Rockie Mountain Trip - Day +4
We started the day with clean motorcycles! We washed them last night. They looked pretty good at this point of the day. My bike is the silver one in the forground. Steves is green in the background.
Today was a majestic ride. At every corner we thought the view could not get any better. Then we'd go around the next corner and we'd have another majestic sight. God's gift to us!.
We left Cedaredge Co this morning and road towards the city of Delta, then we turned east and south to Gunnison. The road followed the Black Canyon. This canyon is very deep and with steep walls. But all around it are beautiful mountain passes. It was in this region that Steve came face to face with a 12 point buck (deer) standing in the midde of the road. We passed 4 deer total in this section. At the end of this section is another Hydro Dam and a lake (Blue Mesa). We stopped for a few minutes and talked to a older couple from Europe. They were interested in knowing about the route we took and appreciated the warning that we gave them about deer.
After Gunnison we followed the wonderful route 149 south to South Fork. South Fork is a fun little town. We had lunch there; more on that later. On this route there were multiple mountain passes for us to go over; with a variety of twists, turns, ups and downs. I experienced a couple of optical illusions on this section of the road. The first was that the bolders along side the road were turing purple. I attribute this to an affect my sun glasses and helmet visor have on polarizing the object I look at. The next illusion was associated with the river we were following. The river was flowing the opposite direction we were traveling. We were traveling down hill in the opposite direction. Do you get it! The water was flowing downstream in the opposite direction that we were traveling and we were going downhill. How can two objects going in opposite directions both be going down? The answer is simple. If you think you know it reply to this post. I'll let you know if your correct.
My brother Steve and I are very similiar in a lot of ways. We like most of the same food. We have similiar motorcycle riding styles. We like to ski. We have traveled together on trips like this for over 30 years. There were road trips to U. P. Michigan and ski trips to this state of Colorado. We know most of each others habits, skills and endurance level. There is area where we differ. Our sleep patterns. Steve goes to sleep early, I go to sleep late. Steve gets up early; and when I travel with him, that means I get up early also. Argh.... Steve let me sleep in this morning to 6:15AM. Well, his early risings gets us on the road in a timely manner. Today, Steve was hitting the wall while traveling. He was having trouble staying awake while on the road. But each of know our limits and we aren't to proud to admit when we need a break. We took a lengthy break at South Fork to let each of us clear the cobwebs from our brains. Then we finished the trip from South Forks through Pagosa Springs and then to Durango. When we got to the motel, Steve crashed for a nap before dinner.
As for stops; There were no gas stops. We made it 330 miles on one tank of gas. Lunch was at a great little restaurant in Lake City called Southern Vittles. My wife LoriAnn would love it cause they served Catfish and Ochra. Although we didn't get fuel in route, we did take an extended break in South Fork. We topped off the tanks tonight. I only used 6.1 gallons to make the 330 miles. That was more than 50MPG!
Dinner tonight was at the Mexican restaurant call Tequila. Good Mexican food. I had a great burrito and Steve had Fajita''s.
Not sure of our plans for tomarrow. We may head down to 4 Corners and then up the Western edge of CO. Or maybe we'll just go up the Western edge. Stay tuned to find out.
TTFN - LA I love you lots - Todd
We left Cedaredge Co this morning and road towards the city of Delta, then we turned east and south to Gunnison. The road followed the Black Canyon. This canyon is very deep and with steep walls. But all around it are beautiful mountain passes. It was in this region that Steve came face to face with a 12 point buck (deer) standing in the midde of the road. We passed 4 deer total in this section. At the end of this section is another Hydro Dam and a lake (Blue Mesa). We stopped for a few minutes and talked to a older couple from Europe. They were interested in knowing about the route we took and appreciated the warning that we gave them about deer.After Gunnison we followed the wonderful route 149 south to South Fork. South Fork is a fun little town. We had lunch there; more on that later. On this route there were multiple mountain passes for us to go over; with a variety of twists, turns, ups and downs. I experienced a couple of optical illusions on this section of the road. The first was that the bolders along side the road were turing purple. I attribute this to an affect my sun glasses and helmet visor have on polarizing the object I look at. The next illusion was associated with the river we were following. The river was flowing the opposite direction we were traveling. We were traveling down hill in the opposite direction. Do you get it! The water was flowing downstream in the opposite direction that we were traveling and we were going downhill. How can two objects going in opposite directions both be going down? The answer is simple. If you think you know it reply to this post. I'll let you know if your correct.
My brother Steve and I are very similiar in a lot of ways. We like most of the same food. We have similiar motorcycle riding styles. We like to ski. We have traveled together on trips like this for over 30 years. There were road trips to U. P. Michigan and ski trips to this state of Colorado. We know most of each others habits, skills and endurance level. There is area where we differ. Our sleep patterns. Steve goes to sleep early, I go to sleep late. Steve gets up early; and when I travel with him, that means I get up early also. Argh.... Steve let me sleep in this morning to 6:15AM. Well, his early risings gets us on the road in a timely manner. Today, Steve was hitting the wall while traveling. He was having trouble staying awake while on the road. But each of know our limits and we aren't to proud to admit when we need a break. We took a lengthy break at South Fork to let each of us clear the cobwebs from our brains. Then we finished the trip from South Forks through Pagosa Springs and then to Durango. When we got to the motel, Steve crashed for a nap before dinner.As for stops; There were no gas stops. We made it 330 miles on one tank of gas. Lunch was at a great little restaurant in Lake City called Southern Vittles. My wife LoriAnn would love it cause they served Catfish and Ochra. Although we didn't get fuel in route, we did take an extended break in South Fork. We topped off the tanks tonight. I only used 6.1 gallons to make the 330 miles. That was more than 50MPG!
Dinner tonight was at the Mexican restaurant call Tequila. Good Mexican food. I had a great burrito and Steve had Fajita''s.
Not sure of our plans for tomarrow. We may head down to 4 Corners and then up the Western edge of CO. Or maybe we'll just go up the Western edge. Stay tuned to find out.
TTFN - LA I love you lots - Todd
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