Watch for Falling Rock - Trip Report (Pic Heavy)

[Trip]

Day 1:

This was a 850 mile ride from Lenoir City, TN out to Shawnee, OK. This was a good test day. I got some light rain going over the hills on I-40 just outside Lenoir City. Tried my rain gear out and it worked as expected. Temps ranged from about 60-90 this day. So I didn't get anything to test my Rev'It mesh suit beyond what I had ridden in with it. I did find out the neck closure rubbed my neck pretty harshly and leaving it open was best. This was the longest ride I have ever done in one day. It was pretty easy and the russell day long saddle lived up to it's price. No saddlesore at all. I didn't really take pics this day. Not really much to see on I-40. I did take these of the Mississippi. Flooding was bad around it. Didn't get a shot of the Arkansas border, it was on the stupid bridge and I couldn't get to my camera in time. Did get Oklahoma. So two new states.

I did experience what I am left to believe was an attempted theft of my stuff this day. I was stopping at gas stations without a lot of people to get in and out quick, but in a little gas station outside of Little Rock, AR; I caught a guy walking towards my bike that looked suspicious. I walked outside the store and toward my bike. He stopped and looked around for a bit and then walked back to the Wendy's across the street to his beater car and his whorish looking girlfriend. She was giving him waves to come back too. I think if I wouldn't of come out, he would of been trying to rip my wolfman bag off the back of my bike. I take all my electronics/tank bag/helmet in with me at every stop, but I still have a big wolfman bag and a extra gas can exposed with a wire lock to the bike though. The big panniers look appealing too, I suppose.

[Trip]

Day 2:

This was a 600 mile ride from Shawnee, OK to Colorado Springs, CO. The trip started getting good here. I met up with G-rex just outside Oklahoma City. It was good to get someone to ride with. We hit some fog just outside of Oklahoma City. It was pretty weird looking. Looked like a sandstorm when we were riding at it. Also saw some Tornado damage to some trees along the interstate. Pics below.

We continued on I-40 to Amarillo. Texas scenery through here was surprising. It was a good taste of what would be the west side of the Mississippi. They had little creek canyons and desert scenery all over the place. It was flat, but it was different than anything I had seen before. It was a pleasant ride. We saw a leaning water tower and big cross too. Texas entrances and exits on the interstate were weird to say the least. You kind just ride into a border road and hope traffic yields/stops for you. First time experiencing that.

Once in Amarillo, we went to this place called the Cadillac Ranch. Some dude buried these Caddies in the ground. It was really neat and you could spray paint on them.

We saw my Harley dealership in Amarillo too, see pic below.

We went eat lunch at the tourist attraction Big Texan 72oz steak place. We didn't attempt it and no one else did while we were there. The steak here was amazing. It was worth the stop.

We took a little road out of Amarillo. We were suppose to fill up in Amarillo, but we didn't run across a station. Trace tried to run me out of gas and we pulled into a gas station in Dumas, TX with me running on fumes. Trace's beemer has a bigger tank than mine, plus my loaded down GS was getting horrible gas mileage with that much weight and running 80-85.

From there we headed into New Mexico and the scenery started getting great. They had little buttes everywhere and the desert scenery was starting to get awesome. Here we picked up a cross wind of 50-60mph gusts that did not leave me for the entire trip. Temps for this day were 60-100. The 100 degree temps in New Mexico felt more like 80 with the cross wind. It was good riding weather besides riding sideways from the wind. It was very manageable though.

From New Mexico, we caught site of Colorado's mountains. We were finally getting to the good stuff. The ride from Pueblo into Colorado Springs was interesting. We were riding on the border of the plains and mountains. You could look to your right and see snow capped peaks and look to the left and see flat plains forever and ever.

It was a great day of riding.

[Trip]

Day 2 continued:

[Trip]

Day 3:

This was an epic 400 mile ride from Colorado Springs, CO to Mesa Verde National Park, CO. This was the day of days. My favorite ride of the trip. This involved Pikes Peak, US Highway 50, US Highway 550 (Million Dollar Highway), and Mesa Verde National Park. It was simply AMAZING!!!

Me and Trace left out of Colorado Springs pretty early and went to Pikes Peak. We saw a little bit of Garden with the Gods from a distance, but did not go in. We intended to go in, but after looking at the weather for the million dollar highway I decided to speed up the timetable so I could do it that day instead of staying in Ouray, CO and doing it the next day as planned. It was forecasted for 70 degrees and sunny that day and high 30s with snow the next. The choice was easy. This speeding up the timetable would become a reoccurring theme throughout most of the trip unfortunately.

So we made to Pikes Peak and as we found out from the net, only the first 13 miles of the summit were open (to the top of the treeline.) Above 13 was above the treeline and the winds were really bad. They said all 19 would be open after lunch, but as stated before, time was not my friend. So we paid for our summit ticket and did the 13 miles up the mountain. It was rather enjoyable, but I wish we could of did the whole thing. It was a spectacular road and I left with wanting more.

So after I left Pikes Peak and Trace, I headed towards what I thought would be a stay in Durango or Cortez for the night. I did not realize Mesa Verde would be on the way. I saw some interesting sites. 50 was pretty amazing from about Maysville to Sapinero. This included Monarch Pass and Blue Mesa Reservoir.

I finally ended up in Montrose, CO (which was pretty flat and nothing grand) and made the left turn onto 550. As I worked my way into Ouray, snow topped mountains started appearing on both sides of me. It was pretty spectacular to be in this little valley with giants on both sides. Then I got into Ouray which seemed to end the valley straight into the mountain. Ouray was an amazing little town, wish I could of stayed the night. I will be back there for a night or more in the future.

At the end of Ouray, the road just went up and into the mountains. The million dollar highway was a spectacular ride. It lived up to it's name. Silverton was another little town on this road, right in the middle of the highway. It was a neat little mining town I wish I could of spent more time in as well. The road regrettably ends in Durango, I didn't really have as much interest in staying here, so I continued my travels for the day toward Cortez, CO.

On the way to Cortez, I saw signs for Mesa Verde and decided to check it out. I didn't really know much about this park, but it would be an additional stamp for my park passport. I presented my annual park pass to the gate ranger and he advised me I should stay at the lodge in the park because it was a 15 mile drive to the visitor center (it was about 5pm at this point) and check out the cliff dwellings in the morning. He called up and made sure I had a room waiting for me when I got there and I decided to stay there for the night.

I ended up eating at the fancy restaurant instead of the bar at the lodge and had a great meal of beef medallions with potatoes. It was pricey, but I was on vacation and the food was good. I was sat next to the window and got to watch the wild horses of the park wander around right outside the lodge. It was a good end to an awesome day of riding.

Colorado is fantastic, must go back.

Heading towards Pikes Peak:







Base of Pikes Peak:



Pikes Peak:











Towards Poncha Springs:





Highway 50:









Heading into Ouray, CO:



Ouray:





Million Dollar Highway:

[Trip]

Day 3 continued:

Million Dollar Highway and Silverton, CO:

























Entering Mesa Verde:





Mesa Verde Lodge/Dining Window/Horses:

[Trip]

Day 4:

This was a surprisingly fun 350 mile run through some beautiful desert from Mesa Verde National Park, CO to Grand Canyon Lodge North Rim, AZ. I found I rather enjoyed the desert. Of course it wasn't ungodly hot when I went through and I enjoyed the scenery a lot. There was also this interesting smell that was a sweet flowery smell that I liked in some parts of the desert. This seemed to correlate with the "red" sand/dirt desert.

So the day started off with a nice little early morning jaunts in Mesa Verde. I am so glad I paid the money to stay at this place. Being able to wake up and explore the park before anyone else was worth the extra cost I spent on getting the room in the park. I beat all the traffic, got to see all the cliff dwellings I wanted without ANY traffic. I was literally the only person on the road til at least 8am mountain time. I was still operating on EST, so I was up and out by 6:30 mountain or so. This park was amazing, I will be back again.

So I left Mesa Verde with a twinge of regret because the park was beautiful and headed on to my next stop in the tour which unfortunately was 4 corners. With the beauty of Mesa Verde still on my mind, 4 corners was simply a dump. Terrible waste of $3. The monument was surrounded by crappy Indian shops. Oh well, I wanted to do it....and this was not be the last or most money I spent on a shitty place...

I continued my trek through the desert and saw all sorts of neat scenery/rock formations. This was beautiful country. I loved the desert. It would be on my mind the whole trip. If I had seen the northern route before the trip, I would of just doubled back over the same area because I enjoyed the lower that much more than the upper part. I think I just had a crappy route for the northern part though, that was mostly to do with what I wanted to see up north.

I did the 40 miles through the forest to the Grand Canyon Lodge. I had a little cabin for the night. It was nice, but having the Grand Canyon as you backyard will make any room seem nice. I crossed off a top 5 item on my bucket list this night. I watched the sunset on the rim of the canyon. It was amazing. I had a big canyon cookie, drinks, cell phone with 3g, and a laptop tethered to the cell phone. LOL! This place exceeded my expectations. I enjoyed the hell out of the night and morning I spent on the canyon. This is a must do item for anyone. I highly highly recommend it and spend the money to stay at the lodge, well worth the cost. Plan ahead and make sure you get a reservation.

Mesa Verde:





























Square Tower at Mesa Verde:



Pit House at Mesa Verde:



Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde:



Ride between Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon:



Entering AZ, actually taken on Day 5, but I didn't see it on Day 4:



More Ride between Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon:

[Trip]

Day 4 continued:

More Ride between Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon:





4 Corners:



More Ride between Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon:





















Awesome dude in a recliner:



More Ride between Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon:











Entering Grand Canyon National Park:

[Trip]

Day 4 continued:

Forest in Grand Canyon National Park:



Lodge at the Grand Canyon:







My Cabin at the Grand Canyon:



Me and the Grand Canyon:





Grand Canyon:

[Trip]

Day 5 and 6:

Day 5 was a 290 miles easy ride from Grand Canyon Lodge North Rim, AZ to Las Vegas, NV. While Day 6 was a regrettable off day in Las Vegas, NV. The ride from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas was an awesome ride until I-15. I-15 did have a few nice pieces of scenery though.

The first half took me through Zion National Park. I considered going up to Bryce Canyon National Park, since I only had a short ride that day, but I wanted to get into Vegas to spend some time with my wife who was out there with her family.

Zion was awesome, but did not live up to what I had seen previously. I liked Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon better. Zion was still a great stop on the trip. It had some fun twisties and a mile long tunnel through the mountains that was interesting.

The ride into Vegas on I-15 was boring except for a little canyon pass.

My day off in Vegas was only good because my wife was there. I stayed in the Luxor and got a suite with a hot tub. That was good too. It was on $84 a night and was probably one of my cheapest stays of the trip. I despise Vegas. The pure desperation that infests the city and the constant sales pitches that are coming at you from all sides the entire time you are on the strip and in the hotels gets annoying fast. Plus, I am not a gambler, so playing the slots/cards/dice is not for me. I doubt I will come back to this city. Being with my wife and spending time with her was great though. Made the day off worth it.

Grand Canyon in the Morning:







Deer at the Canyon:



Little DS Fun at the Canyon:



Forest got burnt up at the Canyon:



On the way to Zion:









Zion:

[Trip]

Day 5 and 6 continued:

More Zion:





























Headed to Vegas:











Vegas: