Apr 28, 2013 - Mesa Verde National Park

Mesa Verde National Park is truly America's premier achaeological wonder. America's first World Heritage Site, that tells the story of a civilizations's dynamic growth over 700 years. These sites are some of the most notable and best perserved in the U.S. From the visitor center is was another 21 miles to drive to some of the sites. We again climbed to about 7,000 ft. You just wonder why did they choose to live here and why did they just vanish! We visited the Spruce Tree House. There are about 3 others you can visit. Our drive from...

Apr 27, 2013 - Our Switzerland of America

We decided to head out on the Million Dollar Road! This is hwy 550 and it has 3 mountain passes you need to climb. Some almost 11,000 ft. There are S curves and switchbacks and climbs. But the interesting part is some places there are not barriers and it is a 2 lane each way. The train trip I mentioned last time was in the winter mode. They go to Silverton starting in May. So we felt we wanted to see Silverton! What a spectacular drive. Silverton was a true mining town with as many as 40 saloons and brothels on just one notorious street,...

Apr 26, 2013 - Durango - Silverton

Hi All, Yesterday we took a walk around the town of Durango. Very clean and nice. Checked out the oldest hotel really neat. In town lots of varied shops and upscale ones too! Seems like a busy place in summer if that ever happens here. Was surprised to see parking meters everywhere. I will try to attach the photo of the city hall with a drive up drop off in front for your parking ticket and your water bill! I thought that was funny! The town seems to offer: Mountain biking, rafting, kayaking, jeep tours, zip lines, horse riding etc. We're...

Apr 24, 2013 - Durango, Colorado

Update for yesterday. We checked out Old Albuquerque. Nice place we even toured the Rattlesnake museum! I got a certificate for bravery! Funny guy who ran the place. They had quite a collection even a white one! I survived even with goose bumps! They (snakes) all seem to be adjusted to looking at people walking by! I was ok as there was a glass wall between them and me! We walked the area and had lunch at a great place. We then headed out to the Petroglyph National Monument New Mexico. We checked out the closest trail. Which we had to climb...

Oct 14, 2012 - Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings

Oct 14, 2012 We left Durango about 10 am for the short 50 mile drive to Cortez where we set up camp, had lunch then backtracked 10 miles to Mesa Verde National Park to see the cliff dwellings. 3 of us took two of the Park Ranger tours to Cliff Palace and Balcony House cliff dwellings While the others visited the museum and a few of the dwellings from view points along the road that rings the mesa. The mesa is very large, mostly flat but with several canyons throughout and at 7000 feet elevation. The people that lived here grew corn, beans...

Oct 13, 2012 - Durango, CO

Oct 12, 2012 The day started off with wind, lighting, and rain as we prepared the rig for travel. The skies cleared somewhat as we headed north to Durango, CO, some 200 miles away. We took HWY 550 which is a good road. The traffic was light and the trip uneventful except for the heavy downpour where I had to drop down to 35 MPH for a mile or two. We also saw hail that covered the ground at one pass ( about 8000 feet). After setting up camp, we headed for the train station to try an exchange our open air car seats for something inside. A...

Oct 6, 2012 - Jeep Tour

10/6 We took a jeep tour today. These are high clearance jeeps, our Jeep Cherokee wouldn’t have an under-cartridge left if we took it on this drive. Our guide was K.C. (or Casey, not sure). He is a very interesting guy. Worked for DEA for 20 years and got out. To supplement his income and do what he loves, he’s a white water, ATV, Jeep, etc. guide. He also owns a small self-storage in New Mexico, so we had a lot to talk about. He knew the area well and regaled us with lore. He is the one that explained the pay scale for the red light...

Oct 3, 2012 - Durango

10/3 Had to leave Moab today, and cried all the way out of town. We loved it here and can’t wait to come back. But, it’s time to move on so we drove to Durango Colorado, about a 3 hours away. What a change in the scenery; going from the desert red rock, through an area that looked like the finger-lakes region of central NY, and then back into red rock mountainous region. As we got closer to Durango we got back into Aspen country. They are in full color and again; breathtaking. Here in the Durango area there is an issue with Aspens dying off...

Aug 26, 2012 - at Durango CO; 16/222

120826-Sun-67804-Today we ended at 67804, started at 67804 miles, for total miles today of 0. Before today we had gone 6225 miles in about 1 month. We are tired. We got up at 6am, took the Durango & Silverton train to Silverton, shopped, got back & had a beer & or’durves at the Palace Restaurant, then took the free trolley to camp. We took it this morning too. We didn’t get back until about 8pm.

Aug 26, 2012 - Part 2: Durango

While we were in Colorado and New Mexico, I took 1080 pictures, some from the back of the motorcycle. After I erased all the blurry pictures and all the blue skies and foggy vistas, I was left with over 800 pictures to identify, categorize, choose, caption, and send. This may take a while, folks! The first group of pictures revolved around our 3 days in Cortez, Colorado. We went up route 145 along the Dolores River, through the town of Rico and the San Juan National Forest. We visited Mesa Verde National Park to see Cliff Palace, which was...

Aug 25, 2012 - to Durango CO; 16/221

120825-Sat-67630-Today we ended at 67804, started at 67630 miles, for total miles today of 174. We drove from Grand Junction CO to Durango CO. From Ouray to Silverton was very curvy and very steep highway. No room for errors. Go off the road and fall down about 2000 feet. We ate lunch at the Handlebar Restaurant. Then, we proceeded on the million dollar highway, and the highway was almost as bad. We went thru Red Mountain pass at 11,018 feet. On the second part the pass was only 10,800 feet. Then there was a 3rd that was about 10000 feet....

Jul 27, 2012 - Day 13; Million Dollar Highway

Day 13: Head East We woke up late today knowing the first part of the mission would be to get back to Silverton and collect our camping gear. We put on the "fairly ripe" clothes we arrived in yesterday and hit the road. We were tempted to stop and visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park but since Charlie was still riding with one hand we decided to keep cruising down the road through Montrose. We stopped for breakfast at our favorite American pancake institution: Denny's. Nothing like a "Big Ass Slam" to giver you a jump start...