Thursday, June 6 2019
Alberto writes:
Somewhere on highway 12
Escalante us on highway 12, not far from highway 89.
Out of Escalante, the road is magnificent. No, I am way short in describing its beauty. Twisty. Riding (a ridge) with vistas to the left and right. Red rocks, white rocks, striped rocks. The sedimentation is evident on every mountain. Not exactly “mountains”, but rather canyons or downward mountains would be an odd description, but applicable. Truly a view.
Soon we arrive to Hell’s Backbone Grill, a rated three star in the Michelin Guide of restaurants. Better yet, without the three star price! Now that was value! I don’t know what the other guys had, but my “purple corn” with a strawberry along real maple syrup it was … indescribable. The only glitch… they had a sign by the door with every conceivable Liberal Slogan. It was pathetic. Okay to be liberal, just don’t shove it down my throat with breakfast!
Back on the road, Highway 24 gets better and better. Sharp turns, sweeping turns, straight were you can really throttle-it-up. One glitch, hot. Very hot.
Highway 12 to 24 then to 95 drops us in Monticello, Colorado.
Nearby Monticello is a mountain, not big, but big enough to gather clouds, thunder and lightning. After a local rain (fooled me into putting rain gear), after a short distance…. clear skies.
We arrived to the town of Cortez, Colorado. Chris and Jeff had had enough for the day riding . Lester and Alberto wanted to continue onto Durango, another 44 miles. Tired and all we prevailed by saying that if we don’t , then tomorrow we’d have to do 400 plus miles. That! Is a bad idea.
So, here we are, Durango, another Days Inn motel. It’s not a bad place.
Time to call it quits.
[note: Pics that go with this report were too small. If larger pics are sent I’ll add them to the report.]
Still Thursday, June 6 2019
Very late Late in the evening.
The ride to Durango was uneventful only if you consider Chris taking the lead from Lester (who is not a poke, at 80 mph). No sooner was Chris in the lead that he takes off at 90 mph and dies not let up until we arrive in Durango. We lost Jeff somewhere on the road. He chose to ride a more sedate ride and took a different road… good for him, because CHRIS IS CRAZY!!
For the uninitiated. Chris has two modes:
slow poke following some ding-bat car that goes 10 below the limit. He patiently is happy to follow.
Then there is this wild beast that anything under 25 mph OVER the limit, well, that’s just too slow!
Chris off, is en nerving. Chris on, is en nerving. If it weren’t for the pipe you’d leave him behind!
So, we arrived to Durango. Get settled at the Days Inn Motel.
Right off the bat comes out the Jim Beam. Ahh, but he ain’t alone! Lester, another one that drinks like a fish. But he says, “ah, not always. Only when I travel with… Chris! Yeah Right!
Dinner HAD to be across the street, these two are in no condition to be near a motorcycle… they may decide to ride!
The restaurant is a Chipotle look alike, it ain’t Chipotle, but just the same. Chris with two sheets in the wind is ogling at anything that looks like a female (not even the dog was safe). Jeff, well, he may not drink but that does not stop him! Yes sir! The females are not safe.
We crawled Back to the motel were I left Lester and Chris, by their motel door, polishing off another Jim Beam.
Friday, Jun 7 2019 [Durango, Colorado]
It’s morning! Everyone is up and about.
Jeff announces that he will not ride with us today. He wants to take pictures and make many stops. Lester is not much for stopping, so that suits him well. Chris stays with Lester and Alberto, I guess he will not take many pipe-smoking-breaks.
And we strike in two groups, three go early, Jeff later.
We are anticipating today’s ride to be boring and uneventful. Lester who is familiar with this ride, warned us: “there will be lots of traffic. It will be very slow going at first, but then gets better after the mountain pass “. Prophetic words.
Durango to Lamar is some 350 miles (a bit more). It is hot. It is slow. And Lester was right.
As I had been denied going to McDonalds they suggested we go there today. Ooops, spoke too soon. There it was a Delta Queen, or Daily Queen, whatever. The name. Chris could not pass it up.
All I could consider food was a hotdog and
Onion rings. The guys had something I could not recognize. Burp!
Back on the rod, Chris takes the lead… and you know what that means. Zzzooommmm! He’s gone like the wind. Lester and I are left in his dust.
Lester suggest we get gas. Some time soon because once we are on highway 10, “that’s it! There is nothing!”
Highway 10 goes for 180 miles and bends only once. I have not been on a straight rode for these many miles in a long time. Laster our fearless leader kept it at the speed limit… plus 25 mph, fir good measure.
Eventually we arrived to Rocky Forge, faster than fast. Got some gas and Lester HAD to send a postcard to a niece/granddaughter or something like that. It was of interest to visit a post office at least a century old.
Sixty more miles and we are in Lamar.
What a dumpy town!! Gee- wilakers. This place is amazing it exists at all. But it had a Days Inn motel, imagine that!
Chris, who had taken lead on locating a motel, goes right by the Days Inn… what!? Keeps going a makes a right turn at a motel that is literally falling apart… even Chris said: “nope, not here”. That’s how bad it was. A little further he directs to the Holidays Motel, with a logo: American Owned. Wow! How can we pass this. I don’t like it. Lester suggest, before taking a room to inspect and see what in heavens are they inside. I sit on my bike not wanting to take any part of this flea-infested joint.
“Hey Alberto, not bad looks runned down and old, but seems clean ”. Not wanting to rock the boat, I accept the facility.
After an hour Jeff, who had gone his own, arrives.
The group is again together and hungry. The Hickory Pit, it sounds kinda blah. Let me tell you, these Colorado folk eat very well. I had a hamburger … 1/2 pound of beef. Had to leave the bread behind and focus only in the meat. It was all I could down.
I should close this story, we are about to go back to the motel… and Chris and Lester are itching for some Jim Beam. This can not possibly end now.
Like I thought , it did not end. Lester is stressing about the roads and destination for tomorrow.
We just spent the last hour mapping tomorrow’s ride. Neither Chris, not Jeff add their opinion in the choosing of roads but, boy! They sure knock down the parts they don’t like. It is like, okay you do the planning and I reserve veto power. In my book that is BS! Pure, unadulterated BS! Here is the sad part, Lester is willing to redo all the planning to acomódate this vetoing people.
I am done! I quit planning. I am willing to go wherever… no veto. You plan it… I go! Just do not ask me to plan anything, whatever you plan, approved! End of it. I know, I’m a tough customer.
Does it sound like I am fuming… you bet! Worry not, in another twenty minutes I will have forgotten the whole thing. In fact, having said it, I am already fine.
Now this story is done