Independence Pass!

We had a bit of a long day yesterday, heading back up CO 133 past Redstone and Carbondale to CO 82 leading to Independence Pass. We have to tell you this is a favorite place to visit. For Hank it would make the whole trip worthwhile all by itself. We’re glad that life hasn’t been stingy at all, giving us wonderful memories of places and people who have enriched our journey. Today is a down day for lounging, laundry, eating, packing and lounging, for tomorrow we ride about 260 miles to Estes Park.

A heads up. This post may drift into sentimentality a bit, so proceed at your own risk.

The weather was very hot here in Paonia, so we were happy to speed to Independence Pass, which crosses the Continental Divide in the Sawatch Mountains of the Rockies. It was a happy trade going from 95F to about 62F at 12,100 feet. Of course we had to return to the heat but … oh, well.

Independence Pass has been a magical place since first visiting on our 2017 ride. Some things have changed. The Lookout Point buildings have been updated but there are fewer benches. In 2017 the road seemed carved through 8-feet of snow pack left over from winter. This time there is no snow remaining and the air is dry.

The magic happens when you stand and gaze at the majesty of these tremendous mountains. Even after climbing two miles above sea level they still tower thousands of feet above. The Continental Divide is a jagged knife cutting the sky that marks the Divide on the earth below. Seems no matter how high you climb, there is always more.

One’s heart fills to overflowing standing before the immensity and intricacy of creation, and to feel your place in it. We are awed. And grateful. We are so blessed to have come to this place.

As you know by now, one thing we love about traveling this way is the chance to meet folks. A common introduction is to offer (or be offered) to take a group shot without the awkwardness of selfies. Just happens that Connie is a talented photographer and always gets the pleasing shot. Sometimes this leads to introductions and conversation. Sometimes even to trading contact information and, if we’re lucky, to friendship.

It happens that we met a couple, Wolfgang and Angelika, from Germany, who are visiting for 4-5 weeks. Both are doctors, one an MD, the other we believe is a Ph’d who studied in the US at Rutgers University in NJ. Of course they are fluent English speakers and a delight to converse with. They were so kind as Connie and I shared our stories of having exchange students and learning of other cultures. Even more, they graciously endured our broken attempts to speak Deutsch. Did I mention that they are kind?

Wolfgang and Angelika are headed to a rendezvous with a son who lives in San Francisco. We traded contact information and would be so pleased to meet again.

Well, that’s all folks. Hope you’re happy and well. And thanks for checking in!

Today we had a beautiful little ride to Grand Mesa in the Grand Mesa National Forest. The US Forest Service does a wonderful job preserving the park, and providing information and guidance for so many folks who come to visit.

Grand Mesa is a large Mesa in Colorado and the tallest “flat top” Mesa in the world. It covers about 500 square miles east of Grand Junction, CO, and rises about 6,000 feet above the Colorado River and Gunnison River valleys. That puts it at 11,000 feet at the top.

The Mesa is capped by a thick layer of volcanic rock (basalt) that is much harder than the sedimentary rock in the area. This hard rock, that flowed from volcanos 10 million years ago, kept the surrounding rivers from eroding the Mesa like the soft rock around it. Amazing what water can do with a little time.

Anyway, it’s gorgeous! There is a lot of water sequestered on the Mesa in the form of 300 small lakes and reservoirs, and a lot of streams. The contrast with the surrounding valleys is stark. With the drought of the last several years, so much of Colorado has a dun, parched look except where fields are irrigated. And the temperature on the Mesa was in the low 60’s versus mid-90’s below. It was a beautiful day for a ride. 140 miles worth.

Of course we met some folks. Myron Hostettler, from close by in Cedaredge, was at the Mesa Visitor’s Center when we pulled in for a bit of relief. He took time to point us to a lovely trail that led to a vantage point that overlooks the valleys below. Myron was a tall, powerful, kindly man who impresses with quiet dignity.

He had his five sons, all about 10 years and up, with their bicycles in the bed of his pickup. There wasn’t a cell phone or gadget in sight. Every one was polite and waited with some patience for their dad to stop talking. He finally did, as all dads finally do. Seems they were excited to ride downhill off the Mesa and had dad to cover their back door from traffic. And maybe to help out if there’s a mishap. That being said, the boys and Myron quickly mounted up and set off down the mountain. Wow.

The trail we stopped at is called Land O’ Lakes and is a short, paved path that leads to the south rim of the mountain. In the near view about 1,000 feet below, there were five small lakes looking refreshing if half full. Farther off the Gunnison River Valley was spread out. Farther yet we could see the San Juan Mountains, part of the Rockies, which extend from Northern New Mexico into the so called mineral belt of Colorado. The towns of Silverton and Ouray, and Telluride were established there during the silver rush in the mid-1800’s. We rode the Million Dollar Highway from Durango north through the San Juan’s last week. They looked as impressive at a distance as they did close at hand.

While at the scenic overlook, we met an Hispanic family from Iowa. Jorge and Imelda were toting their two very young kids along the trail. They were all excited to be on vacation in a not-flat place, and meeting two strangers wearing funny coats in summertime may have been a sight. When we parted, Connie and I wondered if this young family was concerned about possible judgement, or even hostility. They were bilingual but … would that be enough away from home? We liked them, and were glad to have met them.

Then there was Bob Binnell who hails from Michigan near Saginaw and is on a solo excursion in his pickup and camper. He was thrilled to meet us as we were putting on our jackets. He was an enthusiastic conversationalist. We were glad to have met it. He told us he loves July 4th, not because of overt patriotism but because has a forebear, discovered through Ancestry.com, that was intimately involved with and signatory to the Declaration of Independence who represented New Jersey. We learned Bob’s maternal great grandmother created the formula for Spic and Span in the 1920’s and sold it to P&G a few years later. He had so many things to share and was grateful for an audience. At last we had to move on and head home.

Our routes were principally CO 92 and CO 65 today. Wonderful roads.

Tomorrow we plan a more ambitious ride to Independence Pass, one of our all time favorites.

Have a great night!

We started out early (think “retired early” – maybe 8:30] on our way west toward Colorado, one of our favorite places to ride. Our first stop is in Canonsburg where our son Ben’s family has set up shop. Very exciting doings here. Baby Liam is growing like a weed, and big brother Lucas just got fitted for hockey gear for learning to play today.

Our ride was not very exciting. 320 miles out the Pennsy Turnpikeas quick as we could. And only about $50 with EZ Pass. Such is progress.

We encountered a couple of folks who brightened the day. At a rest area west of Harrisburg we were resting our butts when we met a woman with three Corgeys. She was having a wonderful time watching her pups whiz around inside her car. We assume it’s her car. Not sure what she was thinking but she was sure having fun. Whatever floats your boat, I guess. It just stuck with me.

Then I met Tom on his big beautiful Harley and we got to talking. Of course we did the obligatory mutual admiration of our rides and shared a story or two. He told a tale of a friend of his that loved long rides. Really long. He did a trip from PA to Washington State then made a “detour” to Alaska. I mean, why wouldn’t you? Seattle to Fairbanks is only about 2,200 miles. Seems he had little in the way of gear, yet had thought to install a reserve fuel tank in one of his saddle bags. Wouldn’t it be invigorating to ride with a tank of 93 Octane fuel under your butt. But then, why wouldn’t you? What could possibly go wrong? According to Tom all was right at the end. There was no self immolation.

Sounds like a tall tale, but well told.

As I’m writing this we are planning an outing at the Pittsburgh Zoo and ice cream at Sarris’ Candy Shop, one my favorite places to get fat.

More tomorrow. And thanks for checking in!

Today’s ferry from Port aux Basque NL to North Sydney, NS took six hours. We left the port in Newfoundland in heavy fog. It seemed only fitting somehow. More magical.

Riders are generally directed towards one lane for boarding. As a group we drive onto the ferry and into the ship’s hold. It’s an odd feeling at first.

Everyone scurries about, grabbing tie downs and tamping down our bikes to the deck of the hold. Today we helped two older guys who were on the ferry with their bikes for the first time. They thought the deck hands would tie down the bikes. But they don’t. So Hank and I helped.

After everything was right with the bike we proceeded up to the 9th deck of the ship to find our seats. They were reclining and comfy.

Hank and I settled in with coffee and muffins and read our books all day. Around 5:00, we started to see the coastline of Nova Scotia.

There is an orderly process for embarking and disembarking the ferry. At about 5:50, everyone returned to their vehicles and by 6:00 (right on time) we rode off the ship.

Now we are in a little roadside motel for the night. Tomorrow we set out for the Bay of Fundy.

On July 3rd, we rode about 300 miles to the new home of our oldest son, Ben, his wife, Aabha, and grandson Lucas. We were so happy to arrive and enjoy being with family. New and exciting job opportunities prompted the move across PA and the purchase of their new (and gorgeous) house in Canonsburg.

We spent the 4th enjoying local celebrations and thoroughly enjoyed our time. Lucas is a joy and a handful at 3. Their dog Rowan is exciting and friendly and has an unhealthy affinity for washing ears. Mine when I’m around. Ben and Aabha are a pleasure as we relaxed together.

Then on the morning of the 5th we all hit the road. Ben still works as a PA State Trooper and temporarily remains based in Philly, so he took Lucas to pre-school and drove 5 hours to work. Aabha started a new job on the medical faculty at West Virginia University Med School so she headed to her new office. Connie and I gathered our stuff one more time, loaded the bike, and rode about 7 hours home. We arrived hot, tired and wringing wet. There’s no cool and dry in the Delaware Valley in July. No, there is not.

All told, we rode 7800 miles in 35 days. No Iron Butt Awards, but we’re glad and proud of ourselves for this trip. It was exhilarating, exhausting, sometimes frustrating and totally amazing. And our butts still hurt.

It was totally worth it.

As we’ve said before, the people we meet along our journeys enrich our experience. In a world where we hear of divisiveness and discord daily, we find only kindness and curiosity. The people we meet generally want the same things for themselves and their families.

Now a word for my sponsor. A huge part of our successes riding resides in Connie’s ability to plan, finding lodging at modest rates, project traveling needs at key stages, and investigating travel routes via online forums, groups, and websites. She is amazingly talented at logistics and makes it all look easy. She is the best company ever with whom to explore new roads and sights, which she captures beautifully with her iPhone. And her riding experience offers us a valuable extra set of eyes for both safety and opportunities. This is our third cross country ride since 2017 and I could not be more happy. We’re looking forward to our next adventure once we figure out what it will be.

We are blessed.

Thank you kind reader for following along with us. We hope you’ve enjoyed our travelogue. Many of you have left comments for which we are grateful, and we are tickled that you thought it worth your while.

I’m going to sign off now. There’s an ice pack and a soft pillow waiting.

We did about 300 miles today. It was hot and muggy. Colorado has very low humidity. Did we mention that before? The difference in humidity levels is stark once you leave the Colorado Plateau. And since there a kooky weather system in the US right now and it’s stormy everywhere, it’s really swampy.

We rode into Greenfield IN in search of lodging and food. We found a Cracker Barrel for our lunch/dinner. We were there about ten minutes and the rain started. My phone kept alerting me to the storm outside. But we were focused on food and feeling thankful we were sheltered.

You may think that there are restaurants at every exit on I70. But that is not so: particularly in southern Illinois and Indiana. We thought we got lucky and stopped at a McDonald’s for lunch. But all the doors were locked. There were people inside eating but no new patrons were being allowed in. Or was it just us? lol. And while the drive thru was open, we didn’t want to stand around the bike eating and sweating. We decided to push on. And Cracker Barrel beats McDonalds hands down.

This morning we road through St Louis. We saw the “Arch” and traversed a bridge over the mighty muddy Mississippi.

So we are happily in our room. Counting the minutes until we can go to bed. 😴

Today’s ride was essentially a straight line from Salina, KS to Wentzville, MO just outside of St Louis. After a month of delightful twisty roads and cool dry temps, I guess we’re paying our dues with consecutive, hot 400 mile days. Our main excitement was riding past and skirting around some foul weather. We pulled in here just before the heavens opened up. Good navigation by Connie. I’ll claim clean living and fancy footwork.

We are comfortably ensconced in our hotel, cool showers and food soon. Two more days and we will see Aabha, Ben and Lucas at their new home. Very much looking forward to that!

We rode from Manitou Springs to Salina KS today. It was a long 425 miles in a head wind, but we arrived safely.

The change in scenery and the distinct rise in humidity told us we were no longer in Colorado.

Good night and good luck -Connie

We set out for home tomorrow. We spent the morning looking at weather and possible waypoints on our journey home.

We plan to stop just south of Pittsburgh to visit our son and his family in their new home. And want to be there on July 3rd. So that’s four days riding.

There are heavy storms expected on July 2nd and 3rd. We are being militantly optimistic that the storms will not be bad. However, we will travel when we can and hunker down when needed.

Colorado is such an amazing state. I want to wax poetic, but I’ll save that post for the rider, Hank.

We had a great day. We met so many nice people at the Java Moose Cafe in Fairplay, CO and reconnected with our Cajun friends in Manitou Spring.

We will definitely elaborate tomorrow. But I leave you with this.

Good night. 🌙