Our Ride up Pike's Peak....What an Unexpected Adventure!

 

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

 

 

We left Cripple Creek on our way to Cheyenne, WY.  Coming down the mountain from Cripple Creek, Rt 24, is kind of a harrowing experience.  Georgie downshifted but still had to use the brakes pretty regularly. 

 

Big Horn Sheep we saw on our way down the mountain

It took us about 1 1/2 hours to go 45 miles, to Colorado Springs.  We smelled something but thought it was someone in front of us because our windows were up.  I rolled my window down...it was us doing some serious smoking.

Georgie pulled over on the shoulder...yep...our brakes were SMOKIN'!!

We waited a while for them to cool off 'cause Georgie got under the truck and put the Infrared Temperature Gun on the brakes...280 DEGREES!  Those suckers were really hot!

He said, "Find a Ford Dealer.  We are getting new brakes."  I found a dealer about 5 miles away.  He then said, "Find a campground for a few days."  I found a campground about 2 miles away for 3 days.  (kind of a dive, Fountain Creek RV Park) but it served our purpose.

We pulled in, got unhooked and Georgie went to the Ford Dealer.  He came back with an appointment for the next day at 7:30 am.  Wheeewwww!





 

 

Since we were too far in Cripple Creek to go to Pike's Peak we decided, "Hell!  We're only 10 miles from there now!  Let's ride it!"

 

 

Thursday, August 18, 2016

 





So we did!  What a thrill! 

We left at 9:30 am and got to the top at 11:30 am.  It was 70 degrees when we left but we still wore our leather jackets.  We were SO glad we did!  It got colder & colder as we went up.  By the time we got to the top it was 42 degrees.  We were FREEZING our asses off!

We got some hot chocolate, bought a few small souvenirs, peed, took some amazing pictures then headed down. 

Georgie said it was more thrilling than riding up The Million Dollar Highway to Silverton & Ouray.  Most of the switchbacks were marked 10 mph...I went 5 mph 'cause most didn't have guardrails! 

Of course I had to talk to myself out loud...again.  A lot of HOLT SHIT! and YOU GOTTA BE F'ING KIDDING ME! as well as REALLY!  All while trying to keep Georgie (the pro) in sight.  He was pretty good...he'd tap his brakes if he went around a corner that I should slow down for.  He obviously didn't know...I WAS SLOWING DOWN FOR EACH & EVERY CORNER!

On the way up some smartass on a BMW passed me!  On a curve!  Those f'ing bikes are too quiet!  I didn't even hear him.  I only saw him when he went whizzing by me!

Another thrill of a lifetime!

 

We picked up the truck when we got back to town.  Georgie decided to have 4 new tires put on the rear & get an oil change.

We were ready to head out Friday morning for Cheyenne, WY.

What a great, unexpected stop!



Our ride to Silverton and Ouray, Colorado...

Monday, August 1, 2016

Moved from Cortez, CO to Durango, CO for 2 reasons.  1^st, Annie still had to see the Vet in Durango.  2^nd, we wanted to ride the Million Dollar Highway to Silverton then on to Ouray.

Got settled into our new park, Alpen Rose RV Park by 2pm. 

 

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Well…we left the rig at 9:15 am to ride the Million Dollar Highway. 

Before I go any further you have to know that I have only ridden in Florida…it’s very, very flat!  Very flat!  We have to look hard to find a road with curves and rarely find hills let alone mountains.

Anyway, we got to Silverton at 11:15 am.  It was only 41 miles but it took us 2 hours!  Parts of this road were terrifying!!  No shoulders on some parts and NO GUARDRAILS…ON SWITCHBACKS, some were double switchbacks!!!!  I mean to tell you…when you looked down…you couldn’t see the bottom. 

Georgie decided he would pull over at an overlook…on a huge incline…on a curve!  I just kept on going!  Again…are you f***ing kidding me?  I pulled over about ¾ of a mile further…where it was a little more level.  He caught up.  He said, “What the hell!  I thought you’d want to take some pictures.”  “NOT THERE!” I said.  Maybe on the way back…where the overlooks where on the side where there were mountains…not humongous cliffs.

When we stopped in Silverton, Georgie said to me, “did you see blah, blah, blah?” 

“Are you f***ing kidding me!  I kept my eyes straight ahead!  I wasn’t looking at anything but the road on those curves!”

We walked around Silverton for about an hour.  Picked up a couple of Harley shirts then back on the bikes to head on up to Ouray, another 25 miles north…on the same road…with more switchbacks…double switchbacks…a lot of them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We didn’t even stop in Ouray.  We just turned around to head back…because the sky was black as coal…it was going to rain.  Georgie wanted to stop, I said no way!  And get caught in the rain, on this road…with all the switchbacks…and no guardrails!

I’ll bet if I said it once I said it a hundred times on the way up…to myself but out loud…HOLY F***!!!

It wasn’t as bad going back. We got back to Silverton without hitting rain.  We stopped for gas.  Talked to a few people on bikes going both directions.  They asked how it was.  Good thing they talked more to Georgie than me.  I did say it wasn’t bad coming back.

We left Silverton and headed home.  The sky was still very black.  Georgie, as usual, said we’d be fine.  The rain was behind us.  WRONG!  It started raining, a little, about 20 minutes in.  Not too bad.  Well…it just got worse and worse.  It was howling and very cold!  I worked out ok for me though.  I was more worried about just seeing the road rather than the curves…or the speed limit.  It felt like sleet hitting our faces.  I was sure I would have bruises on my face.  I didn’t.

We were about 23 miles from home when George pulls over on the shoulder.  It’s still raining mind you.    As we’re riding at 60 mph his bike shuts off.   He got it running in about 5 minutes and it ran fine.  Never did figure it out.

It finally stopped raining about 15 miles from home.  The sun came out and dried our jeans.  Now they were clean I thought.  Good thing we had our leather jackets on ‘cause it was really cold riding, not to mention the freezing cold rain. 
 

 
 
I kept thinking, if I could ride this road, especially in this kind of weather, I could ride any road!  Bring it on!!

A Little "Ditty" We Kept Passing as We Drove Between Cortez, CO & Durango, CO...

   Abandoned
Sinclair Station

37001 U.S. 160          Mancos, Colorado 81328

You can't miss this huge "toxic site" on the drive along Highway 160 in between Mesa Verde and Mancos/Durango.
The signs warning about toxic contamination and blaming the state of Colorado for a massive fuel spill are pretty jarring.



Located on Highway 160 in between Mesa Verde National Park and the town of Mancos, CO is a former Sinclair gas station and "Wild Wild Rest" general store. All that remains, however, is a shell of the station and store and a contaminated plot of land after residual fuels flowed from gasoline storage tanks into the ground during a tank removal process in 2006. 
Frustrated by the perceived inaction of both the gas station's operator and the Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety, land owner Ray McCarty placed signs--bracketed by skull-and-cross bone flags and graphics--declaring the area a "Massive Petroleum Spill, Toxic Site," a "State-Chemical Landfill," and warning "Benzene, Cancer Hazard" in 2013.

Our Time in Cortez, CO...so far!

Friday, July 15, 2016

Arrived at La Mesa RV Park in Cortez, CO (pop. 8,500) about 4 pm. 

 
What a nice park.  No pool but we don’t need one.  Staying 17 days.   We set up in about ½ hour.  They have a Safeway & City Market (Kroger) as well as a Super Walmart.  They also have quite a few “weed stores” (as Georgie puts it).  You can easily spot them…they have a large green cross outside.  Georgie made sure this was our 1^st stop!  That’s all I heard from him the last 2 days of our drive here.

Since it’s legal here I decided I could smoke some.  Yea, well!  We were laughing SO hard.  I was laughing so hard I started to fall backwards.  I grabbed the edge of the counter…and ripped it off…on my way down to the floor!  Great!  Of course this was just one more thing to laugh about!  Old people and dope…what can I say. 

Saturday, July 16

Unloaded the Harley’s.   Cleaned the garage.  Took a nap…a long nap…because we can.

Sunday, July 17

Had to take Annie to the Emergency Vet in Durango (pop. 17,800), Riverview Animal Hospital.  

 

 

 

 

 

Found a nice restaurant where we could eat outside so Tori could be with us, Ska Brewery.  I think they have the best hamburgers we have ever eaten!

Monday, July 18

Hung out around here.  Did some laundry.  Took a drive to see the town.

 

Tuesday, July 19
Rode the Harley’s to Four Corners Monument-90 miles round trip.  Stopped at Ute Mountain Casino on the way there.  A lot of penny slots.

 

Wednesday, July 20

Back to Durango.  Annie had to get her bandages changed.  Made reservations at Alpen Rose RV Park for Aug 1-8.

Thursday, July 21

Rode out to Dolores (pop. 953) through Mancos (pop. 1,360).

Friday, July 22

Rode back to Dolores.  Had really good pizza at Riverfront Bar & Grill.  Sat out on the deck, right on the Delores River. 

Saturday, July 23

I stayed home to do some things around the house.  Georgie road to Dolores.  He rode through San Juan National Forest.  Was only gone about 2 hours. 

We’ll take a drive up there some evening before dark.  Georgie thinks we’ll see a lot of wild life.

 

Sunday, July 24

Back again to Durango for Annie’s check up.  Got her bandages off but now has to wear her Cone of Shame ALL THE TIME!

Elevation in Silverton

Silverton

 Drove up to Silverton (pop. 629).  What a SCARY drive!  Rt. 550 is called The Million Dollar Rd.  We hit a deer as we came around a curve.  Most of the road has no shoulder, just a looooong drop off.   No guardrails!  Silverton doesn’t have any fast food places BUT…they have at least 1 “weed store”.  We decided that since Annie will have to go to the Vet at least 1 more time we’d stay another week in Durango and ride the Harley’s up to Silverton.

 

On the way back from Silverton

Monday, July 25

Rode the Harley’s to Mesa Verde National Park.  What a beautiful ride!  Lots of switch-backs but there were guardrails so not too bad…for me.  About  50 miles round trip.

 

There are a lot of places to stop.  As far back as 800 AD the Pueblo Indians built and lived in the Cliff Dwellings.  

 

Tuesday, July 26

Started to wax the rig.  This is going to be a big job.  We’ll do a little at a time.  It was somewhat overcast today so was a good day to do this.

Dropped the bedroom clicker beside the bed.  On my side there is a small space between the bed and the floor so the slide can go in and out.  The clicker fell down in that small space.  We had to take the strip of wood off Georgie’s side then slide the broom handle all the way across to push the clicker up where I could reach it.  Georgie was in charge of putting the strip of wood back.  He’s getting so handly!

We fixed the emergency window latch.  It broke on the drive here.   We ordered a new one.