I have mentioned John Denver in this blog before and I think that he was on to something with that song. I keep coming back to that state year after year mainly for the riding. It is getting to the point where I have been on most of the good roads in the mountains and some really bad ones too. I also just realized something recently that most of my blogs lately revolve around riding, I guess because it is Summer that I would be riding a lot. A couple weeks ago I ran out to Ouray and spent a few nights at a motel that Eli and I stayed in in 2001. This was the first trip to the San Juan's for some off road riding and it was a quite an experience for the both of us, well, me anyway. We did the Alpine loop, Black Bear Pass into Telluride, and Imogene Pass which is over 13,000 feet. The big difference this time was the fact that I was riding by myself and I have to hand it to St. Jan to have the nerve to encourage me to do this trip on my own. The one thing that I miss when I am home again is the people that I meet on the trail out there. If you are stopped they stop to ask if all is OK or just to talk about the view or what everyone is riding. Speaking of what people are riding, I saw the most incredible thing ever coming down from Engineer Pass. It was a BMW R1200GS, like ours, coming up the trail, two up to boot!! I was beating my brains out on a little 250 Kawasaki and here comes this big BMW, did I mention they were two up??, with luggage? I related this to a group from Oklahoma further down and he said that a buddy had done it on a Harley once, but needed to replace the tires afterwards. The scenery is fantastic and the trails can be pretty technical but do-able if you watch what you are doing. Jeep rental is very popular and also guided tours over most of the Passes is available although I am sure I could never get Jan on one of these tours without sedation. The trip to and from was not to bad except for grasshoppers on the way out in Nebraska. I left Ouray early on Thursday and got to watch Venus come up over the mountains before I got to Gunnison. One other thing, In eastern Colorado, across Kansas into Nebraska, every corn field that I passed by was nearly or totally destroyed by hail. This went on for hundreds of miles, so a lot of crops are nearly wiped out in that area. Since getting home we have been helping Eli and Lindsey some with their home project, although once again it is primarily Jan either watching the kiddos or staining grout. We did get the whole house re stained and the new garage done and hung some new outdoor lighting on the garages. I have to admit the Jan picked out some nice ones. It is kind of unusual but since the flurry of Patriot Guard activity earlier it has been quiet lately, which all in all is not a bad thing. I have a hunch that with things ratcheting up in Afghanistan we will have more missions in the future and we do go for vets from any branch if requested. So stay in touch drop a comment, please?
7 comments:
Wow, you did a LOT of typing. Your hunting and pecking is getting faster all the time. Do you think you'd appreciate Colorado as much if we lived right there? I like to imagine that people in the mountains of Colorado pine for the cornfields and flatness of Minnesota. Okay, maybe not...but at least Colorado is only a few hours away and pretty much you can go whenever you want! And, yes, John D. knew what he was singing about!
Enjoyed your blog. I haven't been in Colorado very often. First time with Paul at Christmas time when the highways and Denver were buried under snow. Not sure I could take the altitude so have to enjoy Colorado through your eyes and blogs. Thanks. See you Thursday.
God obviously has his eye on you and is watching out for you Dad, never to have had any sort of mishap out on these trails!
It looks amazing. I haven't spent enough time in Colorado, either, I don't think. And I'm trying to imagine someone on a Harley on those trails...crazy!
I know it's hard, but try not to place too much importance on who comments...just write for the sake of writing and think of how great your book is going to look. I've been closing comments lately because I'm just tired of wishing people would say something...SO many people claim to read my blog but it's always the same three people leaving a comment. I know it gets discouraging...!
The problem with no comments is this, it's like you are talking to yourself with no feedback. I know, I know if you are talking to yourself at least you can have an intelligent conversation. If you see this Rach, I loved Joes first day of school photo. He's getting so big!
Aaarghh..wish I could have gone with you dad, the views up there are surreal for sure. Hopefully we can get some good miles in next week either in the dirt or tar, I dont care which just wanna get free for a while. Oh you wanna help me hang a door again tomorrow?
-e
These are beautiful pictures! I can see why you enjoy going there.
Though I may not always comment, I'm enjoy reading your blogs. For me, it doesn't matter if anyone comments on my blog - it's a way of keeping track of what I have done. Occasionally I look back a year or so and have fun remembering.
Gorgeous pictures Dad! Makes me wish I was there too.
Post a Comment