WTF was that Aurora shooting about? The guys in the shop were talking about it yesterday but we were watching it on the TV this morning. No way am I going to the movies on this trip! What a terrible thing to happen. You can't comprehend it, really.
Here's my tee shirt souvenirs:
So, big thank you to Shell, in particular, and all the other donors :-)
We had breakfast in the hotel, toast, eggs, cereal, etc., then worked out our route for today. We were heading for Poncha Springs, on the 285, then taking the 50 towards Montrose, CO. Kev didn't want to join the 285 via I 25, it was too easy with a ramp opposite the hotel. Instead we were going to go across Denver on Federal boulevard and then pick up the 285, which is known as the UFO Highway due to the number of sightings that have occurred along it, on the southern outskirts of the city.It was very warm and the road was quite boring, with slow traffic. Within a little while I felt awful, only having had a couple of hours sleep, and kept nodding off. We stopped at the top of Crow Hill, in Bailey, to have coffee (and Red Bull for me), so we hadn't gone far. There was a Catholic church in the woods up there.
Feeling a lot better after my stimulant hits, I saw a weird statue of Christ on a hill, at the side of the road, with Santa Maria under it in huge, shiny silver letters.
.
Bizarre
Different sort of scenery today, much of the time as in lowland (still over 7000 feet) areas. I don't think the photos will give any real idea of how things looked. You get sensory over load.
You don't get any idea of width or depth of these views.
We stopped for a late lunch at Poncha Springs. We had Thai at a little roadside cafe. The food was great; fresh, crisp and tasty. I had Chicken Pad Thai which was excellent.
My twin was there:
Well, maybe not - he looks too happly.
We'd been running the weather for much of the afternoon, as you can see in the pics. We'd had a couple of little spots of rain, and it was cool enough to want to put my leather jacket on, but we'd been lucky. We were pushing west to Montrose, having just come over the summit of Monarch Mountain, when the skies opened. It poured. I had my Bell three-quarter helmet on, that I'd bought over here for inclement weather situations. Not too helpful, tho', as my bubble visor was in the depths of my bag. Being 'proper' bikers, we pressed on at a steady 70 mph, heading now for Gunniston. The rain stopped, shortly before we got there, so we'd dried out a bit when we arrived. We drove up and down the strip and then picked the ABC Motel, almost at random. It's run by a Polish guy. When I asked him where he came fromhe said "Chicago. Where are you from?" Of course I replied "Texas". My room was really nice, but a bit of a waste for one person:
From left to right: Olav, Stephanie, Erica, Ryan, Ashley, Kev, me and Marshall. Happy days!
We'd been running the weather for much of the afternoon, as you can see in the pics. We'd had a couple of little spots of rain, and it was cool enough to want to put my leather jacket on, but we'd been lucky. We were pushing west to Montrose, having just come over the summit of Monarch Mountain, when the skies opened. It poured. I had my Bell three-quarter helmet on, that I'd bought over here for inclement weather situations. Not too helpful, tho', as my bubble visor was in the depths of my bag. Being 'proper' bikers, we pressed on at a steady 70 mph, heading now for Gunniston. The rain stopped, shortly before we got there, so we'd dried out a bit when we arrived. We drove up and down the strip and then picked the ABC Motel, almost at random. It's run by a Polish guy. When I asked him where he came fromhe said "Chicago. Where are you from?" Of course I replied "Texas". My room was really nice, but a bit of a waste for one person:
It's funny how 'random' happenings turn out. I was just going to do my blog, because WiFi here was brilliant, but we decided to see a bit of the town. It looked quite upmarket, with a very 'Western' look to the main street. We had a pint in the Gunnison Brewery, a little bar with a micro brewery. I loved the beer I had, which was just like I'd drink at home - just a bit cooler!
It was the nicest beer I'd had over here, thus far. Out in the smoking area, we chatted to a group of late-tywenty, early-thirty year olds, who were having a good time. They wanted us to go to the 'Mo', a bar where you can still smoke. It was a bit ironic, as I would be leaving the nice beer, but it would be nice to be in a smoking bar with a new group of young 'friends'.
The Alamo was a great bar and the people we were with were great company. They were different from those we'd met before and all really loved Colorado, but the 'Gunny' area in particular, for its natural resources and ambiance.. I'd love it, too, when I discovered that two pitchers of beer were only $14. At the end of the evening, they left using 'safe cars', a system of free taxis, sponsored by local government? and bars. It sounds an excellent idea, but Kev and I walked back, accompanied by Marshall, the bartender from the Brewery.
They were a good group and it would've been nice to talk to them more.
Ryan, Steph and (Am)Erica
Steve, the Alamo bartender, with Steph and Ashley - oh, those legs!
Cheers!
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