"Life is the great adventure ride. Twist the throttle hard."

Monday July 11.  We ran down to the grocery store, picked up pastries and Starbucks, and went to the rim of the canyon for breakfast. 

After eating, they climbed out onto the same outcrop that they climbed years ago.  Although they now have less fear. 
As cool as the Grand Canyon is, the ride up into Utah and Monument Valley is incredible on a bike. 

The weather was amazingly cool.  In the 70s and low 80s most of the day!  We saw rain storms in the distance, and they kept the air cool, but all day we had great weather.

Here’s Chris on left and Sam on Right:

Just as we entered Colorado, more rain storms appeared. We pulled over to watch the lightning and take a break.  As the storm approached, we left toward Telluride, still 2 hours away and night was comming.  We took a quick break as the odometers rolled over 1000 miles.  8000 more to go…

At 7pm we stopped for dinner 1.5 hours away from Telluride where I wanted to get to for the night. We hoped the storm would go away as we ate, but it followed us.  After dinner, we found every hotel in the area sold-out so Sam and Chris said; “Let’s put on the rain gear and go for it.”  We tried.  But it was now 9pm, dark, pouring rain, and mountain roads. After 20 minutes I cried uncle and were now in a small hotel someplace.  I’m not sure where.

July 12

We had a nice morning ride up to Telluride Colorado, a beautiful little town most of you know I hope to reside in some day.  Someone forgot to tell the Coloradians that the globe is warming.  Telluride was still surrounded by snow, and it was 60 when we got there. 

As we left Telluride, the afternoon storm clouds started to gather.  We had 200 miles to ride to Fairplay, where Herb and Nancy live, and it ended up being a very tought day. We took a break at an shop that sells furs and animal mounts.  Its very cool to browse around, and we all found something to bring along with us. 

Back on the road, there was rain storms in every direction.  I gotta give these two young men a lot of credit for making it through the day.  It was averaging 60 degrees.  It rained on and off all day so it was slow-going and cold.  Sam’s boots took on water, and both guys’ gloves got soaked.  As we crossed to continental divide at the Monarch pass, it was 47 degrees, gusty winds, lightning, and raining.  We stopped and Sam poured out his boots.

The boys were intent on making it to Herb and Nancy’s in Fairplay, so we pressed on.  We arrived just as the sun was setting.  Nancy made us a hot dinner, and Herb served up some cold beers. Thanks so much!  Their place in the Rockies is beautiful.

July 14  –  In the morning, it was sunny and warm, and we rode the 100 miles down to Denver.  We dropped Chris’s bike off at the Harley shop to have the fluids changed and clutch checked.  It’s a 14 year old bike, so I wanted to make sure all was OK with it.  We also bought new waterproof riding gloves.  Pepper picked Chris up, and we all rode back to Doug and Pepper’s place in Denver.   Pepper made us lunch, and then the boys and I went to Golden and toured Coors.  Afterwards, Doug and the three of us went to Unser’s indoor go-cart racetrack for a re-match from 4 years ago when Doug spanked us both.  It was a VERY intense race, and in the end Chris came out on top.

Back home, Pepper let Chris drive the Vette I sold her years ago, and Doug let Sam take his Lotus Elise for a spin.

July 14

We stayed in Denver one more day, while Chris’s bike was repaired.  A sheared cam-chain tensioner bolt caused the noise in the tranny, and we had the oil drained and the stator replaced due to the damage from the bolt grinding around in the engine.  We had lunch with Marie and then went to the indoor air tunnel for simulated sky diving. (Chris on left, Sam on right)   We did pizza and a movie tonoght, and will head into Kansas in the morning. 

It’s the end of day #2 of our 2011 ride around America. In short: excellent!  We’re having a great time and bikes are running well.  It was 110 degrees going through Palm Springs to Amboy, and Chris’s bike did not like the heat and had some trouble starting after lunch, but its all good now.

Roy's Cafe route 66 in Amboy

 Once we crossed the Mojave, the heat dropped below 100, and we spent the first night in Laughlin.  Only one day, and we already look like dirty bikers:  A family at the hotel would not get into the elevator with us “bikers”.   This morning, we got going about 8am, and picked up Route 66 again in Kingman.  We had breakfast at a 60s type dinner and checked out the old train parked next to it. 

Train On Route 66

As we got into Arizona, we could see rain clouds gathering.  By noon, we were surrounded by them.  We took a break at the Grand Canyon Cavern and toured the cave for an hour.  Nice tour and well worth it. 

Back on the road, it became obvious that we mightget very wet, so we stopped and put on the rain gear. We put waterproof pants and jackets over the top of our regular gear if it is going to rain. 

Thanks for checking our this Blog, and keep in touch.  We’ll update it every day or two.  The boys are Face-Booking all day long, so friend either one and get the real-time scoop.