Colorado, USA
Fort Collins, CO -- September 7th: After a good night's sleep in The Cave (upstairs big boys bedroom), we rose to rain in Frisco. Bah! Watching the forecast for the local area and Colorado prompted us to get ourselves together and get on the road. We said a quick goodbye and thanks to Stormy, Rob and Chevy for their hospitality and rode out of there just after 8 am.
We rode in light rain at first, then heavy rain and some small hail. By the time we reached Nocona, we needed to stop to dry out a bit and grab a cup of coffee and a light breakfast. Stopping for that short period of time gave the rain time to catch up with us. We had hard rain until nearly Henrietta.
The plan for the return trip was to ride across southern OK, through the Wichita Mountains and back through Mountain Park to visit our friends Don and Nancy. With that weather bearing down upon us, we reluctantly nixed that idea and rode across north Texas on roads with which we are more familiar. Looking over our shoulder at the dark clouds brewing, we didn't stop in Wichita Falls for one last visit with the Folks. I called Mom and told her we were riding on through in an attempt to get ahead of the storms.
We stopped at a rest stop near Quanah to stretch and drink the thermos of coffee Stormy thoughtfully prepared for our ride. I spoke with a man pulling a horse trailer who said he had seen us riding in the rain near Henrietta. He said he wanted to tell us that he had spoken with a friend in Amarillo and the friend had told him skies were clear in the panhandle. I thanked him for that welcome information. We rode on and eventually out from under stormy skies about Amarillo. Skies were not clear, but it was not raining either. After that, we had fair, but very windy riding conditions. We rolled into Raton just after 8 pm, checked into the Motel 6 and called it a day.
September 8th: After a good breakfast at the All Seasons Restaurant, we rode out from Raton under cloudy skies. It was chilly until after Colorado Springs. We didn't piddle-fart around on the way home. That's what Dad calls it when we do not take the straight road home. Too bad, we really excel at piddle-fartin'. Ha! The weather forecast did not look good for the afternoon so we did not stray from I-25 until we reached the southern edge of Denver when we adjusted our route to avoid rush hour and to travel one of our favorite routes home along the weatern edge of Denver. Once again, we managed to stay just ahead of the storms that were brewing all along the way. About an hour after getting home, we had rain and gusty winds. More wind than rain. We are still under a wildfire advisory. We could see the smoke from the wildfire near Boulder as we rode in about 3:30 in the afternoon. It is a good thing we did not take a mountain ride home because it would have been a smoky ride.
There are no photos of the ride home. I packed the camera where it would stay dry before we rode out from Dallas yesterday and that is where it stayed since the weather threatened and it was windy most of the way.
Vik & Tim - Road Trip #3 - Texas State HOG Rally - Wichita Falls, TXWe had a great time in Texas! If we saw you, rode with you, shared a meal or a cup of coffee or an ice cream with you, or met you for the first time - we are glad of it. If we missed you, we are sorry about it and will try to do better about making the rounds next time. Road Trip #3 to the Texas HOG Rally is our last big trip of the year on the motorcycle. We are out of vacation and almost out of money. Ha! Fall is hard upon us in Colorado. Soon our riding will be more limited than we like. The winter months will have us sitting before the fire with a road atlas and the ride planner, dreaming of where to ride and who to see next summer.
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