Sam and friends take on the rain and rocks in Colorado

I got back to Taylor Park store and gas station about 3pm. The gas pump is the first stop I made as I was about out. It is a very popular and busy place:

Here's the Cafe:



I arrived between lunch and dinner. For awhile I was the only person in there. I had Cell connection, lunch, coffee and a roof!

View out the window.




I sat near a window, looking out the window for S & V. I waited about 2 hours, watching the weather. S & V had one bike run out of gas, and had to return to Dorchester. They sent me a text asking me to bring them gas at Dorchester. But, since that area did not have cell service there was no way for them to reach me.

But, back in Austin, Sam's wife was watching their Spot and she suspected something unplanned had happened....

Now it was maybe 6:30, daylight was starting to go to sleep, I decided to head to camp, and just meet them at camp when they arrived. I was not concerned; I figured they were having a great time covering as much ground as they could.

Light rain was falling. Just before arriving at our campsite, I passed Cabins for rent. I rode into the office and asked if any were open. They had one. It was a bit pricey, but I decided I'd rent it as a gift for S & V. It had 2 beds, a couch, shower etc.

I sent they guys a text telling them about the cabin, and told them to come meet me there when they got into camp.

The cabin was just awesome! The rain was faliling, and my bike was parked under cover.



Heater, shower, microwave, refrigerator, stove , etc:



I sat and waited for S & V.........and waited...........and waited.............

Dang, I sure could of used a shower after that day. Sorry we missed your calls.
Nice write up.

well, Sam did text me about 9 pm, saying, "we are back at camp, in tent now. I am way too tired to pack everyrthing and head over. See you in the morning." I understoon: Sam and Vinny had a very long, exhausting day.

It rained lightly during the night. This was a view of the cabins in the morning:




Vinny needed Fuel, but the gas station was having tech problems. This man gave us some and refused Sam's offers to pay him:



We then started discussing routes back.



Vinny had some ideas for some pavement and some offroad. Sam said, "No offroad today. I just want to stay on pavement and get back to town". That was a good choice, as we had a fairly long ride ahead of us and we did not want to be in a hurry.

We headed south on 149 which was a beautiful road! We rode 36 miles to Gunnison and stopped at the same place for lunch (a place Vinny disussed above). It was very Austin-like. Here are 2 pics:

We rode on 55 miles to our next stop, Lake City:



Vinny was talking to a guy who had ridden here from Minnesota on a BMW:



Austin band, 'Asleep at the Wheel' spends time in CO touring during the Hot Texas Heat, and would be in Lake City Aug 14. During our time in CO, I saw other places where they were scheduled to perform.
I found their schedule: they travel a LOT! http://asleepatthewheel.com/tour/



The riding was great. Heading down 149 I pulled over for 1 pic of Vinny:

From Lake City we went 55 miles and stopped in Creede for some coffee, motion lotion, Java Juice!



Inside, the Coffee Shop contained gems of wisdom about fishing, and... beer.



Now that we are a bit perked up, it's a good time for a group pic in downtown Creede:

On the way into town, I'd seen a ad for "Rock & Mineral Show". Well, I was a geologist in a past lifetime, so I had a sudden urge to see the show. At one time in my life crystallography was a passion of mine (now I cant even spell the word).

Creede had converted the front part of a mine into a community center, and that's where the Rock & Mineral show was.





I learned that there was a mineral discovered in Creede and named Creedite.

I raced thru there knowing I had very little time before the Dos Amigos would be looking for me to get back on the road. We'd already chilled in Creede and they were ready to hit the road. They'd want to stone me for taking too long and they were giving me a hard time for wanting to go look at rocks.

I had the idea to buy a gift for my wife, and bought a piece of jewelry there from a man who had come from Canyon Lake TX to be a vendor at the show. It was a piece with beautiful amethyst crystal. My wife asked me if it was real or synthetic. I was in such a rush when I bought it I could not remember!

When I emerged from my cave Sam and Vinny were out there waiting. I said, "hey, great place to buy a gift for your wife!" But they wanted to get moving (I hope their wives dont read this!

Well, this is my last post (finally!) 55 miles from Creede to Pagosa Springs.

It was still a cloudy day and we stopped before crossing Wolf Creek Pass to check on the weather, to make sure we did not ride into lightning. Radar showed weather was Ok at the pass and we took off. Sam and Vinny went so fast across the pass, on knobby tires (and the road was wet!) I had a hard time keeping up.

We arrived back at our starting point without incident. Thank God for a safe and happy week. We loaded up. Sam and Vinny had one more night in Pagosa Springs, CO, but it would not be in a tent. After the previous night camping in the rain, they deserved to sleep in a dry hotel room and that's what they did in Pagosa Spgns.

At the point, our week together ended. S&V went to Pagosa Springs.

Loaded and ready to start driving back:



My plan was to drive to Salida, CO to spend the night. That would be the location of my 2nd week in CO. It was only 140 miles. But, I had to drive back over Wolf Creek Pass pulling a trailer, and that was slow. It got dark about 30 miles out of Pagosa Springs.



My plan was go drive to Colorado Springs the next morning and pick up my wife and 2 daughters (they flew to Denver and took a shuttle van to Co Spngs).

Most of the driving to Salida was in the dark and it was raining. I finally had to concede: I was worn out. I stopped at a hotel near Monte Vista to spend the night.

I certainly enjoyed my time with Sam and Vinny. It was a great week. Hope you enjoyed this ride report. It was fun to write it. I took some creative license and I hope my license does not get revoked by the mods.

Enjoyable read. Thanks for taking us along.

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing. I had forgotten some of the details.

Thanks for taking the time to share. I have not been on the 4x4 roads in that area since the 80s.
The pics are timeless and brought back lots of good memories.
BTW, Late July and August is the Monsoon season, .

http://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/local/2014/07/08/colorado-monsoon-season-promises-average-rainfall/12385945/

great report!

after reading a bunch of ride reports about colorado this summer it seems like most everyone got rained upon. Is September generally dry but before the snow ?

Yes, The locals in the tourist industry call it the "grey haired" season because retired folks who can travel anytime of year they want pick September as the balance between rain risk and snow risk. All the kids are back in school. The crowds and prices are less. Also, the Aspen trees turn in September to a yellow to radiant salmon color that is spectacular and add to the all ready gorgeous views. The rest of us have to go when we can get away from work and family responsibilities.

JasonJ said:

great report!

after reading a bunch of ride reports about Colorado this summer it seems like most everyone got rained upon. Is September generally dry but before the snow ?

Click to expand...

Can't tell you how much I enjoyed this thread, brought back many awesome memories. Gonna have to make some new ones next summer. Anyone wanting to take some "smell the roses" rides holler. When I go DS'ing in CO I want to see stuff, no racing around. In the mean time, AR is a great place to keep the wheels warm.

Thanks to all who appreciated the Ride Report. A lot of guys put a lot more time and effort in their ride reports than I did, and I really appreciate learning from their experiences....but I had a hard time just getting posted what little text you saw!

But I do hate to take pics and not share them; a pic IS worth a 1000 words. I sure had a great time with Sam and Vinny. Wow, we covered a lot of ground!

Plus, this ride rpt was only the first half of my 2 week trip in CO. I was on my KLR every day except the last day we went rafting in individual, inflatable, ez to capsize kayaks (and I'll never do that again.. go rafting, in individual, inflatable, ez to capsize kayaks in Class 3 rapids. I fell in 3 times and I thought I was gonna die! But that's a whole 'nother story.....).

I finally had a chance to read this ride report. Excellent gentlemen!

Well after all this time, I finally had some time to sit down with Mrs. C and read this thread. WOW! You both did an excellent job of narrating our adventure.
I read the first two pages as Vinny was writing them but have not had time since. WOW! I did not realize I had that much fun. Thanks Vinny for guiding us thru the mountains and showing us some areas that we would not have seen otherwise.
I have some pictures but it has taken 3 hours just to get caught up, so my pictures will have to wait.
Thanks John for adding some...color to our adventures. It really was a great ride.
Give me a couple days and I will post up what I have, but I can't tell stories as well as my riding buddies did.

Sam

Well hello Sam! Have not heard from you since August!

It's been four months, but, Sure! we'll give you "a couple of days" to add to this thread!