Day 2
We left Childress on Saturday morning headed for Las Vegas, New Mexico. I love the landscape of New Mexico. So different from most of Texas. It was a pretty warm ride but the group made plenty of stops for fuel, water, restroom breaks and of course lunch. On part of the trip, we could see the original Route 66 alongside the interstate, and another group of bikers riding it. In many places, Route 66 is the same as interstate 40 but veers off in other places.
Day 3
Left Las Vegas, NM, and headed north to Taos. Some nice riding and some nicer temps. Outside Taos we passed by The Earthship Biotecture community. Google it to read about it. Interesting homes and buildings built into the land. The epitome of sustainable living. Sorry that I don't have pics of this, as I was riding my bike. Unfortunately there are lots of marvelous views that only exist in my head. Maybe a Go-Pro camera is in our future. LOL!
A short ride farther up the road brought us to the Rio Grand Gorge. We had seen it a few years ago but from quite a distance on our drive from Santa Fe to Taos on an RV trip. Up close...WOW! Also interesting to see it in this area since we had been in Big Bend right by the river in March.
Jim at Rio Grande Gorge.The ride on to Cortez, Colorado, took us through some really beautful scenery and towns. Lunch at a really cute little bar in Chama, NM.
Pagosa Springs was one of my favs. Sure would like to venture back that direction at some point and take the time to explore.
mountains around Pagosa Springs
This trip was such a great overview of the best riding in Colorado, giving us both lots of desire to return. When you are a in a large group, the schedule is important as well as keeping up with everyone. Being a pretty new rider, that is a bit more challenging for me if I get the least bit behind.
We were upgraded to a king suite in Cortez at the Best Western due to the regular rooms not being clean yet. A nice perk.
Day 4
The million Dollar Highway! We rode back into Durango to the Harley dealership there for t-shirts, etc and then headed up the road to the famous highway. Very challenging for me but also very fun. I was so pleased with my ability to negotiate all the tight up and down turns. A proud accomplisment. If you watch a youtube video, "colorado motorcycle trip, million dollar highway, silverton to ouray colorado" you will see what the road is like. It is about a 20 minute video but great and showing the actually ride.
Some of our group rode the train from Silverton to Ouray instead of the the Million Dollar highway ride that day, which they thoroughly enjoyed. That would be something we would like to do next time.
Lunch in Ouray, one of the prettiest little Colorado towns I've ever seen! When I got off my bike, I immediatley announced to Jim that I was selling our house and moving there! LOL!!!
The next few pictures are of Ouray, Colorado. soooo pretty!
After lunch we ventured on, passing through Telluride and then taking highway 145 back down to Cortez. OMG! what a fabulous and beautiful ride! Beautful meadows, mountains, rushing frothy mountain streams and nice sweeping curves. A perfect ride after lunch. When we got back to Cortez, these two old folks were pretty beat and opted to pick up beer and stay in our room and order in pizza. Good decision!
We left our hotels each morning at 7 to 7:30 in order to hit the road to the next town. That schedule allowed for stopping at places for views and photos. We stayed two nights in Cortez and Colorado Springs. The other nights were single nights. Each morning we would clean off the bug and dirt accumulation from the previous day before taking off. If you don't do that, it just becomes too major a job. We saw one bike at our Colorado Springs hotel that was caked in bugs and were so glad we had taken the time to keep up and remove the mess each day, before adding to it on the ride that day.
Day 5
Martin, our guide, promised that the ride from Cortez to Grand Junction was one of the prettiest in Colorado, mile for mile, and he was spot on! The first part was highway 145 that we had ridden after lunch the previous day from Telluride back to Cortez so I was happy to do that one again. We stopped to take in some of Colorado's beauty in several spots.
Our stop for that night was in Grand Junction and it was 100 degress when we rolled into that city. I had not expected the heat we experienced in some areas. Guess I thought Colorado is always cooler in the summer but that is not true. The nights and mornings are cooler but the daytime in some areas can be blistering! After we checked into our hotels, many of us saddled back up for a ride up the Colorado National Monument National park. Beautiful vistas and a challenging road in some spots. Although we were hot and tired when we got to Grand Junction, I am so glad we decided to do that ride. the next few pics were taken there.
Also got upgraded to a suite again! Woohoo! there was some confusion on our reservation and the King rooms were taked so a suite it was, at no additional charge. WooHoo!!!
A yummy dinner at Outback after the Colorado National Monument. They have a new salad, Sesame with Ahi tuna. Absolutely the best thing I have ever had at Outback!
Day 6
On to Colorado Springs for two nights. Did about 75 miles on intersate 70 over to Glenwood Springs, Then on to Aspen and Independence Pass. We passed through Aspen proper, and after braving their horrible traffic jam to get into the city, we were presented with some of the prettiest homes and gardens we had seen. I can certainly see why the rich and famous have homes there. It actually reminded me of Mill Valley, California. Just beautiful!
Independence Pass and the Contineental Divide. Another rather challenging ride of which I am very proud. Snow at the top.
We stopped for lunch in Buena Vista, during which time a small rain storm blew in. We all donned our raingear before riding on toward the Springs. The rain only lasted about 20 minutes but in the distance we could see lightening, which is always a bit scary when you are out in the boonies on a steel machine. Yikes! As we came on in toward Colorado Springs, we rode in more showers that were forming over the mountains. This is the view of Pikes Peak from our hotel room.
and with a storm hanging over it later in the afternoon.
Day 7
On Thursday, June 26, when most of our group was riding over to do Pikes Peak, I opted to take the day to relax a bit, knowing that the next two days were hard highway riding on the road home.
Meg and George joined us for a spin through Garden of the Gods and lunch in the sweet little nearby town of Manitou Springs.
Day 8
Starting home is always sad but we are also always happy to get back home. The ride on Friday took us to Amarillo where we had a farewell dinner at the Big Texas Restaurant. Lots of kitch, not much in the way of quality food (my opinion) but another fun time with our fellow travelers.
Its a wrap!!
1. My second bike trip. 2476 miles.
2. Gained lots of experience on curves and challenging roads.
3. Weather temps ranging cold to blistering hot!
4. made lots of great friends. Maybe the best part of the trip!!!
5. Helped us both to realize that I would need a bigger bike for doing some serious touring. Little Stella was a great bike but has a tough time when keeping up with the big guys on the highway and still having me feel secure. So on June 30, I got this fabulous new 2015 Street Glide Special!
Ready for the next big adventure!!!
