Day started out pretty poor... feelin' bad 'bout the night before... Heidi had asked me where the backrest for the bike was... so I replied; "Huh?"
"It's not on the bike!" she says... "Well I don't know how to answer you... 'cause it sure is!"... so... 'bout 10:30 at night... she looks out the window and says... "NO... It Isn't!"... I get up... thinkin' she's crazy... and...
IT'S GONE! Wha.....!!!
Jumped up... climbed in the jalopy Subaru, and headed up the road... finding that $1000 backrest setup... layin' in a ditch... 'bout 15 miles south... ($600 back rest, $160 tail rack... another 150 or so to custom cover the pad = $910 ... close enough for me to call it $1000)
Anyhoo... the chrome is chewed up and the pad is ate up... I'll get the pad fixed in a couple weeks, when I'm gettin' the front seat done... the chrome, is gonna have to wait 'till the Alaska run is done... aarrrrrrrrgggggghhhhh!
So... starting out on a downer, we ran in to town to file our Passport Papers... and... outside of another lil' dent in the bank account :o) ... that went fine... so I'll be likely able to come home in September!
After the Passport Office, we climbed on the Raider and rode over to Thunder Mountain Harley where I'd thought I'd spotted the saddle bags that would fit like I wanted... only to find out... that...
wait for it...
I... was... wrong! ... another lil' aarrgggh! ... I'd only looked at one bag... dumb. The bag for the other side had a big ol' formed 'cutout' for a part that my ride don't have... so ... back to the drawing board...
But, that's not too far a trip... I've got two other makers in mind... I was just hoping to be able to hold the bag in my hands... before I laid down the dinero for it... hard to Know it's gonna fit... from just a picture, and a measurement... guess I'll just have to employ a lil' bit more, of some of that Faith! :o)
So... right 'bout now... is when the day started lookin' up a mite... 'cause riiiighhht across the parking lot... sits the Fort Collins incarnation of Hooters! :o) ... and if having lunch there, don't make an old Cowboy smile... He's dead! :o)
With a full belly, we climbed back on the Raider to see how far up Trail Ridge Road we might could get... That bein' the road to the top of Rocky Mountain National Park...
and though we had a real fine ride up Big Thompson Canyon... the sun was still shining down low...
Heidi did manage to trip the trigger a few times on that lil' S8000 Nikon, pocket camera as we went along... that should be some fun as she gets the hang of it...
Stopped in Estes Park for homemade ice cream, after we turned back before we entered the park... The farther we'd rode... the harder it rained as we approached the gate... and not really being in the mood for another soaking... we thought a few quiet minutes people watching, and eating ice cream would be a better choice...
So there we sat... only the "People" seemed to be watching the two old bikers... more than the bikers we're watching them... and then Heidi started laughing...
... as she shouted to me... over the roar of the street sweeper thundering behind us... and the crowds streaming past on main street Estes Park... "Ain't it great? You ride a hundred miles... for the peace and quiet of the mountains!" :o)
Hey... if you'd like to see some of the Colorado Motorcycle Roads that I'm riding... when I talk about Stove Prairie or The Big Thompson... you can go to this post on my "other" blog... and watch a video made by another guy... who thinks our Colorado Canyons are some of the Sweetest Rides around! :o)
Today... with heavy rain predicted... "A Rain Event" they were calling it last night... we're heading up into the Mountains around Red Feather... for to do a lil' of what we're all supposed to be Doin'... LIVING!
Take Good Care
Brian
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5 comments:
if time wasnt the factor ,i would like to have rode to alaska with you ,meet up in alberta or wherever on this side ,,but alas we have soooo much planned ,too many trailer trips between now and the rally in goshen for escapees ,so happy trails and twister hard ..
Hi Brian and Heidi... re your personal jaunt to Alaska... I had a 1956 Triumph when I was a kid and thought about a trip to Alaska too.... Never took the trip until about 1998 and then it was a week long cruise .. not the same.. then in 2001 my wife and I went via our Monaco RV. Great trip. What I don't understand is why you are not going together ... realizing the dream you had et al., ... you now have the truck and the 5th wheel... and from my trip I can tell you that dry camping is easy in Alaska. There is so much to see that going alone seems --- can I say this -- a little selfish. [Sorry about that.] Why not take 3 months and do your together thing and share the experience? You could still take single side trips or together side trips. Just a thought. ernie
Just a thought - why don't you MAKE your own saddle bags? Nice tooled leather. Could end up being a sideline business.
Chuck&Ayn
I've though about that... sometime when I'm feeling, really, really, ambitious maybe! :o) that right there is another heavy duty learning curve... dont' know if my feeble ol' brain can deal with ... MORE learning! :o)
Great post. Estes Park is gorgeous. We know all too well of the difficulty of finding useful information on new camping/park sites. I'd like to share with you a new (Free) iPhone app that should help with planning future rv/camping trips. We're quite proud of our app. Which lists 18,000 parks & lets you search for new parks by current location, state or city. Feel free to email me back with any questions or feedback on how we can improve our app and/or website. All of our reviews are created by real RV enthusiasts like yourself.
iPhone app - http://rvparking.com/iphone
Useful website - RVParking.com is a community site where anyone can review campgrounds,state parks and RV parks that they have visited for free.
http://www.rvparking.com/
Here's our results for RV Parks near Estes Park. Curious as to where you stayed while visiting? We'd really appreciate it if you took a few moments to add your thoughts to the site you stayed at.
http://www.rvparking.com/parks?name=estes%20park&distance[city]=estes%20%20CO&distance[search_distance]=30&state=CO
Happy RVin!
Amanda
amanda@rvparking.com
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