OK, TIME TO DO A LITTLE CATCH UP. THE RIDE FROM LOVELAND TO DURANGO WAS GREAT. NO RAIN, NO HAIL AND NO SNOW! THAT IS ALWAYS GOOD ON A BIKE TRIP!
FROM THE DAY BEFORE
(REMEMBER, CLICK ON PICS TO ENLARGE)
DURANGO’S ACCOMMODATIONS WERE NOT THE BEST AND I’M BEING KIND. I TOLD THE CHECK IN GIRL THAT THE PICTURE ONLINE VS THE HOTEL WERE DIFFERENT. HER RESPONSE, “LOOKS THE SAME TO ME.” I ASKED TO SEE HER COMPUTER. I ASKED HER TO GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH. POOF! DIFFERENT PICTURE. I TOLD HER I WANTED TO CANCEL. SHE TURNED AROUND AND LOOKED AT CLOCK AND SAID I MISSED THE CANCELLATION TIME BY 15 MINS. BUT, I COULD STILL CANCEL AND GET CHARGED. WE STAYED! WHAT A DUMP!
DID GO OUT AND HAD A GREAT DINNER AT STEAMWORKS BREWERY IN DURANGO. GO BY AND ORDER THE EUROPEAN (I REFUSE TO CALL IT FRENCH) DIP. THEY SMOKED THEIR OWN MEAT AND INCLUDE BEACON WITH IT. VERY GOOD.
WE ALSO NEEDED OIL CHANGES IN DURANGO. $125 FOR A BASIC FILTER AND FOUR QUARTS OF OIL. REMINDED ME WHY I DO MY OWN WORK AT HOME! GOT UP EARLY YESTERDAY AND WASHED THE SNOW AND DIRT OFF AND HEADED OUT FOR TUBA, CITY WITH A STOP AT MESA VERDE TO TOUR THE RUINS.
ALL I CAN SAY, THIS TOO NEEDS TO BE ON YOUR BUCKET LIST OF PLACES TO SEE IN AMERICA! BUILT AROUND 1050 TO 1200. IT’S SIMPLY AMAZING. PICTURES AND THE VIDEO I WILL POST LATTER DOES NOT DO IT JUSTICE. I THOUGHT I WOULD SPEND AN HOUR HERE. SPENT OVER THREE!
“HONEY, RUN TO THE STORE AND GET SOME MILK!”
THEY WOULD CARVE OUT FOOT AND HAND HOLDS WITH OTHER ROCKS TO SCALE UP AND DOWN.
THIS PLACE IS CALLED THE “HOUSE OF WINDOWS.”
THEY LOOK LIKE WINDOWS, BUT ACTUALLY DOORS.
CLOSE UP OF THE HOUSE OF WINDOWS.
THIS IS THE CANYON WHERE MOST LIVED
THIS ROCK FORMATION IS CALLED “MEXICAN HAT.” THE TOWN IS NAMED AFTER IT.
OK, OK…HERE IS A PIC OF ME! YES, I’M ACTUALLY ON THE TRIP.
THIS IS THE ROAD THAT LEADS TO MONUMENT VALLEY. YOU CAN SEE THE DUST STORMS OBSCURING THE ROCKS. I WAS A GOOD 10 MILES AWAY SO YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF HOW HARD THE WIND WAS BLOWING.
HOW DO I DESCRIBE THE RIDE YESTERDAY. IT WAS MORE LIKE BEING IN A WIND TUNNEL FOR FOUR HOURS. THE FIRST HOUR OUT OF DURANGO TO MESA VERDE WAS GOOD. AFTER THAT, IT WAS HELL! ALMOST 50-60 KTS OF CONSTANT WIND.
WE RODE SIDEWAYS 80% OF YESTERDAY’S RIDE. WHEN WE GOT TO MONUMENT VALLEY, THE WIND HAD KICKED UP THE RED SAND SO MUCH, YOU COULD NOT EVEN SEE 50% OF THE MONUMENTS. I WAS GLAD TO GET OFF THE BIKES YESTERDAY.
NOTE TO SELF….IF STAYING ON INDIAN RESERVATION (TUBA CITY) THEY DO NOT SALE BEER!
OK, TIME TO PACK THE BIKE AND RIDE OVER TO THE GRAND CANYON.
SIDE NOTE…GOT SOME GREAT NEWS AGAIN! MY BROTHER RANDY IS JOINING TANK FOR THE RIDE OUT TO MEET US AT MOAB, UT. THEY ARE RIDING 2,200 MILES IN TWO DAYS. TOLD THEM TO DOWNLOAD THE PAPER WORK FOR THEIR IRON BUTT CERTIFICATION!
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience.
The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes “sight-seeing.”