Rockie Mountain Trip - Day +7
We left Loveland and flew up Interstate 24 to HW 14. Then we headed east on 14 to Sterling CO. At Sterling we turned north on HW 138 and then HW 113/19 to Sydney . At Sydney we jumped on HW 385 to Alliance. We turned right on HW 2. Somewhere just pass Hyannis NE we got lost. We made our way to HW 61, then turned north on HW 61 and turned right on HW 20 making our way to Valentine NE. A total of 460 miles.
Just outside of Alliance was an interesting site called Carhenge. Modeled after the Stonehenge monument in England, but made out of old cars. This has been a bonus check point for various motorcycle rally's including the MN 1000; which I have run several times. Steve has been here before, but this was my first visit. An interesting artistic impression.
The city of Alliance is a central hub for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad. We must have seen 20 trains running into and out of Alliance on HW 385 and HW 2. Most of them were coal trains, loaded and empty. I'm not sure where the coal is coming from but there are a lot of empty cars coming into Alliance to be filled.
Getting lost in the Sand hills - Based on Steve's map, a twisty road ran from HW 2 to HW 20 just east of Hyannis. We turned on the road and started down it. A sign told us it was a single lane road. We hesitated but then thought - what the heck, as long it remained paved - no problem. It was a single lane road that went to no where. Not a tree in site. Once in awhile we would see a homestead or ranch. But these were rare. For over 20 miles this went on; and on; and on.
The paved road turned to gravel for a short stretch and then went back to pavement at an intersection. OK; just a temporary setback we thought and we headed down the pavement. Then the pavement went away again when we reach another intersection. Because the map said this should be paved and maps never lie, we followed what look like the road. The other direction appeared to be a drive way to a farm. This is where I think we made the mistake. The gravel road went on and on. 12 miles of gravel and sand. 12 miles of complete misery. A couple of times I thought I was going to loose it but fought through it. We persevered through the agony and then suddenly broke out onto HW 61. Sorry, I didn't get picures of the gravel/sand road; I was to busy working the bike.
Hot, tired, and thirsty we crossed over into the Central Time Zone and pulled into Valentine around 6:30PM.
Today's stops included a fuel break in Sterling CO and a topoff in Hyannis NE. Lunch was in Alliance NE.
Tonights restaurant was called Jordans. A local establishment. Steve had some Prime Rib pasta dish. I had a chicken pasta dish. Again the restaurant was right next door to the motel. After dinner we rinsed the bikes off. There was a lot of dust and bugs that needed to be removed.
We'll be home tomorrow night.
TTFN - LA I can't wait to see you - Todd
Just outside of Alliance was an interesting site called Carhenge. Modeled after the Stonehenge monument in England, but made out of old cars. This has been a bonus check point for various motorcycle rally's including the MN 1000; which I have run several times. Steve has been here before, but this was my first visit. An interesting artistic impression.
The city of Alliance is a central hub for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad. We must have seen 20 trains running into and out of Alliance on HW 385 and HW 2. Most of them were coal trains, loaded and empty. I'm not sure where the coal is coming from but there are a lot of empty cars coming into Alliance to be filled.
Getting lost in the Sand hills - Based on Steve's map, a twisty road ran from HW 2 to HW 20 just east of Hyannis. We turned on the road and started down it. A sign told us it was a single lane road. We hesitated but then thought - what the heck, as long it remained paved - no problem. It was a single lane road that went to no where. Not a tree in site. Once in awhile we would see a homestead or ranch. But these were rare. For over 20 miles this went on; and on; and on.
The paved road turned to gravel for a short stretch and then went back to pavement at an intersection. OK; just a temporary setback we thought and we headed down the pavement. Then the pavement went away again when we reach another intersection. Because the map said this should be paved and maps never lie, we followed what look like the road. The other direction appeared to be a drive way to a farm. This is where I think we made the mistake. The gravel road went on and on. 12 miles of gravel and sand. 12 miles of complete misery. A couple of times I thought I was going to loose it but fought through it. We persevered through the agony and then suddenly broke out onto HW 61. Sorry, I didn't get picures of the gravel/sand road; I was to busy working the bike.
Hot, tired, and thirsty we crossed over into the Central Time Zone and pulled into Valentine around 6:30PM.
Today's stops included a fuel break in Sterling CO and a topoff in Hyannis NE. Lunch was in Alliance NE.
Tonights restaurant was called Jordans. A local establishment. Steve had some Prime Rib pasta dish. I had a chicken pasta dish. Again the restaurant was right next door to the motel. After dinner we rinsed the bikes off. There was a lot of dust and bugs that needed to be removed.
We'll be home tomorrow night.
TTFN - LA I can't wait to see you - Todd
Comments
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070711/NEWS/70711010
About 44 percent of the state's 1.5 million acres of lodgepole pine are now infested by beetles, or about 660,000 acres. The epidemic can't be stopped, only managed to reduce the risk of wildfires. That will change the look of Colorado's forests as more pine trees die and are replaced with new ones... - db