Halfway

Here are some statistics for the first half of the trip.
1000 miles, 5 states, 3 National Parks, Highest elevation, somewhere between 9000 and 10,000 feet, bugs hitting us in the head, about 1,000,000.

Today we went to Mesa Verde and toured the Spruce Tree house cliff dwelling. Those people were nuts. Climbing up and down those cliffs using tiny little handholds they carved in the rock without metal tools carrying the food from the farms on their heads and backs? UFB. I have a hard enough time walking up and down the steps without falling down.

From Mesa Verde, we rode Colorado rte 145 past Telluride. Some of the most beautiful scenery we’ve ever seen. Riding up the side of the mountain, lush green fields and forest, with a rocky river and clear water rushing beside the road, it was like a scene from a movie. Of course, the movie took a turn when we got to Lizard Head Pass and the HAILSTORM started. I’ve never tasted hail at 40mph before. The weather report said that there was a possibility of isolated thunderstorms, and boy they meant isolated. The hail started, the rain poured down, so we stopped and put on our jackets and helmets and started riding again. Less than 3 miles later, the rain was stopped. But boy we sure were wet and boy it sure was cold up there at 9000 feet.

After we passed Telluride, the climate changed and when we stopped in Norwood, CO, the temperature had to be in the 90s. So we were dry again. We had lunch there at the Happy Belly Deli. When I saw the sunflower on the sign, I was very suspicious. If you see a sunflower sign on a restaurant, you can bet that it’s run by dirty, filthy hippies or even vegetarians! Thankfully, these dirty, filthy hippies exploited our animal brethen in a savory manner.

From there it was down, down, down into the heat of the valley. We got to Moab in the afternoon and it was 102. We’re staying in the Apache Motel (John Wayne stayed here) and will be here for 2 nights, so the mileage won’t change much. That’s ok, the last 2 days of travel will be over 500 miles, so break won’t hurt us. We stopped by Lone Rider Harley Davidson here in Moab. It’s not a dealer, just a parts and accessories place. It’s in an old house and there’s only one guy there, a grizzled, old school, 2 finger missing guy who explained to me that he coined the Ride to Live part of the Live to Ride, Ride to Live phrase that you see on a lot of Harley merchandise. Of course, a buddy of his tried to sell it to Harley and got taken, you know the story.

So tomorrow is Arches and maybe Canyonlands or maybe something else around here, rafting or dirt bikes or something.

Notes about the southwest:
Dogs are free to roam, there are no leash laws. We saw two dogs chasing a guy on a bike down the street and we weren’t completely sure if they were following their owner or hunting prey.

Damn there are some long straightaways. Miles and Miles of road with no turns at all, not even bends.

Musical Notes
Old faithfull Allman Bros- Little Martha while riding on 145, truly set the movie opening credits feeling.

Pigmentation Quotient. – it’s strange, it’s like my tan is getting a sunburn, pink on top of brown. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Money situation: still pretty good, we spent more on food today, but since bryce and vegas hotels were already paid for, today was the last time we had to pay for our hotels with cash on hand. Gas is about the same here as back home. I might even have enough to gamble on Friday night.