May 2007

Thursday May 31

Moab, Utah & Telluride Colorado - went there last year with Bob Meyer. Wanted to revisit them. Both are incredible beautiful. To learn more go to:

http://www.discovermoab.com

http://www.town.telluride.co.us/home/index.asp?page=1

While in Moab, a German traveler invited me for lunch in his RV. He just walked up and starting talking. Unfortunately I had just eating and was too tight on time to take him up on his generous offer. I sense it was an opportunity lost for me.

Went to Ouray, Colorado for the first time. Located about 75 miles north of Durango. What an incredible location. The town sits at the end of a box canyon. When heading to Durango from Ouray, there is a series of switchbacks. There are several that have a speed limit of 15 MPH and one that is 10 MPH. I learned quickly that these low speeds were not suggestions - any misstep while in some of these turns and a several hundred-foot drop off waits below. These switchbacks seemed to never end. The town sits at 7,500 feet - the switchbacks take a person the 10,700-foot summit. From the summit it is about 15 miles of driving the mountain ridge until a pronounced decent into the little town of Silverton Colorado. Silverton is a major summer tourist attraction. To learn more about these towns go to:

http://www.ouraycolorado.com/Home

http://www.city-data.com/city/Silverton-Colorado.html

For information about Durango, go to:

http://www.durango.org/index.asp

Between Ouray and Silverton, I saw 5 deer. All of the were single sightings, and the animals were at or near the edge of the road. There is an electronic deer whistle on my bike. Most people think the whistle is ineffective. In all five cases, the deer moved quickly away from the edge of the road.

On the way to Telluride, road repair caused a major stoppage. My best thinking caused me to take the dirt road I just passed, because the map indicated it connected back up the main road. The dirt road was 15 miles packed dirt with several areas of loose gravel. After going 5 miles i reach the proverbial "fork in the road". Unfortunately there was no sign to indicate which leg completed the loop. Soooo, I decided to go back to the main highway and deal with the road construction. Yikees.

Daily Miles: 450
Accumulated Miles: 1800

Wednesday May 30

Left Mountain View on state highway 30. The road is the original Old Oregon Trail Highway. It is very scenic and sure beats driving the Interstate. Reverse, Utah is along this highway. In Reverse, there is a coffee shop with a fish and cross painted on the building. I had to stop. Breakfast was great – homemade bread, jams and jellies. Before leaving I needed to use the washroom and there square on top of the crapper were copies of the Old Testament and New Testament. Placing bibles in motel rooms is one thing, but this…..!!!!

Being a quart on oil I went to KFC for dinner at Provo. There was a fellow, about 50, who worked there to clean the eating area. Every time I got up he would follow me with his eyes. It became uncomfortable for me. After several minutes, he came up to me and said, “I own a scooter”. It then became apparent to me that he was mentally challenged and was simply fascinated with my motorcycle and want to know more about it. We then had a nice conversation. This was a practical lesson for me about not prejudging people.

Daily Miles: 425
Accumulated Miles: 1350

Tuesday May 29

Went east from Bend through Burns, Oregon. Burns is a small town in the middle of nowhere. About 30 miles out of Bend, there was a sign indicating that there was no gas for the next 130 miles. Not good news for most motorcycle riders with limited fuel capacity. Had a great lunch at little deli in Burns and then motored on to Mountain View.

Very quiet day.

Daily Miles: 375
Accumulated Miles: 925

Friday May 25 through Monday May 28

In Bend, I had a four-day visit with our son Cory, his wife Lisa and their son Owen. Have not seen our 14-month-old grandson since February. He sure is a happy kid.

When this photo was taken, he was asking why am I so old and so fat. He was given an appropriate response.

Thursday May 24, 2007

At the boarder crossing, I placed my US Passport into the map pocket on my tank bag. (I thought) As I was motoring down the highway a gust of wind rocked the bike and then I had this image of a flash of blue traveling by my face. For a second, I thought it was debris picked up by the wind, but then for some reason, I stopped to check for my passport – and “yes” it was gone. I parked the bike and starting walking the highway to find it. After walking about 100 yards there it was, laying about twelve feet below the roadbed. I have no idea why it even occurred to me to check if the passport was missing and the second miracle was that it ending up laying in full view. Had it not been found, the trip would certainly have been much shorter because of the problems its loss would have caused at the border. Interesting huh!!

Just after crossing into Oregon there was a head on crash of a car and a pickup truck pulling a trailer. One person was airlifted to the Bend hospital in serious condition. When the road was reopened, traffic was permitted to pass. All of the damaged vehicles were still along the road. What a mess. The one side of the car, truck and trailer were peeled back like a can opener was used on them. Amazing there was only one serious injury.

Daily Miles: 550