax dollars... lots and lots of tax dollars. So, travel Hwy 103 cautiously especially on two wheels.

The trip home was uneventful. We traveled north through the western suburbs of Denver, stopping for ice cream of course and then peeled off of the main thoroughfares in favor of riding rural roads home. We rolled in about 7 pm and as is our custom, spent the rest of the evening on the patio with a fire in the chiminea and a brew in hand.

Here is a slide show of today's ride (46 photos):

Alternate link to slide show if it does not play

Serious Texas BBQ Lunch Ride

2011-08-05T21:03:00.000-06:00

August 5, 2011
Colorado, USA

Today our ride for lunch took us to Serious Texas BBQ which may be about 10 miles from the house - but where's the fun in that? We managed to take the long way around - about 52 miles.

First, a quick ride around the lake

Pulled pork Sandwich with cherry chipotle sauce, cheesy potatoes, Texas Taco with pulled pork, cheesy potatoes, jalapeno/pineapple salsa and two Zuberfizz cream soda rootbeers - YUM!

Serious Texas BBQ... in Colorado. Nothing fancy but the food is outstanding.

We love the decor, corrugated tin, barnwood, and industrial windows

Casual dining - we love it

Lots of flags from Texas, Colorado and elsewhere hang from the rafters

Serious Texas BBQ - Mexican Metal Sculptures - Tim loves the metal hog

Happy Birthday Nezzie!

2011-08-04T00:01:00.002-06:00

August 4, 2011
Colorado, USA

Today we digress from the typical post to celebrate Nezzie's birthday. Nezzie, as she is known to the biker buds, is simply MOM to me. While she may not ride in fact, she is with us down every road we travel. Mom is the reason any of us are riding today. In 2007, she made certain Dad got back in the saddle of a sweet 2007 Dyna after 50 some odd non-riding years. When we saw how much fun Dad was having, we had to get in on it, so a 2008 Heritage found its way home with us. Now Dad is riding a 2009 Road King and we are riding a 2010 Ultra. What a great time we are having - all because Mom took the initiative to get us rolling. Mom always says, Never ride faster than your angel can fly. What she doesn't know is SHE is that angel. Our Harley Angel. We count ourselves lucky to have this special lady in our lives and we thank her from our collective hearts for paving the way to Our Harley Days.

Sharing Mom's smile... through the last 74 years

Happy Birthday Mom!

Click on the image above to play

Weekend Rides

2011-07-31T22:00:00.010-06:00

July 29-31, 2011
Colorado, USA

Friday, the 29th - We took the long way around the lakes to our favorite little dive - ok - diner in Loveland. It was about 28 miles or so round trip to get that burger and BLT at Fatso's in Loveland, CO... worth the ride. The day was fine and we were reluctant to settle for such a short ride.

Saturday, the 30th - After Tim rolled in from Saturday shift work - we decided to take an afternoon ride. It was 2:38 pm and the odometer was sitting at 23,800. It was a HOT (I can hear you laughing Texas) afternoon so without saying as much, we found ourselves winding up the Big Thompson Canyon (Hwy 34) toward Estes Park and the high country. It was cooler riding alongside the Big Thompson River. Estes Park traffic tested our patience. It is usually crazy on the weekends. We rode on through as quick as possible, deciding to ride down into Lyons. There we landed in the middle of a river fest traffic jam. Again, we rode on through. We called it done after a 95 mile ride and spent the rest of the evening on the patio, burning hot dogs and relaxing with a beer and a mikes.

Riding the Big Thompson Canyon (Hwy 34)

Approaching Estes Park, CO - the mountains of Rocky Mountain National Park in the background

The ride down to Lyons, CO via Hwy 36

Sunday, the 31st - Today's ride took us up the Poudre Canyon to Walden and on to Laramie. The canyon was busy today with lots of traffic. The river is still flowing high and fast, but the level is better now than in the recent past for water-lovers. Near the summit of Cameron Pass we saw moose in three different locations. We made a brief stop at the Moose Center for a stretch and a cup of thermos coffee and stopped again in Walden to top off the tank.

Coffee Break - Moose Center - Near Gould, CO

Coffee Break - Moose Center - Near Gould, CO

We had thought to ride the Snowy Range but took the Laramie turn instead. It's probably a good thing as the clouds in that direction were building fast. Actually, clouds were building fast all around us. We had packed a picnic lunch so we found a table under a pavilion at a park near the old depot in Laramie, just a couple of blocks off of downtown. We shared the pavilion with a large family traveling home to Littleton (near Denver). They had toured Wyoming and part of Montana, camping in an oversized custom toy hauler. Two adults, two or three children, two grandparents and a great grandma... traveling together for a week - yikes!

The clouds continued to build as we munched on fried chicken, noodle salad, fruit and cookies. We did not get in a hurry and rather enjoyed watching the trains rumble by. The clouds were between us and home. Finally, with a rumble of thunder overhead, we rode to the southern edge of town and pulled the bike up on the sidewalk, under the awning, in front of Bart's Indoor Flea Market where we shopped for about the next two hours. Bart's is a customary stop for us, but we rarely spend as much time there as we did this time. Just before 5 pm, it looked like we had about as good a break in the clouds as we were going to get so we rolled out of Laramie toward home. We got lucky... riding chilly in light rain and on wet highway for about half the trip. One storm had passed, another was approaching fast, but we managed to get home mostly dry. Today we burned some burgers to go with the beer and mikes on the patio.

Here is a slide show of today's 217 mile picnic ride (33 photos):

PGR Appreciation

2011-07-28T12:09:00.003-06:00

July 28, 2011
Colorado, USA

Texas -- A very nice letter of appreciation... not a veteran standing would say otherwise... the honor of the day belongs to the one no longer standing among them.
------------------------------
John and Linda Howell, Wichita Falls

Standing for freedom

On July 19, as family and friends arrived at Life Tabernacle Church for the funeral of Robert H. Parker, a Navy war veteran, our hearts swelled with emotion not only for the passing of a wonderful man, but at the sight of all the American flags, even the Navy flag, blowing freely in the hot Texas wind. Standing beside each flag was a member of the North Texas Patriot Guard Riders. Many of these members are military war veterans, others are volunteers who pay honor to those who have served for the freedom of our country.

The temperature that day reached 105, but there they stood for several hours, perspiration dripping off their faces, once again sacrificing for a cause they believe in. Our country may have it's problems, but as long as we continue to have dedicated Americans such as these who willingly give of themselves, we will always remain strong! We say thank you to the North Texas Patriot Guard Riders, to our U.S. military and veterans and all Americans who stand for our country's freedom.

Source: Times Record News

Road trip #4, day 2 - Spearfish Canyon - Deadwood, SD and the ride home

2011-07-24T23:00:00.002-06:00

July 24, 2011
Colorado, USA

We rested well in Belle Fourche, SD except for a short time about 2 am when a thunderstorm rolled through. The flashes of lightning woke us first. The Ride was covered, but sitting in the open so thunder had us on our feet checking out the situation through the screen door. The storm gave us a hard rain, tossed a few hail stones around and then moved on.

Before riding out of town, we stopped at the park just across the river near downtown where the geographic center of the USA is located. Well, sort of. The geographic center of the total land mass of the United States is located about 20 miles north of Belle Fourche. It is located on the open prairie and it is marked by a sign and a rock tower known as sheepherder's monument or Stone Johnnie. The official designation is 44 degrees 58 inches north and longitude 103 degrees 46 feet west. This is 30 miles north of town along Highway 85 and 6/10 of a mile east of the highway. It was moved here as Alaska and Hawaii were admitted into the United States in 1959.

We rode the short distance south to Spearfish, stopped for gas and then went in search of breakfast. The search took us to downtown or old town Spearfish. We were about to settle on a chain restaurant up on the interstate when I spied several cars parked at a steak house as we rode by. We turned around and went back to the Shoot the Bull Steak House. As it turned out, it was a bit pricey but they were serving a breakfast buffet and offered omelets cooked to order. The food and the coffee was good and the service excellent.

The plan all along was to ride Spearfish Canyon again and we would make up our minds at Cheyenne Crossing which way to head from there. Hwy 14A is designated as Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway. It has been recently resurfaced, probably in preparation for the thousands of motorcycles who will ride it during Sturgis Bike Week in August. The road gently twists through nineteen miles of a narrow gorge over which limestone walls tower on both sides up to a thousand feet. Spearfish Creek runs alongside the road. We stopped to snap a couple of pictures of Bridal Veil Falls.

At Cheyenne Crossing we chose to ride north on Hwy 85 to the towns of Lead (leed) and Deadwood. The ride is beautiful and the road is great. We had it in mind to see the historical Mount Moriah Cemetery where Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane and Preacher Smith are buried along with a few other historical Deadwood characters. We recently watched the HBO series Deadwood on DVD and find we'd like to know more about the actual history of the area. The road going up to the cemetery is very steep and travels through a residential neighborhood with many beautiful Victorian homes.

Entry is $1 a head. I have never seen the like of this cemetery. How they managed to bury people on the side of a steep mountain boggles the brain. Sheriff of Deadwood during the gold rush days, Seth Bullock is buried outside the cemetery at the top of a rise overlooking Deadwood, this was not a hike for biker boots. Ha! People had left a deck of cards and coins around Wild Bill's grave. Booze bottles, coins and makeshift crosses adorned Calamity Jane's grave. There are several Potter's fields (unmarked graves), a mass grave for victims of a lumber mill fire, a veterans section (including Civil War and Indian War veterans) and sadly, a large children's section. The Chinese section is odd in that there are only a couple of graves. According to the signage, all the other Chinese buried there were disinterred and sent back to China to be reburied. Ol' Glory flies over this cemetery night and day.

After roaming through the visitor center with a bottle of cold water, we rode down the mountain and took a turn through downtown Deadwood and along Main Street. It was busy but looks like fun. The old buildings were occupied by casinos and stores, restaurants, saloons and hotels. There is a Saloon #10. This has to be the spot where Jack McCall shot and killed Wild Bill. Like I said, this was only a ride through.

Hwy 85 and 14A make a loop through the Lead/Deadwood area. Before long we were back at Cheyenne Crossing and decided to stop before starting the journey home. Cheyenne Crossing is a store, cafe and lodge built on the site of an 1870s stage stop. Beside the store is a tent with picnic tables. It is basically a beer tent and beside that is a decked area with tables next to the outdoor cookers. It was hot under the beer tent. We chose a table on the deck where we could catch a breeze. The place claims it is famous for the Indian Tacos so we ordered one we could split (it hadn't been all that long since breakfast) and a couple of cokes. It was busy with bikers and other tourists so it took a while but the Indian Taco was tasty.

We had another day of vacation if we wanted it but decided to spend it somewhere else. We traveled back on Hwy 85 and was surprised at how great the road was. We took Hwy 18 west out of Lusk, deciding we would zip on over to I-25 and cut some time off of the return trip. That did not work out. The bridge was out at the interstate and the detour took us 11 miles north to Douglas, WY before we could get southbound again. We stopped for ice cream and a cold drink in Wheatland, but got bad service from the A&W there.

The skies did not look good between Wyoming and home. We rolled into our drive about 9 pm - slightly damp.

Otherwise, the trip home went really well until the last 60 miles or so. We got caught up in the tail-end and the back build of a nasty thunderstorm that had just dumped 1 inch hail (still stacked on the side of the road like snow) and a ton of rain on Cheyenne. It looked like the concert was canceled and although the rides were running, the midway was all but empty. Worse, the people parked in the park-n-ride area for Frontier Days were going to have to fish their vehicles out of the field -- what vehicles were not submerged in water up to the middle of the tires, or sunk in the mud were surrounded by a moat of muddy water. I doubt the buses could get out either. Yikes! As it is, we rode in and out of rain and wind from Cheyenne on in and counted ourselves lucky to have ridden in behind the worst of it.

Today's ride was 416 miles (just 1 mile shy of what we did yesterday), making the entire two day trip 833 miles.

Slide show of today's ride (130 photos):

Alternate link to slide show

Road trip #4, day 1 - Riding out in search of a close encounter - Devils Tower, WY

2011-07-23T22:00:00.020-06:00

July 23, 2011
Colorado, USA

Belle Fourche, SD -- Tim's belated birthday ride...

We did not ride on Friday but I cannot adequately describe the three-day weekend without mentioning we kicked off our mini road trip with a Kid Rock Concert at Frontier Days in Cheyenne, WY. The tickets, purchased in February for the Born Free Tour was our Valentine gift to each other. After roaming the streets of downtown Cheyenne most of the afternoon, we drove to the fairground area. We located a parking spot on the street, a good stretch of the legs away from the arena. We found a beer and a Mikes on the midway and slowly made our way to our designated seats.

The show kicked off with a tribute to the military. Three soldiers marched on stage and saluted the crowd while The Warrior Song played and the matching video flashed across the big screens. The crowd jumped to their feet cheering. The applause was patriotic thunder. Sheryl Crow opened, walking out in a mini skirt and cowgirl boots and hat. She entertained us with a bevy of her greatest hits and later joined Kid on stage for a couple of duets including the song, Picture. The weather was perfect, the house was packed, and the party zone was overflowing. It was great to see Sheryl Crow live, but Kid walked out and immediately owned the evening, the town and by the end of the night, our hearts when he sang Born Free with a giant American flag unfurled behind him. Cheyenne, WY will never be the same. The pyrotechnics and laser light show - especially during So Hot - were - in a word that does not begin with F - Awesome! We rocked for about three and a half hours. I could give you a blow-by-blow, but it is one of those things - you just had to be there. (See the end of this post for a slide show of us fooling around in Cheyenne before the concert.)

A man and a beer - life is good.

Military Salute/Tribute - Kid Rock Concert - Cheyenne, WY

The Grand-Daddy of all Rodeos had the Grand-Mommy of all traffic jams afterwards. Cheyenne is about 40 miles north of here. It was 2 am before we got home which set us back a bit on our planned daybreak ride out... it was more like 7 am. Yawn! There's nothing like a ride in the brisk morning air and new roads to travel and the promise of coffee at some little cafe along the way to make one forget about the loss of a few hours sleep.

We decided to travel 85 north out of Cheyenne - with a loose destination of The Devils Tower. We looked for breakfast in Torrington (the first town of any size so far) but found nothing besides fast food joints so we traveled a little further to the small town of Lusk, WY. We knew the breakfast at the Outpost Cafe would be worth the wait. It was. The food (breakfast) is well prepared and served up in generous portions at a reasonable price. The coffee is good and the friendly, efficient wait staff never let a cup get empty.

The 80 mile stretch between Lusk and Newcastle was long. That's all I got - long. Ha! At this point, we needed something cold to drink and found it at a convenience store where we met and chatted at length with a couple out of Colorado Springs who rode up on a Road King. The terrain changed on Hwy 85 north of Newcastle. I mean, it became a bit more interesting, as a rock formation and a bend or two in the road actually interrupted the horizon. It was a pleasant ride on Hwy 585 between a community you can almost miss called Four Corners and Sundance, WY.

We accidentally found the Harley dealership in sleepy Sundance, WY while looking for a statue of The Sundance Kid. Actually, Tim commented on a pickup parked in the middle of the street. We looked harder and noticed the H-D logo. When we looked over our shoulder we noticed the dealership. Deluxe Harley-Davidson of Sundance is really nice although basically a clothing and parts store. The staff was friendly and laid back. Tim found a hat and a do-rag he could not live without. I do not know why we did not ask about the Sundance statue because we never found it. It was good to see the street lamp posts of Sundance adorned with banners stating the name and branch of service of active duty and veterans in the area.

Digression: We endured a BS traffic stop by a local motorcycle officer in Sundance. We saw him coming toward us as we rolled toward the edge of town. He made a u-turn behind us, we suspect to confirm we had out of state tags, before pulling us over. Apparently, his interpretation of a STOP at a stop sign is the rider has to have both feet on the ground. I'm telling you, we made at least a 2 second stop whether Tim's feet touched the ground or not. And, I swear, at the time of the stop, not another vehicle besides that officer and us was rolling between the city limit signs. Of course, I mean no disrespect - the guy was just doing his job, even if his concept of a stop is debatable and even if he was rather over-zealous with his document check. I mean c'mon, for some reason he assigned relevance to the fact that the insurance cards are new (ie: dated recently -- just got them at the end of June - they expire in 2012) - Duh. Tim's drivers license, complete with motorcycle endorsement also drew a comment (it expires in 2015). OK. The registration on the bike expires at the end of the month (we have a whole nine days left on it and we had the current documentation in hand that does not expire until July 2012), but the officer made certain we understood that we would be illegally riding in Wyoming after the 31st. Duh! After detaining us for about 20 minutes, he finally sent us on our way with a verbal warning - put your feet down at a stop sign. Ha! We chuckled as we drove out of town because the officer said he had to be on his toes because the county fair started tonight in Sundance (it was mid-afternoon and not a soul was stirring in the whole town) and as soon as that was over he would have Sturgis riders to deal with... (maybe he was honing his skills on us). I am thinking the stop was detrimental to business, as about half way through - three more Harleys slowed down as they passed going the opposite direction, hesitated for a brief moment and rode straight on through.

Just outside of Sundance, we picked up Hwy 24 - the road to the Devils Tower. Probably about eight miles out, you get a glimpse of it. I believe the photo op pullover was about six miles out. Once the Devils Tower came into view, it dominated the horizon.

A couple of Devils Tower stats - 1906: President Theodore Roosevelt declared Devils Tower as the first national monument in the USA. Devils Tower is 867 feet tall, summit elevation is 5112, teardrop shaped top is about the size of a football field, the circumference of the base is 1 mile.

The charge to enter the park on a motorcycle was a reasonable $5. We took our time hiking the 1.3 mile trail around the base of the Devils Tower in biker boots and snapped a good many photos. I am happy to report the closest encounter we had was with a noisy squirrel and tourists with more small children than they could efficiently herd - I am laughing.

Attached to Devils Tower are many folk legends, a good many of them inspired by the reverence Native Americans have for the monument.

Legend of the Devils Tower - click for a larger view

I believe we both can say that visiting this rock far exceeded our expectations and we enjoyed the experience.

We continued on scenic Hwy 24 traveling through small town Wyoming. Hulett, the first town you reach after the Devils Tower has several restaurants, saloons and motels. We saw a sign designating the town of Alva (population 50) but that's all I remember about it. The tiny spot in the road called Aladdin (population 15) has one claim to fame, a 115 year old general store (it was closed already when we rode through). Another time, then.

Today's great 417 mile ride has ended in Belle Fourche (bell foosh), SD (population 5500 or so). Belle Fourche means "beautiful fork" and refers to the rivers that converge here -- the Bell Fourche and the Redwater. Sheriff Seth Bullock of Deadwood fame was instrumental in putting Belle Fourche on the map with the railroads. And, this is allegedly the geographical center of the United States. We will check that out tomorrow.

We have found accommodations at a small tourist court type motel - the Ace Motel which sits a block off the main drag and just over the river bridge from downtown. The motel room was a bit musty at first, but an open window and the ceiling fan circulating have about cured that problem. It is a bit "dated", old, somewhat threadbare, but clean. We do not have a/c, but the night is cool. We do have WIFI. There is a small TV, but who cares? Dinner was OK at the American West Restaurant which sits next to the Motel 6 on the southern end of town. (The difference between the not-so-low rate of the Motel 6 and the rate at the Ace Motel paid for dinner. Hmmmm...) Tim had a New York strip Philly steak dinner. I had a fried shrimp dinner.

We will wind down the day sitting on the bench in front of the room, enjoying the night breeze, sipping on a convenience store beer and talking about our day.

Here is the mini-movie of the day's ride:

Devils Tower Ride

Here is a slide show of the day's ride and The Devils Tower (78 photos):

Alternate link to slide show

Source material:
Devils Tower, Wyoming
Brief history of Belle Fourche, South Dakota
Indian Legends of the Devils Tower

Just a few pics of us roaming Cheyenne, WY before Kid Rock concert (55 photos):

Vik and Tim - Cheyenne, WY before Kid Rock concert

Latest road trip update

2011-07-22T20:30:00.007-06:00

July 21, 2011
Colorado, USA

OK gang... all the photos are uploaded and the posts written for the Utah road trip. You gotta check out the photos of Bryce Canyon, Utah - July 4th. Coming up pdq are the pics of last weekend's Devils Tower/Deadwood ride.

Posted 07/13/2011 July 2, 2011 Road trip #3, Day 1 - The ride across Colorado, Hwy 141 and Unaweep Canyon - Destination: Utah by Sundown

Canyonlands - Utah, USA

Posted 07/15/2011 July 3, 2011 Road trip #3, Day 2 - Riding canyon after canyon in Utah, from Monticello to Panguitch, UT

The Ride at north end of Lake Powell, UT

Posted 07/21/2011 July 4, 2011 Road trip #3, Day 3 - Parade, Scenic Byways and Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon, Utah - USA

Posted 07/26/2011 July 5, 2011 Road trip #3, Day 4 - Hwy 89 north to Vernal, UT

Posted 07/27/2011 July 6, 2011 Road trip #3, Day 5 - The road home

Happy Birthday Tim!

2011-07-19T05:00:00.003-06:00

July 19, 2011
Colorado, USA

It is your birthday... I say we roll out of the drive with an attitude that delivers on the happy part.
*********************
A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.
*********************
BIRTHDAY UPDATE:
Tim's day so far = SOGGY: We had coffee on the patio where he opened his gift from me and his card from Mom. Earlier, he read the well wishes from friends in his email. After coffee, I loaded up the Harley-Davidson branded cooler (his gift from me) with picnic food (fried chicken, macaroni salad, watermelon, fresh cherries, animal crackers, even a tiny cherry pie, and lemonade). We rode east (away from the clouds building over the foothills). Rolling into a little township about 30 miles east of here called Eaton, we found the City Park and a picnic table.

We sat the food out and had about two bites when the sprinklers came on and before we could get anything moved or covered, water had drenched our table, the food, the camera, cell phone, us and even the motorcycle parked in the street. !!^%$&^#&^@!! I mean, four jet sprinklers were aimed at the table we chose. Ha! Who waters a park with picnic tables at noon when the facilities are most likely to see use? That's the question I asked the city manager of Eaton when I emailed them just a short while ago, just one of a few choice remarks I had for him...

I snapped this pic with my phone just before we dug in -- a few minutes later -- we were drenched.

Anyway, we dumped our soggy chicken plates in the trash and rolled out of Eaton toward home. We took the long way home, blow-drying ourselves along the way. We had our picnic anyway -- here at the house -- as there was enough leftover chicken and salad and other goodies on hand. A couple of slices of cherry cream pie sent the man off to work with a smile.

PGR Mission: Robert H Parker, US Navy - Wichita Falls, TX

2011-07-19T04:00:00.001-06:00

July 19, 2011
Colorado, USA

Texas -- North Texas Patriot Guard Riders will stand the flag line today at the memorial services and interment of Robert H Parker, US Naval Veteran.

Parker served in the US Navy where he served on the USS Mackenzie as a BMSN. He received the Korean Service Medal with 2 stars, China Service Medal, National Defense Medal and the United Nations Service Medal.

Our hearts go out to the family and friends of this Veteran.

Rest in Peace Sir and thank you for your service!

Happy Birthday Crazy Mike!

2011-07-18T05:00:00.011-06:00

July 18, 2011
Colorado, USA

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRAZY MIKE!

Many thanks to you sir for signing on with the PGR. Please extend our appreciation to your son who has served this country. And congratulations on your recent induction into the ranks of the mBSc!

Texas -- The following is a letter/article to the editor of the TRN penned (as I understand it, literally penned) by Crazy Mike. The Times Record News of Wichita Falls published it as a Guest Editorial on July 4, 2011. I read the article that morning on a friend's FB page from my laptop in a motel room in Utah. It made my day. What a pleasant start to our Independence Day ride! I have CM's permission to share it here. I hope you enjoy it, too.

We are One Nation Under God
by Crazy Mike Rykoff

I would like to start by telling on myself. I am embarrassed — almost ashamed to admit — that my patriotism was pretty much nonexistent for most of my life.

I was too busy complaining about the government, the price of gas, food and clothes — and most people. Trying to raise a family was pretty tough. I know now that it is supposed to be hard! Not much value is if it is easy!

Several years back, while watching my son graduate from boot camp, I heard the base commander say, "Welcome to the world's largest Air Force base and the world's largest air power." It gave me chills and my negative self began to feel a little proud.

I came back home and joined the Red River Harley Davidson HOG chapter. You know — American-made and all that.

This past year I signed up with the Patriot Guard Riders — standing tall with respect for fallen heroes. (If you are not familiar with the Patriot Guard Riders, please look it up on the Internet).

I am going to be 60 in a few weeks and can honestly say my heart is getting softer. I don't know if it is because of my age or because of just what is going on in this country. Either way, I am much more aware of my choices. I know that I am not as smart as I thought — AND not nearly as important.

One thing that I do know is that I can live where I choose, go to my choice of church, drive what kind of car I want and eat at any restaurant.

Sadly, I also know that all of these choices — and my freedom — were paid for by our troops. I owe a great debt to all our armed forces. To those who served and to those who are still serving. You know — the REAL American heroes who paid the ultimate sacrifice for my freedom and yours!

Republican or Democrat, rich or poor, whatever your religious beliefs; they are not for free. Because freedom is not free. I hate to admit I used to take all of this for granted.

The next time you are out and about, look around and see who is flying Old Glory. Maybe it will touch your heart as it touches mine. You might even raise the U.S. flag at your business or at your home.

I don't know who these un-American people are who want to take the flag out of the schools and God off the dollar. We are a lot stronger together than divided. How did it ever get this out of control?

So this Fourth of July and every day, let's celebrate freedom in our hearts and raise the U.S. flag with pride. I know every time I see one of our troops, I shake his or her hand and thank them for what they do.

Many years ago in school, I was taught that we have room for one flag, one language and our loyalty is to the American people. Also, we are one nation under God.

If this offends you, please feel free to leave. Canada and Mexico are easy to find. I know MY country is still under God.

Increased suspicious activity - mBSc

2011-07-13T11:59:00.004-06:00

July 12-13, 2011
Colorado, USA

Texas -- This just in. ALERT ALERT ALERT

FYI: PART OF THE mBSc HAS BEEN SIGHTED AT RRHD YESTERDAY MORNING ABOUT 9 AM. THEY POKED THEIR WAY IN THERE FOR COFFEE AND A LOT OF TALK UNTIL AFTER 11 AM, WHEN PROBABLY THE PEOPLE WORKING THERE THOUGHT THEY HAD TAKEN RESIDENCE IN THE BREAK AREA. MEMBERS SIGHTED WERE FROSTY, TEX, NUBBIN AND CRAZY MIKE. SMURF HAD TO REPORT TO WORK IN VERNON. ALERT! THIS WAS YESTERDAY JULY 12TH.

TODAY, JULY 13TH THE SAME FOUR MEMBERS HAVE BEEN SIGHTED AT THE SAME PLACE (RRHD) IN THE SAME AREA, DRINKING COFFEE AND ENGAGING IN SMALL TALK WITH THE EMPLOYEES OF THE DEALERSHIP. I TELL YOU THEY HAVE MOVED FROM THE HY-WAY CAFE TO RRHD FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASON. (YOU THINK IT IS BECAUSE THE COFFEE MIGHT BE BETTER OR MAYBE FREE?). SMURF IS WORKING AGAIN TODAY (I suspect he is staying updated via assorted hand held devices).

BEWARE CITIZENS! THIS GROUP IS DRINKING COFFEE AND DISCUSSING POLITICS AND LORD KNOWS WHAT ELSE. THE mISFIT BIKERS SOCIAL cLUB IS JUST THAT -- A BUNCH OF MISFIT BIKERS ONE OLD GUY, ONE SLIGHTLY OLD GUY, ONE JOLLY GREEN GIANT AND ONE SORT OF CRAZY. APPROACH WITH CAUTION AND WATCH THE COFFEE POT.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY
Source: UNKNOWN PERSON (WATCHING THEM)

Belated mBSC Advisory

2011-07-11T18:02:00.005-06:00

July 11, 2011
Colorado, USA

Texas -- This just in (from a reputable albeit anonymous source): OH, MY WORD, IT HAS HAPPENED AGAIN. EARLY THIS MORNING I HEARD ABOUT A QUICK MEETING OF THE mBSc at the Hy Way Cafe. I DID WITNESS THE "OLD MAN" THEY CALL "FROSTY" MOUNT HIS BIKE AND HEAD FOR THE COFFEE SHOP. HE UTTERED AS HE RODE OUT OF SIGHT IT WAS TO BE A MEETING OF ALL THE MEMBERSHIP (they now number five): INCLUDED IN THEIR NUMBER WILL BE ONE SLIGHTLY OLD MAN "TEX", I THINK THAT IS WHAT HE IS CALLED, AND ONE JOLLY ELF CALLED "NUBBIN" ON A GREEN TRIKE. HE MAY ALSO BE KNOWN AS THE "JOLLY GREEN GIANT" FROM DOWN AROUND WINDTHORST, BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR ONE YOUNG, GOOD LOOKING, WELL EDUCATED MAN AKA "SMURF" WHO SAID HE WILL BE GOING TO VERNON AFTER THE MEETING TO WORK OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. AND, THEN THERE IS THE NEWEST MEMBER, A YOUNG/OLD MAN AKA "CRAZY MIKE". THAT NAME SUITS HIM WELL. YOU BETTER BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR THIS GUY, HE REALLY IS SORT OF CRAZY (ok -- IN A NICE WAY}.

CAUTION! EVERYONE SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THESE GUYS. SOME RIDE BIKES AND SOME COME ALONG IN CAGES TO FOOL EVERYONE. MAYBE THE CAGE DRIVERS ARE TRAVELING INCOGNITO AND DO NOT WANT TO BE READILY RECOGNIZABLE AS CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH BIKER'S "SOCIAL CLUB".

(THEY ARE FRESH FROM A PGR RIDE CAPTAIN'S MEETING, SO TODAY WAS PROBABLY A BRIEFING ON WHAT HAPPENED OR IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN, PERHAPS WILL HAPPEN OR NOT HAPPEN AT ALL.)

BEWARE IF YOU SEE THESE GUYS IN A CAFE ON THE JACKSBORO HWY. THEY MAY BECOME LOUD OR SEEM PRETTY DISTURBED -- YOU MIGHT WANT TO MOVE TO ANOTHER SECTION OF THE CAFE. THEY HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO THROW A FEW WORDS OUT THERE (MAYBE NOT SAFE FOR DELICATE EARS).

SIGHTING THIS MORNING ABOUT 8:30 AM... SO APPROACH WITH EXTREME CAUTION AND REMEMBER THIS IS A SPECIAL GROUP OF "MOSTLY MISFIT" BIKERS. LORD KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE UP TO NOW.

Signed,
FYI:
ANONYMOUS

P.S. Perhaps the threat was not as dire as it initially seemed. It has come to my attention that one member of the mBSc ladies auxiliary "Laura" was present, so I'm certain the men were gentlemen after all.

Happy Birthday Tex!

2011-07-09T05:00:00.001-06:00

July 9, 2011
Colorado, USA

Wishing you weather cool enough to ride, the company of good friends and many, many, many happy returns. And don't forget - you must have CAKE! And CATFISH! And BEER!

Once again, Congratulations on your promotion to Patriot Guard Senior Ride Captain!

Road Trip #3, Day 5 - The Road Home

2011-07-06T22:56:00.003-06:00

July 6, 2011
Colorado, USA

Time to take ourselves home... We did not tarry in Vernal, UT this morning. Tim confirmed what he suspected yesterday - the continental breakfast at our motel was unappealing and the coffee - ick!, the weather was damp and threatening worse and we wanted to get out of town before barricades to block the streets for the Dinosaur parade were erected.

We ran out from under light rain as we rolled west on Hwy 40 toward Colorado. The Green River was flowing high. This is the first time we have traveled into Colorado along this route. The Dinosaur National Monument sits just over the border from Utah in Colorado. We did not plan to visit it this time through. We expected more out of the town named Dinosaur which does not have much to offer considering its proximity to the national park. The 90 miles or so between Dinosaur and Craig, CO had a few scenic stretches but nothing that would make us intentionally travel that stretch again.

By the time we rolled into Craig, we were thinking -- breakfast! We looked for interesting cafes but did not find much within a block or so of the highway so we settled on The Village Inn which is Colorado's version of an IHOP, the prices and the food are usually better and the pies are outstanding. We ordered big breakfasts and lots of coffee. It was free pie Wednesday so we topped off our breakfast with a slice of peach cream pie - yum!

Soon we were traveling the scenic highway into Steamboat Springs. The Yampa River was still out of its banks in some areas of the valley after record snows and the subsequent melt off. The Yampa Valley was green and lush, wildflowers blooming all along the way. As usual, part of this stretch of road was under construction so we spent a few minutes standing around waiting for our turn to travel the single lane open.

We stopped for gas in busy Steamboat Springs and then we stopped at one of the busiest McDonald's on the face of the earth for a cup of coffee. I usually cannot get out of there (both the city and the McDonalds) fast enough. Ha! As it is, we preferred to sit at one of the outside tables where we fed fussy magpies a few animal crackers.

Highway 40 travels over scenic Rabbit Ears Pass to Walden, CO. At an elevation of 9426 we had snow. Normally, we will find a bite to eat in Walden but today the clouds were gathering a little more steam so we stopped for only a few minutes before riding on.

Riding east on Scenic Hwy 14 toward the Never Summer Mountains

Highway 14 west from Walden is also designated as scenic. This is a road we ride often. It travels past the Nokhu Crags through the Never Summer Mountains, over Cameron Pass (elevation 10,276) and eventually descends into a canyon which follows the winding Cache La Poudre River. The Poudre (Pooder) is still raging after record snowfall and melt off. As we came out of the canyon and traveled the last ten miles or so to the house, it looked like the clouds might get there ahead of us. We managed to ride in dry. The clouds brought rain and wind, thunder and lightning about ten minutes later.

Slide show of the ride home (72 photos):

Alternate link for this slide show

We traveled 1707 miles this road trip through some beautiful canyons in western Colorado and southern Utah and along some great scenic and winding roads.

Road Trip #3, Day 4 Scenic Ride Central Utah

2011-07-05T21:00:00.001-06:00

July 5, 2011
Colorado, USA

We have not seen everything we wanted to see in southern Utah, but this morning it was time to point The Ride north and east. We rolled out of Panguitch, UT about 8 am under partly cloudy skies on Hwy 89, riding for a time past misty mountain-scapes and fog-laden valleys and farmlands. Hwy 89 follows the Sevier River through the edges of the Dixie National Forest and the Fishlake National Forest. The road travels through rugged, high-walled canyon lands as well.

Near Marysvale, UT there is a mountain and resort named after an old folk song - The Big Rock Candy Mountain. My grandmother (age 100) used to sing this song to me.

Oh the buzzin’ of the bees
In the cigarette trees
Near the soda water fountain
At the lemonade springs
Where the bluebird sings
On the big rock candy mountain

As the story goes: Shortly after the release of the song in 1928, some local residents, as a joke, placed a sign at the base of a colorful mountain in Utah naming it “Big Rock Candy Mountain.” They also placed a sign next to a nearby spring proclaiming it 'Lemonade Springs.' These names stuck, and the mythical Big Rock Candy Mountain of the song became perhaps one of the most recognized geologic sites in west-central Utah. The mountain is huge, mostly yellow in color dappled with orange and red and white.

In Richfield, UT, we stopped for gas and a bite of breakfast. It must have been a forgettable breakfast because I cannot remember what it was. Ha! (Update: I was right - forgettable - Tim reminds me we had an Egg McMuffin at McDonalds.)

Miles away from the city of Manti, two twin towers were visible from the Sanpete Valley on the horizon. We thought they must be those of a courthouse or a very large church. As it turns out, the towers (179 feet tall) belong to the Manti Utah Mormon Temple, conceived by Brigham Young in 1875. It is third of five LDS temples built for the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. The site for the temple was the Manti Stone Quarry, a large hill immediately northeast of town. The area is known as Temple Hill. The massive limestone temple was completed in 1888.

The architecture in the little towns along the way is indicative of the late-1800s through the mid-1900s, much of it ornate in Victorian styling. Sadly, many of the buildings stand vacant and in disrepair.

We continued north on Hwy 89 until we reached the junction with Hwy 6. We would dip south again on Hwy 6 until we reached the town of Helper, UT. Actually we traveled the few miles to Price, UT just to check it out and returned to Helper where we filled the ride with gas and ourselves with ice cream sandwiches. The day had grown warm and the skies, surly.

Out of Helper we took Hwy 191 to Duchesne (dew-shane). This stretch of road is also known as the Indian Canyon Scenic Byway. At least one summit was near 10,000 feet in elevation. The first thing of interest we passed was the Carbonville Cemetery along the side of the road. It appeared to be old and neglected. Some research claims there are graves dating back to the 1700s. As we rode along, the skies grew dark and the clouds that we had watched building over the horizon all morning finally pulled themselves together. Lightning creased the skies and thunder roared overhead, magnified by the canyon walls. As we rounded one bend about halfway along the fifty some odd mile stretch, we saw rain maybe a mile ahead. We stopped, pulled on the rain gear and tucked away the camera. A mile later, we were traveling in rain. We were slightly damp and chilled as we rolled into a convenience store in the the small town of Duchesne. We spoke briefly with a local man who stopped to admire the Harley and asked where we were headed. He commented briefly on the road ahead. He said he hunted mountain lion in Indian Canyon as a youngster.

The skies remained troubled and we ran through light showers as we headed northeast toward Vernal, UT. By the time we reached Vernal, we decided to call it a day. We found a room near downtown at the Econo-Lodge. Vernal was gearing up for a Dinosaur Days bash of some sort. The busy streets were congested with traffic and festival vendors trying to set up shop.

We strolled through the Veterans War Memorial Plaza on our way downtown to find a bite of supper. There are several memorial stones erected for all American Wars, a statue of a WWI soldier and a Vietnam era Cobra Helicopter on static display. Vernal is always decked out with flags and flowers. Baskets and baskets of flowers (mostly petunias) line Main Street. Giant dinosaur sculptures are everywhere and Vernal is home to the Utah Field House of Natural History where you will find an amazing dinosaur garden.

We found supper (but no beer) at the Ranch Restaurant. The meal was a bit pricey, but hot and tasty. Utah has some funky liquor laws. A couple of years ago, you had to join a club at a restaurant just to get served a beer. Now, in most restaurants, if you have beer with a meal, the limit is three per person. We stopped at another restaurant on the way back advertising beer and found we could not order a beer at all without ordering a meal. We walked on and finally found convenience store beer which we took back to our room.

FYI: A word about the Econo-Lodge. Don't do it! The room was over-priced and while it appeared nice on first impression, closer inspection proved otherwise. It took me about half an hour to realize one of the unknown scents (later identified as dirty mop smell) in the room was not emanating from us after a long day on the motorcycle but the area near the bathroom. We had a flat screen TV but half of the channels listed on the visitor sheet were unavailable. Later, we would have to call the office twice to report a neighbor who apparently had hooked up a play station to the TV and was bombing the hell out of something at full volume. Tim reported the continental breakfast looked like packaged muffins and dry cereal with no designated spot to eat. We will pass on that.

Here is a slide show of today's ride (103 photos):

Alternative link for this slide show

Today's ride was 285 scenic miles on roads we have not traveled before. Tomorrow, we ride for home...

Source Material:
Big Rock Candy Mountain
Manti Utah LDS (Mormon) Temple, 1888

Road Trip #3, Day 3 - Happy Independence Day Ride and More

2011-07-04T23:00:00.040-06:00

July 4, 2011
Colorado, USA

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY USA!

Road Trip #3, Day 3 (part 1) - Parade, Cedar Breaks, Scenic Byway 143 aka Utah's Patchwork Parkway

We had a great night's rest at the Color Country Motel in Panguitch, UT. We rose somewhat earlier than we might have done because some enthusiastic local could not resist setting off a round of fireworks nearby about 6 am. Ha!

After our less than satisfactory experience with the Flying M Restaurant last night, we thought we'd ride out a few miles and see about rustling up breakfast elsewhere. As we were getting ready to ride we met a nice couple from Saint George, Utah who were friends with the owners of the motel. We got side-tracked talking about the balloon festival Panguitch hosts every June along with a motorcycle rally. The owner had already told us about it and after talking to this couple we thought it might just be a lot of fun to come back for the event.

Getting to the gas station proved interesting since law enforcement officials blocked the entire Main street and access to just about everything as they geared up for the annual 4th of July Kiddy parade. We rode several blocks around the town to finally make our way into the back side of a station about two blocks from the motel. By the time we filled up, the parade had begun so we left the Harley parked at the pump, walked to the curb and watched the parade. Just about every kid in town was in the parade including a few teens and adults and lots of pets. Just about every kid in the parade was riding something, from motorized battery cars, bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, wagons, go-carts, dune buggies, and every kind and size of ATV one could imagine. (This is off-road country.) And every one of them were flying the American flag. Wow! What a fun exhibition of small town patriotism. It made me proud.

As soon as the parade cleared, we made our way out of the crowded gas station and rode the back streets a few blocks before finding a cross street that was clear and let out on the highway. Today's plan was to ride Bryce Canyon early and finish the day off with a scenic byway loop.

As we rolled out of town I noticed a road sign that said, This is not Highway 89. What? We had missed the turn for Highway 89 because we rode the back streets out of town to get around the parade barricades. We were on Hwy 143. Oh well! Shall we do the scenic byway first then? Why not!

Hwy 143 is a nice ride. The road is smooth with lots of gentle curves winding through The Dixie National Forest and wildflower festooned roadsides, around rock outcroppings and past sage lands. We came upon Panguitch Lake and I noticed on the signage that we were traveling at 8400 feet in elevation. Neither one of us wanted to admit it I think, but it was chilly and getting more so. I discovered later that this route exhibits a 4,500-foot elevation change. We stopped at the first pullover and put on the denim jackets.

Before long, we remarked on the large lava flow fields alongside the road. A look at the map later revealed this area is known as the Markagunt Plateau Lava flows. These flows are only a few thousand years old.

The road climbed and the terrain became alpine meadow, colored by vast expanses of wildflowers just reaching their first bloom. We had snow beside the road. Turning south onto the six mile Cedar Breaks Scenic Byway (U148), we pulled over at a lookout point to admire the area known as Cedar Breaks National Monument, described as an amphitheater, over 2000 feet deep with a view that extends over 100 miles.

Tim - Cedar Breaks Overlook - Utah USA

Vik - Cedar Breaks Overlook - Utah USA

Soon we were traveling southwest along the very busy Markagunt High Plateau Scenic Byway (U14) finally turning north on Highway 89 aka Heritage Hwy. All along the way we looked for breakfast and bypassed a couple of places where in hindsight we think we might should have stopped. The small town of Hatch looked promising. We chose the Cactus Cowboy Restaurant on the outskirts of town. Having missed breakfast, we ordered lunch (burger/sandwich) and a sweet concoction called a red white and blue something or other. It was tasty. The service was quick and efficient, the food was prepared well and served fast. The decor was old cafe with several life size cardboard cutouts of western characters scattered about (John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Lone Ranger and Tonto). There was some nice western artwork and lots of old vintage photos and posters. The gift shop was mostly out of date souvenirs and not very interesting.

I picked up a bookmark size brochure that told an interesting story...
The Quilt Walk: When Mormon pioneers settled the area in 1864, both the lake and the new community took on the name Panguitch. Life was hard for those early settlers. At an elevation of 6,630 feet above sea level, in mountain country near Bryce Canyon, the growing season is short and winters can be harsh.

That first year was cold and crops froze before reaching maturity. The settlers grew dangerously hungry. A group of seven men volunteered to go over the mountain to an established settlement to obtain flour. They braved snow so deep, they had to abandon their wagons and walk much of the way. While walking, they would fall through the snow's crust. But these men found a way to get through. They placed a quilt down on the snow and walked to the end of it. Then they would place another quilt down and retrieve the first quilt. By "quilt walking" the men made it to the settlement and obtained flour to bring home to feed the starving settlers. Their return trip was even harder, because they had to carry the flour over the mountain.

Slide show of today's ride (part 1 = 83 photos)

Alternate link to this slide show

Road Trip #3, Day 3 (part 2) - Bryce Canyon

We came out of our jackets again. About 8 miles out of Hatch, we turned east onto Scenic Hwy 12 which bears the All American Road designation. We back tracked on Hwy 12 (this is the road we came in on yesterday) and had the pleasure of riding through Red Canyon again. We turned north on UT63 which goes through the resort area known as Bryce Canyon City and leads to the entrance of Bryce Canyon National Park. The fee to enter the park for two people on a motorcycle is $24 (FYI: They cannot break $50 or $100 bills).

The canyon is named for Ebenezer and Mary Bryce who lived in the area 1875-1880. The Bryce Canyon Lodge, built in the 1920s is located in the park near Sunrise Point. Wonderful cabins. The paved park road is very nice. It travels about 18 miles in and is lined for the most part with forest. Scenic points are clearly marked and all the pullouts and parking areas (at least the ones we used) are paved. The elevation of the park is near 9000 at some points. There are many hiking trails in the canyon. Colors in Bryce Canyon are the result of oxidized minerals -- red, pink, orange from iron, purple from manganese, the whites are from limestone. The rock formations are known as HooDoos. HooDoo = pinnacle of rock created by the forces of erosion.

Our first view of Bryce Canyon - Wow!

Our first stop (we missed the first one located outside the entrance) was Sunrise Point (elevation 8017). Oh my goodness! We had seen a few photos in our research that led us to this area but we had no idea of the grandeur we were about to behold. I cannot begin to describe how beautiful it is. Stunning. And the view changes with light and shadow. Each point had its own charm.

After stopping at the first point, we realized that all the points overlooked the east side. So, to avoid crossing traffic the whole way, we traveled to the far end and worked our way back.

At Pondersoa Point (elevation 8904) we encountered a couple of friendly ravens. The pair didn't mind posing with dozens of tourists including me. Ha! We worked our way along, stopping at nearly each point and strolling along the rim, pausing to sit and snap far too many photos. The park was busy today. Very busy. One thing we noted is that there were a good many international visitors. I recognized dialects from Sweden, Germany, Japan, China, Italy and France among the crowds. I brushed elbows more than once with a man from Georgia and a couple of other bonafide Americans.

The art of erosion and the tenacity of life

Bryce Canyon Utah

Bryce Canyon Slide Show (104 Photos - trimmed down from about 500 shots):

Alternate Link to this slide show

Road Trip #3, Day 3 (part 3) - Red Canyon

Red Canyon is located along Scenic Byway 12 aka All American Highway 12, just 9 miles from Bryce Canyon. Red Canyon's arid desertscape is peopled with sandstone HooDoos. We rode this canyon three times over the course of this road trip - it was a great scenic ride and we loved riding through the arches.

Slide show of Red Canyon (30 photos):

Alternate link to this slide show

By the time we rode out of Bryce Canyon, we were ready to freshen up and find supper and beer. As we moseyed back into town, I noticed the restaurant the owner of our motel had mentioned was open. We parked The Ride in front of the room and covered it. Then we strolled downtown to Cowboy's Smokehouse. We loved this place as soon as we walked in the door and got a whiff of Mesquite BBQ and heard live music. We were seated immediately and served our beers before we could crack open the menu. I ordered the beef brisket, Tim ordered a sampler platter. Tim had the pinto beans, I had the baked beans. Both were tasty. The potato salad was thick and chunky. The service was fast, friendly and efficient. Our waitress was very attentive. The decor was western lodge cafe and very informal. The entertainer (trying to get his name) was great, He sang a selection of songs you rarely hear these days, kind of country folks songs like Moriah, Ghost Riders in the Sky and so on. I loved it.

After dinner, we walked the rest of Main Street and back to our motel, settling in the chairs outside our door with a convenience store beer served up in plastic cups. We spoke with some of our neighbors as they walked by and checked in with the rest of the world on the laptop. At dusk, we decided to walk a few blocks south toward the rodeo arena and happened upon what looked like a small park. This was the place to see the fireworks I guess because at least half the town was there. Near dark, we got a rumble out of the sky. And then, we got a big light show compliments of Mother Nature followed by some large raindrops plopping on our head. Not being all that interested in making ourselves a conductor of electricity, we slowly started making our way out of the park and back the few blocks to the motel. Most of the other people on foot were doing the same thing. About halfway back the skies let loose and we arrived at our room's door slightly damp.

I told Tim they better light the fuse quick. They did. It sounded like they lit every firework they had at one time. Ha! The whole shebang was over in less than five minutes and that in the middle of a downpour.

No matter, we have had a great day - seen some amazing things - and have come away grateful that we live in such a glorious country with the freedom to go where we please and celebrate as we choose. I say it again:

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY USA!

Bryce Canyon National Park
Scenic Byway 143 - Utah's Patchwork Parkway
Red Canyon
Cedar Breaks National Monumnet

Happy Independence Day USA!

2011-07-04T00:01:00.001-06:00

July 4, 2011
Colorado, USA

Road Trip #3, Day 2 - Utah Canyon after Canyon Ride

2011-07-03T23:30:00.015-06:00

July 3, 2011
Colorado, USA

Road Trip #3, Day 2 - Utah Canyon after Canyon ride

Panguitch, UT -- We rested well in our room at the Monticello Inn and slept in a little after yesterday's 501 mile ride across Colorado and down scenic Hwy 141. But, the motel fell somewhat short of making the Great Places to Stay list. The room was clean and cozy. We had WIFI, but no cell service (would have been nice to know in advance). The water pressure was really low (the shower ran about as well as a pinched water hose), the blow dryer failed to work this morning and no one could be raised in the office by any means. Hmmmm...

We rolled out around 9 am and my hair dried on the short ride to the gas station just up the street. There, we met a nice couple out of Farmington, NM who were out trying to get the first 1000 miles on a beautiful 2011 Ultra in a color called dark candy rootbeer/merlot sunglo I believe. So, by the time we hit the road (Hwy 191 S) it was near 10 am. We had clear blue skies and warm weather.

As we rode away from Monticello we had a good look at the Abajo "Blue" Mountains. Both the motel manager and the waitress said it was beautiful drive up there. It was tempting. Between Monticello and Blanding we rode along the edge of Recapture Reservoir.

After only a few miles, breakfast started dominating the conversation. We found chicken fried steak and eggs at the Old Tymer Restaurant in Blanding, UT. It is a nice restaurant, with fast, friendly service. We had the special priced at $6.99 and both the food and coffee were good. Every plate that whizzed by looked great! It is where the locals eat. YUM!

After brunch, we continued south out of Blanding on Hwy 191 for about four miles until the junction at Hwy 95 which is known as the Bicentennial Highway (it was paved in 1976) and it is also designated as part of the Trail of the Ancients National Scenic Byway. Highway 95 runs 122 miles between the cutoff at Blanding to the town of Hanksville where it junctions with Hwy 24. It crosses Cottonwood Wash almost immediately then follows and crosses White Canyon and a little over 50 miles out travels through Fry Canyon. Fry's Canyon (also known as Fry's Gulch) is a small community (all we saw was a small motel and what might have been a gas pump some distance off the road) that was allegedly a uranium mining boom town in the 1950s. The road eventually crosses the Colorado River and the northeast end of Lake Powell at Hite Crossing Bridge, near the confluence of the Dirty Devil River which it crosses just two miles later.

This was an amazingly scenic ride, through some desert-like terrain but mostly through canyons and around rock outcroppings one could see from miles away. One looked like a yurt Tim said, another looked like a gloved hand, still another sat atop a butte and looked like a chair which we discovered later was named Jacob's Butte Chair. We stopped for a stretch on the north end of Lake Powell just after crossing the Hite Bridge, hot and thirsty. A look at the thermometer on the bike along the way indicated the temp around the bike was 100 degrees. Now we are not complaining. We set out to ride in a warmer/dryer climate. At the risk of ridicule (considering how many TX/OK people read this blog), I'll say it was HOT!

Note: Let us digress. The difference between Hot there (Texas) and Hot here (the arid southwest) is: In Texas during triple digit weather you can crack an egg on the sidewalk and fry it. In Utah during triple digit weather, you can whip the egg, add a little cheese, sit it on the sidewalk in a cup and have quiche. Ha!

Mini Movie of Hwy 95

Riding Scenic Hwy 95 Utah

Slide show (part 1 = 72 photos):

Link to this slide show.

Scenic Highway 95, Utah

Hite Crossing Bridge - In 1880 a prospector named Cass Hite established a ford near the mouth of the Dirty Devil River, 2 miles downstream from the present-day bridge location. This ford, named "Dandy Crossing", served as one of the few locations in the region where travelers could cross the Colorado River. The settlement which formed at the crossing location took the name of its founder, Hite.

The Ride at the north end of Lake Powell - Hwy 95, Utah. Lake Powell is 186 miles long and has 1960 miles of shoreline. It is the second largest reservoir in North America.

Tim at the north end of Lake Powell - Hwy 95, Utah

Vik at the north end of Lake Powell - Hwy 95, Utah

Anyway, by the time we reached Hanksville (now about 75 miles along this stretch of road), we were hot, dry and ready for an ice cream break... and so was everyone else in the area. Since housing was almost non-existent along the highway, we were thinking the area is sparsely populated - these people had to be from the lake. Stan's Burger Shak was at the convenience store where we stopped. The line to place an order was about thirty people deep and seating was near capacity. We opted for ice cream now - a couple of ice cream sandwiches from the freezer suited us just fine. I believe there was one other cafe and gas station in this busy little town and a small motel, not much more. Considering the distance between towns thus far and the fact that it was a Sunday, we topped off the tank before rolling out again.

Slide show (part 2 = 73 photos):

Link to this slide show.

Refreshed, we began the second leg of today's 300+ mile journey about 2:30 pm, traveling Highway 24 west which took us through the Glen Canyon area and across Capitol Reef National Park before reaching the next turn on our journey. It was hard to tell where one canyon ended and the next began. Photos will not do justice to the scope and grandeur of it.

We stopped at one point alongside a point of interest called the Behunin Cabin. It is a stone cabin built by Elijah Cutler Behunin and his family of ten in 1882 when they settled on the narrow floodplain of the Fremont River in southern Utah. They lived near Fruita, where Mormons were settled and established orchards that gave the area its name. A family of ten! The cabin might be large enough to adequately house the Harley and little more. We stopped briefly again at a rest stop with a little stream of water running through it called Muddy Creek and then continued on our way.

Old schoolhouse, Fruita historical area

Scenic Hwy 12 and 24

Slide show (part 3 = 74 photos):

Link to this slide show.

In the small town of Torrey we took Highway 12 toward Escalante, traveling south through the Dixie National Forest, over what is known as Boulder Mountain (Summit elevation 9600) and The Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. It was cooler! At the busy Larb Hollow Overlook, a few miles south of Grover, UT we spoke with another biker couple (from Utah) who asked which direction we were heading. When we told them and said how much we had enjoyed the ride so far - the guy just grinned and said - it gets better. They were right - I could not snap pictures quick enough. At one point the road travels over a hogback and falls away to reveal canyons on both sides. I believe the drop is about 1000 feet to the canyon floor in some areas. I read something that said mail was delivered in this area by mule until the 1970s. The road ascends and descends drastically along the way from 4000 feet to 9600 feet to 6000 feet. I believe I remember seeing at least two 14% downhill grade signs. The topography changes around every curve...

Grand Staircase Escalante Utah

Slide show (part 4 = 119 photos):

Link to this slide show.

We stopped in the small town Escalante to stretch and get something to drink, both of us eager to talk about what we had just seen. The only convenience store in town was closed, so we helped ourselves to a cold drink out of a vending machine and got out the animal crackers. We talked with a couple of young guys on dirt (off-road) bikes who had stopped for fuel and were trying to get their bearings. They were dirty, hot, hungry and SMILING. I forget where they were from (northern Idaho I think). They were headed to Phoenix, AZ across country (stopping only in towns long enough to get gas and food). One laughed and said they couldn't travel highways much as the bikes were not licensed for the road. They asked us about the area behind us and looked at our map. They were trying to find food before riding into the hills and finding a place to camp for the night. I gotta tell you - thinking about the terrain we just skirted - I think they are crazy - but, I also think they are having the summer of a lifetime. We wished them well, told them to ride safe (although I hardly think that was the idea) and rode out as they were packing their stuff back on their bikes.

We were still on Hwy 12 riding in and out of and along the Grand Staircase heading southwest toward Henrieville. Before Henrieville we reached a summit labeled 7600. Like the Boulder Mountain summit we crossed earlier, this actually indicates the summit of a high plateau. I discovered later that this is the summit of Kaiparowits (kye-pah-ro-its) Plateau. The road descended into an area known as the Kodachrome Basin, would turn north at this point and eventually intersect with Highway 89 which would take us to the small town of Panguitch, our destination. We picked up more clouds than sun on this part of the ride so the pics are not as clear as we would have them. Red Canyon must be spectacular in the sunlight. We plan to ride back that way tomorrow on our way to Bryce Canyon National Park.

We are delighted with our cozy motel room in Panguitch, UT. The owner, Lance greeted us with a smile and pointed us to a room on the back side of the office area. It is out of sight of the street and so far, quiet. The room is immaculate and has a good a/c and a ceiling fan. We are already talking about extending our stay here another night.

It being Sunday night, just about everything is closed in town. The restaurant that Lance recommended downtown is not open on Sunday. The other options were a pizza place on the far end of town (too far to walk), an Arby's in a gas station downtown, a Subway in a gas station a couple of blocks away and one cafe/restaurant. So we walked a few more blocks to a the latter which we saw on our ride-by earlier.

Now, it was about 7 pm or so and we discovered the rest of the tourists in town had the same dilemma. No place to eat. We ended up standing in line forever for a seat at the Flying M Restaurant. I am thinking we would have been better off with a sandwich from Arby's or the Subway and convenience store beer. The dining area looked a little dingy and dirty. Half of the tables were not bussed, the other half were filled with what appeared to be hungry, disgruntled tourists and ornery, loud children. When we finally got seated by a grumpy hostess/waitress we were informed by Ms Grumpy they were working short-handed and that someone (not her - thank goodness) would see to our needs as soon as they were able. That someone waited on at least three other tables (seated after us) before she got to us just to take our drink order. We ordered beer and water before she could disappear again. With a couple of beers on the table we thought we were in no rush to order, although had we waited much longer we might have been able to squeak in Thanksgiving dinner. As it is, we did not get to order what we wanted. They were out of anykind of steak that could be broiled or grilled, they were out of turkey pot pie, they were out of spaghetti and they were out of BBQ. We managed to get chicken fried steak ordered with potatoes but the other veggie would be a surprise we were told (whatever they had in the kitchen). The waitress asked soup or salad and seemed puzzled when Tim informed her that the salad bar was empty (he had just checked it). So, our option was vegetable soup, the likes of which I haven't tasted since I was in Jr High School. It was about 8:30 before we got the second beer. It was about 9 pm before we got bread and butter. The bread was good, but I'm thinking cardboard and butter would have tasted good by then. It was about 9:20 pm before we got our over-priced meal and a third beer (for Tim). Tim ordered a 4th beer but Utah liquor laws are funky so they would not serve him a 4th beer. I ordered a third beer and slid it across the table as soon as the waitress turned her back. Yep - we regretted not going to Subway. It was after 10 pm before we got back to our motel.

Slide show (part 5 = 40 photos):

Link to this slide show.

The amazing ride today was about 335 miles or so. Tim and I agree - the best thing about two days of riding in both Colorado and Utah's canyon country is that we traveled seemingly deserted highways with a jaw-dropping view around just about every curve. Yep! We had th roads and the viewm almost to ourselves and loved every mile of it.

What follows are just a few photos of the mind-boggling sights we saw along the road today.

Road Trip #3, Day 1 - Destination Utah by sundown

2011-07-02T23:00:00.040-06:00

July 2, 2011
Colorado, USA

Road Trip #3, Day 1 (Part 1) - Riding west across Colorado on I-70 and Glenwood Canyon

Monticello, Utah -- We rolled out of Fort Collins, CO this morning about 6 am for our four (OK - probably five) day Independence Day ride/road trip. It had rained last night and was humid and misty (foggy) in the low lying areas. It was only slightly chilly but the idea was to ride across Colorado on I-70. We rode out in leathers, knowing it would get colder, once we cleared Denver. Our destination? Someplace hot and dry where we can break a sweat on a ride. Utah! (I said break a sweat Texas - not melt.)

First stop was for breakfast in Idaho Springs. Marion's of the Rockies was calling our name. Breakfast is always good at Marion's, we never have to wait to be seated, the meals are reasonably priced, and we like the coffee. This is where the locals eat.

Well fortified, we were ready to ride west through the Eisenhower Tunnel. We've been through the tunnel at this time of year and darn near froze to death (I mean, the coffee froze in the thermos). Today, we were thinking we might could have ridden in denim rather than leather jackets, not comfortably though. The ride on I-70 is always scenic with old mining structures, snow-capped mountains, rushing creeks and rivers, falls created from the snow run-off, crystal blue lakes and lush, green valleys. The water is running high (near flood levels) in all of Colorado's rivers, creeks and streams this year. The lakes are full. Then, there is the beauty of the ride through Glenwood Canyon - 12.5 miles of Oh My Gawd scenery following the Colorado River (running as high as we've ever seen it). Some of the canyon walls framing the road rise to over 1300 feet.

Glenwood Canyon on I-70 Colorado - 12.5 miles of OMG highway

We stopped on the far end of busy Glenwood Springs for gas and a cup of coffee and came out of our jackets. After the canyon, the landscape becomes rugged and more desert-like although with all the moisture it was greener in some places than we remembered or expected. Near Palisade/Grand Junction you break into mesa country but the valleys in between the canyons are known as Colorado's wine country. The area is also home to the Colorado National Monument, the Grand Mesa and Mount Garfield. We like this area and try to get over to the western slope at least a couple of times during the year.

Today we would skip a visit to Grand Junction and resist the temptation to finally visit the Grand Mesa (something on our gotta ride list). We rode through Palisade on Hwy 50 to Hwy 141, a road a friend said we must travel someday. OK. Today is that day.

What follows is a slide show of the first part of our ride today including I-70 and Glenwood Canyon (93 photos):

Link to this slide show

Road Trip #3, Day 1 (Part 2) - Riding Hwy 141, CO through Unaweep Canyon to Monticello, UT

Like I said, a friend from Grand Junction suggested we ride State Highway 141 in Colorado. Hwy 141 runs north/south on the extreme western border of the state, rambling through Unaweep Canyon between Whitewater and Gateway, CO. This segment of the road is designated as the Unaweep Tabeguache (pr. tab-uh-wash) Scenic Byway. Unaweep Canyon is a geologically unique canyon that cuts across the Uncompahgre Plateau in western Colorado. It is unique because two creeks, East Creek and West Creek, flow out of opposite ends of the canyon, separated by the almost imperceptible Unaweep Divide. The Unaweep Divide, elevation 7,008 feet, is near mile marker 135 on SH 141. From Gateway to Naturita the road winds through the Dolores Canyon. About halfway between Naturita and Dove Creek the road travels through Gypsum Gap.

OK, now that the particulars are out of the way, let me just say - WOW! Photos will not do this ride justice! We picked Hwy 141 up a few miles south of Palisade near Whitewater and traveled the entire length of it (about 160 miles) to near Dove Creek, CO where we turned west and travelled Hwy 491 into Monticello, UT.

We stopped for a stretch at the Cool Stop Soda Shop and Cafe in tiny Gateway, CO. It was filled with what appeared to be a crotch rocket club, although there were a couple of other Harleys on the lot. The woman behind the grill was working hard to fill their orders. It's a nice little place, very clean. All we wanted was something cool to drink and a nice, very young girl took and filled our order for three (Tim had two) root beers. We sat at the soda fountain for quite a while talking about all we had seen so far on this great ride. The thermometer on The Ride indicated the ambient temp around the bike was 100 degrees. Just south of Gateway sits Gateway Canyons Resort and the entrance to John Brown Canyon which looked like paradise for off-roaders. A quick look at the map showed us we were maybe a third of the way along on Highway 141. No, that was not a problem. We were eager to see what more lay along the way on this ride.

Sitting at the base of Thimble Rock are the ruins of a house -- In 1914, Lawrence K. Driggs, a lawyer from New York, began construction on this building. When finished four years later, it had 7 or 8 rooms. There are conflicting reports about whether or not he actually occupied the house. One story is that his wife did not like the "wild west" and would not live here. Another is that they left when World War I began to work in munitions. A local couple who spent the first year of their marriage in the house said it had beautiful chandeliers and handcarved stone mantles on the two fireplaces. The arch over the entryway was supposed to have been designed to match the arch in the thimble rock behind the house." (from the historical marker)

Scenic Dolores Canyon Hwy 141 - CO

Here's a video of Scenic Hwy 141: 2011-07-02 Hwy 141

Hwy 141 Colorado

Photos of the second part of today's great ride along Colorado State Highway 141, including Unaweep Canyon, Dolores Canyon and Gypsum Gap (129 photos - 129! you say - dealwith it - I took about half of them out):

Link to this slide show

By the time we rolled into the Monticello Inn in Monticello, UT, we were ready for a burger, BEER, bath and a bed. Our room was clean, nice and cozy and with Tim at the a/c controls -- before long it was also cool. The owner of the motel was very friendly and knowledgeable about the area. We found a burger at the MD Ranch Cookhouse (recommended by the owner of our motel). She said 6 but it was more like 8 blocks away from our motel. Burgers were OK, nothing special. Service was sort of lackadaisical and our young waitress a bit slllooowwwww. She had to check before informing us there was no liquor license, therefore there was No beer. About this time, we remembered - oh yeah - we're in Utah. The liquor laws are funky in this state - be prepared and always have a plan B that is, B for beer. Not to be deterred, Tim found beer at the convenience store on the way back to the motel. We stopped along the way to pay our respects at the Veterans Memorial in a park not far from our motel.

We had WIFI at the motel, but no phone service anywhere (much to the aggravation of the teenage girls staying a few doors down). We sat outside our room until dark, mostly watching the teenagers desperately wander the parking lot, phones held high in the air in the hope of catching a signal. Twilight lasts a long time on this side of the Rockies. I zipped off an email to the Folks and downloaded the photos from the day to the laptop. After watching a few minutes of a movie, we called it a day.

Today's ride was 501 miles. We had no idea we had traveled that far until Tim checked the tripometer. What a great ride through beautiful canyon country on almost deserted roads.

Here's a word for ya

2011-07-02T05:00:00.003-06:00

July 2, 2011
Colorado, USA

Uh... make that two words....

ROAD TRIP!

Happy Anniversary to our Texas friends...

2011-07-02T05:00:00.001-06:00

July 2, 2011
Colorado, USA

To Ray and Laura:

Our Texas friends (really more like family).

Wishing you all the best today and always...

mBSc Sighting Advisory

2011-06-30T09:00:00.000-06:00

June 30, 2011
Colorado, USA

TEXAS -- This just in...

ALERT ALERT ALERT

SOMETHING IS GOING ON! Part of the mBSc met on June 29th at 9am for coffee and were in that meeting until after 11am. WHATEVER THEY TALKED ABOUT IS UNKNOWN. WITH THAT SAID, LOW AND BEHOLD WHEN I OPENED UP OUR E-MAIL THIS MORNING THERE IN FRONT OF ME WAS ANOTHER MEETING SCHEDULED FOR TODAY, JUNE 30TH @ 9:15AM, TO HAVE COFFEE AT THE HY-WAY CAFE. BE WARNED NORTH TEXAS! THERE ARE SEVERAL mBSc MEMBERS OUT ON THEIR BIKES STIRRING UP SOMETHING, LORD KNOWS WHAT. THERE IS ONE OLD MAN, ONE SLIGHTLY OLD MAN, A CRAZY LIKE MAN AND A GREEN TRIKE-RIDING MAN (the trike is green, not the man) AND ONE YOUNG MAN THAT IS AT A DISTANCE IN NEW MEXICO. SO I DO NOT KNOW IF THE MISSING MAN IS INFORMING HIS FELLOW MEMBERS (VIA ONE OF THOSE FANCY i-devices) ON WHAT TO DISCUSS OR WHAT. AGAIN, BEWARE CITIZENS THE "MISFIT BIKER SOCIAL CLUB" IS ON THE PROWL TODAY. CAUTION IS ADVISED. DO NOT CROSS THEIR PATHS OR INJECT ANY CONVERSATION INTO THEIR ROUTINE OF SOLVING THE WORLD'S PROBLEMS (one cup of coffee at a time).

ALERT ALERT ALERT

UNKNOWN E-MAIL ADVISOR
SOME WILL BE RIDING MOTORCYCLES OTHERS IN CAGES - BEWARE

Million Mile Monday Ride

2011-06-27T20:45:00.004-06:00

June 27, 2011
Colorado, USA

After a long weekend away, there was not much time for a ride today, but we managed to log about 27 miles in a DAM ride to lunch at Vern's and back... So we logged a combined 54 miles for Million Mile Monday hoping someone else can take up the slack this year.

UPDATE 06/29/2011 = 4376470 is total Million Mile Monday miles for 2011

The Horsetooth (rock formation) at Horsetooth Reservoir

Vik enjoying HOG Million Mile Monday lunch ride

Tim enjoying HOG Million Mile Monday lunch ride

One of our favorite rides is just a couple of miles from home

PGR Mission: M/Sgt Allison M Ringwood, USAF, Retired

2011-06-27T17:00:00.002-06:00

June 27, 2011
Colorado, USA

Texas -- Members of the North Texas Patriot Guard Riders and other PGR Patriots stood the flag line today in honor of M/Sgt Allison M Ringwood, USAF, Retired in Wichita Falls, TX.

Our hearts go out to the family and friends of this Veteran. Rest in Peace and thank you for your service!

Source Obituary: North Texas PGR, M/Sgt Allison M Ringwood

Mini Road Trip #2 - Day 3 - Tejon Street Bike Fest and More

2011-06-26T21:00:00.003-06:00

June 26, 2011
Colorado, USA

Day 3 of 3 - Sunday - Tejon Street Bike Fest

After another restful night at our charming B&B, we rose a little earlier and packed The Ride for the trip home by way of Tejon Bike Fest in Colorado Springs. That accomplished, we sat on a bench in front of the B&B with a cup of coffee enjoying the view of the town and the mountains beyond on what was a beautiful, sunny morning. We were eager to ride and any other time, we would have already been rolling but no way were we leaving before breakfast. Ha!

Breakfast today was croissant french toast, stuffed with cream cheese and smothered with a caramelized banana sauce, egg bake (sort of like quiche only better) with a southwestern flair today and a fresh fruit cup. Oh my goodness! Again, no pics (didn't even think of the camera before lifting a fork.) Do you ever have a meal that's so delicious, it makes you wonder if you could get away with kidnapping and keeping the cook? Well, I was sore tempted to test that very idea with our host and most excellent cook, Kathy. Ha! We found ourselves dining with a couple from Oregon, the woman from Oklahoma setting up the casino, the director of the play, Calamity Jane, Lysa Fox and much to our delight one of the stars (and Tim's favorite) of the play, Rebecca Myers. Once again, we lingered over breakfast and coffee enjoying the company of such a diverse group.

After saying goodbye to our hosts, we rode out of Cripple Creek and took the short ride over to Victor. We love the history and the architecture of Victor, but the winter was not kind to the roads in the area, especially the streets of town. What a rutted, dusty, gravely, bumpy mess they were - hardly any pavement left. Nothing much appeared to be open, so we rode in and out of Victor in a matter of minutes and continued on our way to Colorado Springs.

The ride down the scenic, but busy canyon on Hwy 24 from woodland Park to the Springs went well. Lots of bikers were merging in all along the way. The spectacular weather must have contributed to the number of motorcycles present at the Tejon Street Bike Fest this year. The streets were lined solid with motorcycles and parking was hard to find. Knowing we would likely not be staying the whole day, we finally settled on a quiet spot beside a bank with a few parking spots on the side of the building about half a block from all the action. We had full sun, no wind and temps in the high 80s or perhaps low 90s. Hot! (Don't laugh, Texas.) We strolled the streets, looking at bikes, people watching, checked out the food vendors and the street vendors. The beer garden was already doing a brisk business and all the bars were overflowing with people hanging off balconies all along the street. One of the bands scheduled to entertain was just getting started.

Tejon Street Bike Fest - Pikes Peak in the background

Tejon Street Bike Fest

Tejon Street Bike Fest

Tejon Street Bike Fest - just a sampling of the bikes that lined the streets of downtown Colorado Springs today

The best thing about Tejon Bike Fest is people/bike watching. Lots of patchers walked the streets today. There is always a constant flow of bikes cruising the main drag. One of the fun things to watch was John Deere farmer/biker guy making the rounds of the street again and again. At least one time through, he had picked up a female passenger, probably not his lat hitchhiker of the day. At one point,, we heard a distinct rumble and along with the rest of the crowd, turned to watch four custom Harleys roll in. They were all very nice rides, but that is not what makes them worth mentioning. No, it was definitely the passengers on the rides that turned heads all along the street. We were standing directly across from the place they chose to park. Perched on the fender (I said fender) of each of the rides was a scantily clad woman with a rag (I said rag - as in 12x12 piece of terry cloth) under their bare (I said bare - as in buck-naked) butts. Think baby-doll pajamas/hot pants/g-string meets Harley. Good grief! What a spectacle, that had some wagging their heads, some dropping their jaws and some grinning from ear-to-ear. LOL! Sorry - no pics of bare butts here. Ha!

Tim - Tejon Street Bike Fest

Vik - Tejon Street Bike Fest

Before long, we were both thinking there's not much different from last year's Bike Fest. Tim said, let's get the heck out of here and ride. He did not get argument from me. We rode west and up... traveling home through Deckers, pretty much the way we had ridden Friday. We stopped once again at the overlook at Long Scraggy Peak, talked to a couple from Idaho who had tried to ride Pikes Peak today but found it was closed for a race. This was their first time along the Deckers route and they were enjoying it. We explained about the Hayman burn area and pointed out Long Scraggy Peak.

As we neared home, we saw smoke billowing out of the forest west of Boulder/Longmont. This turned out to be yet another forest fire in Four Mile Canyon. We hoped they would get this one contained quickly.

This road trip was 431 miles and three days of perfect weather and fun...

Slide show of the day's ride (85 photos):