Colorado Rocky Mountain Road Trip (6-22-15)

June 22nd -

We meet in the lobby on our floor in the hotel.

Carla Sandwich  

We do our daily devotion and prayer as we have been doing every morning before we head out for a fun day of riding.

Chuck & Chris were sitting on the sofa, and Carla had no place to sit.....they let her sit in the middle....What a cute picture!!!





Enjoyed Lynn's very much.
She even had music to go with hers!!!!!
Today's word for me was "Friendship".
And I have to say we have it with this group.
What a great bunch of people.





We are on our way to the Rocky Mountain Nation Park today.

But first we need to eat breakfast.
Larry knows of a really good place in Idaho Springs, so we make our way there.
The pancakes are huge to say the least.
Very, very good too!












We get in a little traffic, again!!!!  This time in Granby...but it opens up pretty fast.












Doug has gathered money for the Rocky Mountain Park entrance from everyone but us.
Chuck and I pull into another lane, since I have my "senior citizen" pass!!
Sometimes its a good thing to be "OLD".  LOL








As we enter the park, the wildlife is out in force

There is a huge herd of elk that a few of our friends pulled over to see.
We pull off at another area and wait for them to catch up.
As we make our way through the windy mountain roads, it begins to get get cooler and cooler.













Snow is on the side of the mountains.
There was a perfect area to pull over and get pics by the snow, and someone before us had made the cutest little snowman.

























Onward and upward we make it to the top and pull off at the Alpine Visitors center and Trail Ridge Store.
Lots of people out here today....you would think they would be working!!!  LOL
The park was beautiful, and it was just a very nice ride through the area.


We exit, and decide it is time to eat some food.
The Smoke Ring in Estes Park is where we settle!
Diana has been in contact with a dear friend that is visiting Estes Park.
They have made arrangements to see her after they eat lunch.
The rest of the group is going to go into Estes Park and shop a bit.
Well, at least the women are...the guys on the other hand are finding a nice cool spot under a tree...oh but wait....I think they are going to walk to the local DQ and get dessert!

We girls figure we have about an hour to shop.
Off we go, and before you know it, that hour has gone and we are back at the bikes.
Remember I am on a "quest" for my Little pot!!!



I am in contact with Diana but where she is at has very spotty coverage.
I call her, and she says they are just about to leave to meet back up with us.
The next text I get is that they have stopped for gas and potty break.
First I text that we will wait for her, but I don't hear anything back....
I call her and she she says that they can't find Chris's wallet.
What!!!!
I know she is in panic mode right now.
We all decide to go ahead and go to the gas station they are at, and see if we can give them some moral support.

We get there, and Diana says she was in a hurry to get to the rest room, and handed Chris his wallet back when she got the pump going for the gas.
Chris has another story...but the bottom line is that they have no wallet.
The guy in the gas station has cameras, but he isn't able to play them back.
At this point in the game, Chris has been searched and re-searched...the bike has been searched, all the garbage cans outside and in the bathrooms have been checked.
Boils down to, the wallet is gone!

Chris calls the police of Estes Park, and they say they will come by and make a report.
We wait, and wait....but during this wait, Diana is able to get all the credit cards in his wallet cancelled.
Nothing has been charged on them at this point.

Can't take these guys anywhere without them getting in trouble!!

Thanks goodness!














Chris calls the police again, and explains that we need to be leaving so we can make our way back to Black Hawk before it gets dark.
The police officer finally shows up!
He apologizes for the delay....had an accident to deal with before us.
The report is made, and we get back on the bikes around 6:50pm.
As we make our way back to the hotel in Black Hawk, Diana says she has a phone call from the police dept. but since we are riding she can't hear it.


I took a picture right outside of Black Hawk at 8:22pm Colorado time....we made it back before the critters came out!
Off the bikes, Diana listens to her message.
Someone has turned in Chris's wallet...minus the cash!
We are just glad that someone turned it in.
Seems the new robbers don't bother the credit cards much, they just want the cash.








Since the time is pretty late, we opt to eat at the buffet again...as they close at 9:30.
We get there just in time.
Diana & I have free dinner vouchers for the dinner because we accumulated the points from our last nights machine playing.
Wow, this was a whirl wind day.
So glad we know that the wallet has been found and we can make plans to pick up tomorrow.
I know Diana and Chris were sick over the loss, but like I told Diana, it is ok...we are all ok...could be a lot worse!!!
Just glad the wallet was found.
Time to rest, as we leave out tomorrow for another fun day of riding the mountains of Colorado.

Colorado Rocky Mountain Road Trip (6-21-15)

June 21st -

Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there.
We met in the little room this morning for the daily devotion and prayer.
Today's word was "fathers"...for Fathers Day!

Our group got up and went back to the Firehouse Grill as they were having a "first" for them.
They were having brunch!
Good food, and plenty of breads is all I can say!!!
Back at the rooms and packed up and ready to get on the road, I ask if we can get a group picture at the tee pee.
I attempted to use the selfie stick, but I think I need to master it a little better.
Chuck ended up taking the group pic...sorry he wasn't in it!




On the road and riding some very nice curvy roads.
Altitude is changing as well...we are going up!
Next stop is the small town of Lake City.
As you can see there is a line for the "one hole" bathroom....LOL












We make our way to Monarch Pass. 
There was a nice biker dude that offered to take a group picture for us.
Next stop is the gift shop and potty, and I see this cutest little pot.
It says "A Little Pot from Colorado".
I just loved it, but since we are so early in the trip, I figure I will find them elsewhere...
Well, little did I know, I should have probably purchased my "pot" from there....
But isn't that how "quest" begin...well, they do for me.....so let it begin!



Our late lunch today is in the town of Buena Vista, Colorado.
We found another Mexican place to eat, so we head there.
What an interesting little place this was.
Casa Del Sol is the name of this place.
The young guy that bused the tables was so cute and funny.
He catered to all our needs.
Since we are a group of 10, they stuck us in this "room"....I say that loosely, as it was its own free standing building I think.
Very different, but part of the adventure!!!!










Our tummies are full, and we have some miles to make.
The mountains were wonderful, and we enjoyed every curve they offered.

Somewhere outside of Leadville, we make our first U-Turn of the trip....
You know a ride isn't a ride unless you make at least one u-turn a day!


Our travels takes us through the Johnson Tunnel which was nice, but when we came out the other side about 5 miles down the road the traffic came to an abrupt stop!
This made for a quite a bit of a delay on our travels.
The next 12 miles or so took us about  2 hours.... was slow for sure!















The traffic finally opened up a bit, and there was a truck hauling a truck backwards, and Chuck comments to me, "now that's a strange feeling," and I look to the front of the bike, and see what he is talking about.....LOL












We made it to Idaho Springs, where we took our turn off the packed interstate. 
Black Hawk, Colorado is where we have reservations tonight.
We wind around the mountain and drop into this valley area, and there is a little township in the valley.
Beautiful area, and casinos are every where.
We are staying at The Lodge Casino in Black Hawk for the next two nights.












As we make our way into the parking garage, they are pretty busy with cars, but when they see the bikes, a guy comes running up to us, and asked if we have reservations.....
Why yes we do!
He motions for another guy, and the arms of the gates open, and they direct us to up close and personal motorcycle parking.
Wow, that's the way we roll!!!





Checking in was a breeze, and we unpack the bikes and get settled in for our stay.
It is a group decision that we eat at the buffet the hotel has.
Great idea!!!!!
After we eat, we go and get signed up for playing cards.
Given instructions on how to earn points, Diana & I set out to do just that.
I found this machine I named "Pinky" and sweet Pinky was being very good to me.
I was up like $170 at one time, and decided to cash out at at $149.97.
I had spent about $40 earlier, but I felt good about my earnings....this from the girl that usually loses everything!
Diana's machine wasn't being good to her so I told her to hop on "Pinky".
True to form Pinky awarded her with some earnings as well.  $68.89 to be exact!

We both got 50 points for playing so we will get a voucher to eat free at the buffet tomorrow, that is if we eat there tomorrow. 
Not bad!
Its getting late and it is time to go to bed.....time to rest...
Goodnight world!

Colorado Rocky Mountain Road Trip 6-20-15

June 20th -

Up and ready to head out by about 8am.
We found a meeting room to have our first devotion and prayer for this trip.
















The decorator came out in me...couldn't resist taking a picture of these totally ugly vertical blinds in the hotel.
Man, I think they need to update, don't you!






Anyway back to the devotion.
Doug was first up, and he had a video of the Minions....and the word I got out of today is "Love".





The weather is a little cool this morning, and it makes for a very nice ride first thing.
As we make our way through Dalhart, Texas, we stop at a signal light.

Angel the Goldwing is carrying Harley part!  

When we start up again, we pass a chrome medium size box looking thing, and Chuck says he thinks it is a part off a Harley.
We are next to last bike this morning, so we turn around and go back.




Lynn & Keith follow.
Sure enough, by the time we make it back to the intersection, the chrome box has moved a little closer to the edge of the street.
I get off and pick it up.

Replacing the part!!!

Sure enough, it is a chrome oil cooler cover, and we are pretty sure we know who's bike is now missing one!
The other 3 bikes have no idea they lost 2 of their members, so we make a bee line to catch up with them.
A few miles out of town, they are on the side of the road....wondering what happened.
I had texted Diana to tell her we would catch up, but they weren't able to contact our leaders Doug & Twana.
All good, and we are back together, we ride to Clayton, NM to get gas and a potty.
Chuck walks over to Doug, and looks at his bike, and asked if he was missing something....sure enough, he was.
We have that missing part!!!!
Gas stop was good, but was too early for the Dairy Queen to be open, so we go on down to the Love's Country store to use their rest rooms.




This place was a mad house....
A couple of buses have pulled up and there are boy scouts all over the place.
Glad we got there when we did, or we would have had a very long wait.
The buses had parked really close to the bikes, and when it was time for us to head out, it made it difficult for Doug to pull out.
He was making his way very carefully, and when he was clear, he proceeded out, until the boy scout person stepped in front of him.
Not cool for sure.
Doug was able to keep the bike upright, but we really thought he had clipped the boy scout person!
I am not sure what this person thought that loud noise was that was coming towards him but I can assure you that he wasn't paying attention.

Volcano in the background...who knew!!!

Back on the road there were several perfect photo ops for the bikes.
This is the longest slowest road you will ever ride on.




I text Lynn to tell her that I got her picture by the volcano!!!









Our next stop is Trinidad, Colorado.

The "Rock" Stars!  

We stop for gas again, and the talk of lunch begins.
There is a Mexican restaurant, and it is agreed that we will just eat there.
Tequila's Mexican Restaurant was a nice place to stop.
They seemed happy to see us!
We were happy to see them, and chowed down.
This was the first place that our rocks were brought out and got their pictures taken.
Remember Lizzy, well, she has 4 other friends on this trip.
Meet Star, Curly Sue, River and Caitlin.
I think people think we are crazy when we get the girls out, but that is OK.
We girls have a lot of fun with our "rocks".

Lunch is over, and it is time to make our way to South Fork, Colorado.

Gold dome school

As we drive through Trinidad I got a quick shot of their school....seems it has a gold dome like our bank in OKC.
The afternoon ride was beautiful.















Great to see the snow cap mountain in the distance.
We enter the San Isabel National Forest, and enjoyed the green grass and the water we see along the way.
There were several areas that the yellow flowers were covering the fields.
The snow fence messed with my shot, but you get the idea.
We stop in Fort Garland for gas and a little break.





















Lynn & Carla had to walk over to the vendors selling "rock pipes".  LOL

















The day is fairly warm, and as we make our way towards Monte Vista, the clouds begin forming.
It is a much needed break from the glaring sun.
Of course the dust storm that we encountered was not so exciting.
The winds blew as we go through the main street of town.
Then the dust hit...WOW!!!!!
Glad that only lasted a few minutes.










We make it to South Fork around 6:00pm.
Our rooms are ready and we are ready to get off the bikes for awhile.
Ute Bluff Lodge is a really cool place...well, but they don't have air conditioners in the rooms!
What!!! No air....really!

The lodge has a tee pee on the property, so what better place for a picture!
Settled in, it is time to eat!
The Old Firehouse Restaurant is the place we will eat tonight.
Outside seating was available, so we do just that.
We are even entertained by a guy and his guitar this evening.
Our rocks even got their picture taken by the guy....I am sure that was a first for him.

Back at the lodge, we wanted to sit outside, but the mosquitoes were too bad, so we went to their club house and sat and talked.
Great day of riding, and great day with friends.
Lets go to those non air conditioned rooms and get some sleep...for tomorrow we ride!
Good night John Boy

Colorado Rocky Mountain Road Trip 2015 (6-19-15)

Today is the much anticipated day myself and 9 other people have been waiting for.
Today we start our vacation.
Not just any vacation, but a Colorado extravaganza vacation.
Our friends Doug & Twana sent out an invite about 6 months ago for this said vacation.
Our other friends Lynn & Keith have never experience the mountains of Colorado, and this trip was designed with them in mind.

Our day started very early, as our grandson Cash was having his tonsils removed today!
Poor little guy has had so many strep throat episodes, it is time to get rid of those nasty things.
His surgery is first thing, and I make my way to the out patient hospital and arrive at 6:30 am.
He is called in very quickly, and they are finished about as fast.
As he come out of the room to his mom and dads arms, he tells them to "get him out of this place"....he was not a happy camper!
Before you know it, he is released and on his way home to re-coop.
So glad all went well with him, and he will be experiencing good health before you know it.


It is time to get on the road, so Diana & Chris arrive at the house around 11am.

Our lunch stop was outside of Clinton, OK at Jiggs BBQ.

I have always wanted to eat here but they aren't open on Sunday and that is usually the time we ride by. 

The food was extremely good. 

Enjoyed it very much!











We have plans of meeting our people from Duncan in the big town of Amarillo this evening, and from there we will go to the Palo Dura Canyon for dinner and a play.
This is the 50th year for the play "Texas" and we are going to be in the audience.
The weather, well, its pretty warm, but you know it is June.
We are a bit spoiled in Oklahoma due to all the rain and mild weather we have had this year, but I think its trying to make up for lost time.
Could it be that we are just not used to it!!!!! 
Actually the ride wasn't that bad at all.
Diana & Chris are riding with us today and we make excellent time.
The group from Duncan make it to the hotel around 5:30 or so.




They quickly get settled in their rooms, and we are on our way to Palo Dura Canyon.
We are now 5 bikes and 10 people strong.
This is the way the rest of the trip will play out.



Being on motorcycles has its perks.
As we pull into the parking area of the play the guys that direct the traffic told us to follow the golf cart.
The golf car pulled up very close to the front entrance.  
Not bad!  Right up with the buses!  
The last time we went to the play they had wonderful food from The Big Texan.....well, that has changed.
Seems a local BBQ place is doing the catering now.
Not as impressive for use.



Before we know it, the seating area is open and we make our way to our seats.







Great seats and remember how hot it was earlier.

The canyon has already started to cool down.
Great evening for a play! 





During the intermission they announced there were 929 people at the play tonight!












We ducked out before the play was over just to avoid the long slow line back out of the canyon.

Mole Revival Kit!!!  

The weather was perfect for an outdoor evening.
I think everyone enjoyed the play very much.
Time to get some shut eye as we have some riding to do tomorrow.
Goodnight world.