Three Times is a Charm: July 2010

Saturday, July 31, 2010

It's a long one folks....Thursday, Friday, & Saturday....

We arrived at Larry & Susie's in Montrose mid-afternoon on Thursday. Montrose is a beautiful town of about 15,000, and has 360 degree views of mountains. Being on the west side, it's more of a desert but they have an irrigation system that is mountain fed, keeping grass green and flowers blooming. That night, Kirsti & Jason and their children Joe, Hannah & Sarah. The girls are twins (if you couldn't tell) and had a dance demo on Main Street for a weekly Main attraction. It was fun to see them all together.

L to R: Susie, Larry, Joe, Jason, Sarah, Hannah, & Kirstie

Sarah

Hannah

View from Montrose Cemetery

Civil War tombstone: 40th Iowa Infantry

Friday was spent relaxing with the Ugland's. We enjoyed spending time with Larry & Susie, seeing Montrose, hitting the Harley shop (our first on this trip), and just visiting with family.

SATURDAY, JULY 31
Our plan is to ride the rides and see the sights!

We started in Montrose, rode north to Whitewater, and followed the Unaweep Canyon ride marked in yellow, far left. We highly recommend seeing this amazing area on a motorcycle! We are staying the night in Ouray, CO.

Our first stop:

Yes. Those are bullet holes.

The Pallisade. One of the most photographed in Colorado (they say)

Gateway Canyon. Note elevation at 4550. We went up and down all day!

Gateway Canyon Outpost. It's a resort with lots of activities and surrounded by gorgeous...well, you know! The Pallisade is directly across from the outpost.

Thimble Rock

Thimble Rock & Driggs Mansion remains

By the time we reached Naturita, it was thundering and lightening. The pattern in this part of the country is a late afternoon thundershower...a gully washer. They call this the monsoon season. We both own rainsuits but have never had need to wear them. We ducked into a carwash just as it started to get some big drops and stayed there about 45 minutes watching the rain & lightening. We were joined by a couple who were going the other way and had been in the downpour for quite a while. We finally donned our rainsuits and broke them in...and we didn't melt!

Arrived safe & sound in Ouray!

Stay tuned....tomorrow is Durango!!

Friday, July 30, 2010

Altitude Sickness?

Oh yeah, 11,312 feet is definitely high altitude. I felt fine riding on the bike but as soon as we slowed down and I tried to walk...I was a noodle and lost all coordination. Walk 5 feet and catch your breath.

We went through Monarch Pass on our way to Montrose yesterday. What beautiful views at every curve here. The mountains seem to go on forever and ever. Here are a few pics from yesterday.

Dangerous foliage? Thistle!

On the way up to the pass

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Vacation is finally here!!

Our trip to South Dakota last year was exhilarating! We decided to continue west this year. I (Lois) have never been west of the Devil's Tower and I believe everyone has been to Colorado except me! Dave's cousin Larry & wife Susie live in Montrose, Colorado so we will be going there, plus Dave's sister Diane lives in Placitas, New Mexico and we have NEVER been there! So here we go.....

We left Cedar Falls, Iowa on Sunday, July 25 around 8:30 and arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska at 3:00 pm. I have never been to Nebraska. I've been told so many stories about it that I was actually scared to go there. "Boring, boring, boring..." Well of course, from Interstate 80 you can't see anything but corn & soybeans. Once in a while you could smell the cows but couldn't see the farm they were on. Once we left I-80 on Monday at Kearney, Nebraska and started south toward Kansas, it got a bit more interesting, if not eye-opening. Kansas ranges from hilly ranch land to flat farm land. Miles and miles of corn and soybeans & wheat. Some sunflower fields. The corn in Nebraska and Kansas doesn't look near as healthy or as tall as Iowa corn. Of course, they have had MUCH less rain that we have had. When it says "Sandy Creek" they aren't kidding! Many rivers and creeks were so low, they hardly had water in them. Iowa needs to share :o). Lots of grayed, weathered farms and towns that looked as though no one lived there. Ghost farms. You could tell that times have been hard over the years in this part of the country.

Needless to say, there are no pics from these 2 states unless it is of our bikes. We didn't stop very often, averaging 300 miles per day. Our 3rd day, Tuesday, led us into Colorado at Burlington. We continued on to Colorado Springs to find a freeway with stop lights and 65mph in between. The lights got closer together and the speed went down to 30mph in places. YUK! It made for tiring riding but we persevered to The Garden of the gods near Manitou Springs. It's a free state park and has a day full of activities, IF you are up to hiking, climbing, adventuring, etc. By the time we drove the grueling ride through Colorado Springs traffic, Lois was crabby and tired and hot. We rode through the park on our bikes, stopping for pictures. No hiking this day! It was a beautiful park though, and had a very nice visitor's center with history and beautiful gifts from the area. We ended up riding through the park 3 times!

The pictures are kinda out of order from Wednesday but there's so much to post. I'll let y'all have a look and fix it later when I'm home.

Tuesday morning in Colby, Kansas. Ready to roll!

Visitor's Center, Burlington, Colorado

1st pic at Garden of the gods

Kissing camels

Garden of the gods visitor's center. There was also a film, "How did these red rocks get here?"

Balanced Rock

Big Sandstone rock wall

Dave & Lois

WEDNESDAY JULY 28

The Royal Gorge state park. Once you pay the park admission, just about every activity/ride is included!
Incline Railway

Built in 1931, and traveling at a 45-degree angle, America's steepest Incline Railway is still considered one of the most difficult structures ever built. Here, timeless granite walls loom all around as you descend over 1,500 feet to the canyon floor, a mere 50 feet at its widest.