After pulling up behind another lady rider at The Hampton in Durango last night, riding a purple Harley, no less!!, we instantly made friends and went out to dinner after unpacking the bikes and putting on our "leatha" bad momma riding jackets and jeans. (Michael, start singing the song from "Wild Hogs"!!) We went cruisin' downtown Durango for some meat.....steak, that is. OK, so we had surf n' turf at The Ore House. It was great. There were lots of people on bikes downtown but we had to skedaddle back to the motel, not being the sort to ride after dark. But we did make Cindy rack the pipes on the Harley just a teeny bit. Much giggling ensued.
Today we were up and on the road by 8AM. This will no doubt astound those that know me very well. I'll have you know I even ate breakfast. It was 47 degrees in Durango this morning. And 29 was the low in Silverton!! It was cold on that mountain. But it was the best ride I have ever done. The twisties were superb, the roads are excellent, just don't look down! Ouray is as beautiful as ever. The mountain streams are sparkling and you just know they are bone chilling cold. I know the breeze coming off them sure is!
After a Dr. Pepper and some divine chocolate fudge in Ouray it was on to Montrose. BIG TOWN! They even have a JCPenney's. We did stop at Target, just to, you know, touch home base, but didn't buy anything. They all have the same stuff.
Then on to Hwy 50 to Gunnison and another Scenic Byway. GORGEOUS again. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Oh, beautiful! More twisties and then a huge lake. On the way back I'm going to go down by Lake City and South Fork way.
No words can describe the grandeur of these mountains, nor pictures capture the vastness. Riding through it on a motorcycle is a wonderful experience. Seeing little chipmunks dart out across the road in front of you, smelling the pines, pinons, and...roadkill.
There are lots of lady bikers on the road of all description converging on Keystone, riding in groups, stopping to gab at the gas stations, all asking, "Are you headed to Keystone?" Hugs all around, "See you there!!" and ZOOM, off they go hair a-flying, pipes blasting, grinning from ear to ear!
As we came into Gunnison we could see the afternoon storm forming and the winds increased significantly so we stopped early in the day, to tired to push on through the 120 miles to Keystone. Tomorrow, a half day of riding, up over the Continental Divide through Leadville, the old mining town, and down into the ski basin of Keystone.
Since I forgot to put a song in for yesterday, today we have two....
America, the Beautiful by Katherine Lee Bates
specifically the part about the purple mountain majesties and the spacious skies
AND
my favorite hymn...
This is My Father's World, words by Maltbie Babcock
specifically the part about the music of the spheres
you can really hear it right now because of the wind.
MotorcycleBelle