Day 4 - Colorado, In and Out

The top photo is looking out from Molas Pass, CO. The second photo is the welcoming sign Entering Colorado.

Hi everyone,

Today's total mileage was 375. Total trip mileage to date is 1839.

I left Monticello, UT at about 7:45 this morning and headed due east towards Colorado. My goal for the day was to ride over "The Million Dollar Highway and get to Taos. That was a bit much but keep reading.

After crossing the state line, I turned north so I could get on the north side of the aforementioned highway. I stopped in Norwood, CO for a bite to eat and hit the road after refueling. The winds were very bad today and it was very cloudy but I was spaired the rain.

The Million Dollar Highway starts out of Ouray, CO and summits at 11,104 feet. I have to say, it was a real grind to get up and over this road. I was stuck behind 2 large dump trucks that were crawling over the pass. Add to this, road construction and a horrible road surface. It was not real fun. The end of this section of road is in Silverton, CO. I stopped there to buy water and Gatorade and rest my wrists!

However, the fun does not stop there. Leaving Silverton, I rode over several other passes all of which were over 10,000 feet elevation. I took pictures at Molas Pass and you can view them on Picassa, here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/daveste99/ If this doesn't work for some reason, let me know.

Okay, so to make a long day shorter, I rode into Durango and needed a break. I stripped off all my outer gear, secured it to the bike and walked about town for a little while. I stopped in at a Subway for a quick sandwich. Durango is a good size tourist town. Lot's of shops, stores, restaurants and activities. It was way to busy for me so I hit the road.

By now I knew I would not make Taos. It was already 2:00pm and the GPS had my Taos ETA at 7:00PM. I tried to make it anyway. As I was getting somewhat lost on the roads south of Durango, I ended up riding through Pagossa Springs. It looked real quaint with lots of tourist stuff to do. I kept riding and ended up in Chama, NM. The road from Pagossa Springs to Chama was really nice for motorcycling and I arrived at 5:00PM, ready to get off the bike.

I wish I could tell you I have lots of pictures of the mountains, ranch lands, rivers, lakes, etc., but aI don't. The thing is, taking pictures while on a motorcycle ride is difficult. The reason is because usually the best shots are on sections of road where there is no place to pull off. There is either no shoulder or it is gravel or soft dirt with a good slope to it. Plus stopping, getting off the bike, removing at least one glove and taking a picture takes a long time. So, if you are disappointed about the lack of photos, now you know the reason why.

Anyway, I got a nice room outside of Chama and walked to town for dinner. Had a good Mexican dish and here I am, just about ready to go to sleep.

It is very, very windy outside and I think it is from all of the nasty storms to the north of here.

Tomorrow, I am going to take a circuitous route to Taos and rest my body. If I were to drive straight there from here, it is less than 100 miles but I created a nice loop route of about 280 miles so I can see more of New Mexico.

Take care,

Dave

Day 3 - Bryce Canyon and much more

Total trip mileage is 1498.

Today's total miles were about 340

Highest elevation was 9600 + feet

Temperature range was from 51 to 91 degrees

The picture on top is me standing at Rainbow Point in Bryce Canyon at over 9100 feet elevation. The other photo was taken in Capitol Reef NP.

Most of the mileage today was north/south with just a bit of east. Tomorrow I will start heading east by making my way to Colorado and riding the Million Dollar Highway down to Durango. From there I will angle down and east to the night's destination, Taos.

I could write many paragraphs about the ride today but in a nutshell - WOW!!! I cannot put into words the scenery my eyes saw today. It is indescrible and the only way to truly capture the beauty of this area is to see it for yourself. Adding to this is the fact that the roads are made for motorcycle riding. I couldn't decide if I should go fast to enjoy the curves and twists of the roads or to slow down and drink in the awesome geology and colors of the buttes, canyons and moutains. Between the roads and the scenery, it is heaven on earth, especially for a motorcyclist.

You need to get down here. Fly, drive, ride your motorcycle but just get down here. If you've been to Bryce and the other National Parks in the area, you know what I am talking about.

I will be loading all the photos to Picassa and will post the address when they are done loading.

Best wishes,

Dave

Monday - Day 2

Total mileage for the first 2 days is 1118.

I left Mtn. Home, ID this morning at 6:30AM after a good night's sleep. It was clear and sunny when I left town but soon I ran into dense ground fog that really slowed me down and hampered my visibility quite a bit. However, it didn't last long and after crossing the Snake River several times, I eventually crossed the state line, about 3 hours after starting out.

Southeast Idaho is barren! There is nothing there except lots of cattle and I did see some real cowboys herding cattle.

Riding through Ogden and Salt Lake was tedious. Lots of freeway construction and traffic. Once I cleared that it wasn't bad but I was itching to get off the freeway.

After nearly 1000 miles on the Interstate I was able to get onto back roads at Nephi, UT. I headed east then south and meandered through ranch and hill country. It was a much nicer pace and there was no traffic to contend with.

The roads I selected worked out real well because I ended up right at the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park. I was not able to get a room there and had to ride about 8 miles east to a very small town called Tropic. I lucked out and got one of the last rooms in town.

Tomorrow, I am riding back to Bryce Canyon and will go into the park to explore and take pictures. I rode by the outskirts of the park on the way to Tropic and I couldn't believe the rock formations that I saw! I can't wait to get into Bryce and other parks to see these amazing formations.

It will be a much shorter day tomorrow as the roads around here are clogged with tourists, motorhomes, buses, etc. I do not know where I will end up tomororw night but I am not going to wait so long to get a room at the end of the day.

I'll post again when I can.

Dave

Day 1 of my 'round the country trip

I started just before 6:00 AM this morning in dry and cool weather. The ride to Mountain Home, ID was uneventful and long at 550 miles. I did ride over numerous mountain passes and crossed the 45th Parallel where it crosses the Powder River in Oregon.

I arrived in Mountain Home at about 5:00PM (local Mountain time) in the rain. There were severe thunder storms in the nearby mountians but I just got drizzled on. I quickly found a room for the night, unpacked the bike and had dinner.

Tomorrow is another long riding day as I will be riding another 550 miles to Panguitch, UT. This is a small town somewhat close to Bryce Canyon. No pictures today but after tomorrow, I should have a bunch to share.

Dave

Picture of route from Seattle to Chapel Hill

You can get an idea of my route from this map. Sorry for the numbers but that's Street and Trips for ya...

Departure date is set

I will be leaving Bellevue on Sunday June 1st with my first destination being Mountain Home, ID for my first night out. This day's travel will be pretty boring because it will be all freeway travel with the goal of getting to Utah as quickly as possible.

Hopefully, the weather will cooperate for my first day on the road.

My plan is to take up to 12 days to get to Chapel Hill, NC. I don't know if that is too long, too short or just right. According to the route that I have mapped out and if I stick to it, I will be riding just over 4,000 miles to my destination.

I do plan on spending a couple of days in Utah riding around the big parks like Arches, Moab, etc. then onto Colorado, New Mexico and other southeasterly points.

Stay tuned for more posts and pictures as the ride progresses.

Preparation for the trip

My 2003 Goldwing recently had the 40K service done and it is ready to hit the road.

Currently, I am plotting the route to North Carolina which is the furthest destination east that I will ride to. More on this later.

The departure date is yet to be set but it will be the 3rd or 4th week of this month.

Dave