See If I Can Catch Things Up on 3 Different Deals...

Sooooo... I was on the road in the wind... and then I wasn't.

I rolled up over Hoosier pass to Fairplay and hooked around to get my supper fixin's in Buena Vista. Just twenty miles or so north of town you turn off to climb Independence pass.

Just there at the bottom, before the road starts climbing into the mountains is a pair of sweet little lakes... and a hell of a nice camp at a place called Diamond Pt.

Nice breeze that kept the skeeters clear... and a nice view from my "Porch"...

Come the dawn... I was up and prepping for another day in the saddle...

First things first... and... Coffee is always first.

Lil' more problematical when some fella runs off and forgets to pack his cup in the gear...

...so he has to have a Bowl of coffee to start the day :) ... or three...

Then it was pack up and get to rollin'... Higher in the Rockies...

I have to say, Independence Pass is maybe the sweetest ride in the state... There's several in close competition... but this one is definitely one of those top few...

*That bike makes me look like a runt!*

Reluctantly I dropped off the pass into the place that is... Aspen...

Yeah... NOT... a place that this boy fits at all well...

When you're sitting on your scooter at a red light... and some "lady" walks past in the cross walk... with her high fashion straw hat... her $400 dollar sandal shoes... yadda yadda...

...gives you a glance and then with her nose in the air and turned away... walks past with her face screwed up like she's got a sour lemmon in her mouth... you KNOW... you are not in your "home" country... bwahahahahahaha...

I rolled down out of the mountains to catch a sit down lunch in Glenwood Springs... to fuel me up for the ride through Glenwood Canyon... to find no place in the Inn... at the Wolford Recreation area outside of Kremmling...

Buuuuut... the gal there at the gate called into an RV Park in town and found me a spot... Now... I'm not the RV Park sort... but I'll tell you... I rode past the RV's belly to butt... to pitch my tent on a big grassy square with one other tent... with a big ramada in between... for $13 bucks! long about HALF what a KOA tariffs a biker for.

Nice grassy camp. Hot shower and supplies just down the road a mile... Ha! I had it better than the RV'ers! :)

Next morning I finished my figure eight ride and get back to the trailer to get to work again...

... a day and some got lost with the Robin Williams news... that touched a nerve... and then it was time to get movin' again...

I spent goodly parts of those days getting the coating on the roof. First, a second scrubbing of the old roof to prepare it for the second phase... the primer... and then two coats of Kool Seal elastomeric membrane...

Just popped a fresh refrigerator cap on this morning.

Soon as I got done with the coating yesterday... and after I got re-hydrated from bein' up there in the blistering Colorado sun... must have been all of 75 ;) ... I climbed on the scooter to meet ever'body about 85 miles or so south east.

Took the kids to the Wild Life Sanctuary out east of Fort Lupton. I'll save that post for tomorrow... It's got a few pics and a good story that deserves it's own post.

In the Morning
Brian

I Went and Now I'm Back. Two Wheels in the Wind for Four Days.

Made a Circle that was more like  a  big figure 8. 

Just got back yesterday afternoon from a four day ride wandering 750 miles or so up along the divide. I'd lazed around and didn't hit the road till just after 9 in the morning. Wasn't figuring on goin' that far so why rush around?

So... within three miles I'm sitting in the sun waiting for five minutes for the train boys to move their toys out of the way and clear the road... then... as soon as I hit the canyon... six and half miles of fresh chip and seal... hmmmm... I was hopin' this weren't some sort of  one of those premonition things.

Yeah, chip and seal might just be an inconvenience for a mother-in-law drivin' her Buick... buuuuut for a grumpy cuss on two wheels it can get down right ugly... so that was a pretty slow six miles... but then it was behind me and the open road lay out in front!

The first pass of the circle was at Cameron out at the west end of Poudre Canyon...

When you come off that you're in Jackson County and North Park...

*North Park Colorado just west of Walden*

This might be one of the coldest spots in the country. The Indians of the old days called it the "Buffalo Pen" because with the mountains surrounding it like they do, it was a giant pen.

Back in the 1880s in the west there were a couple of really bad winters. In two of those from 1884 to 1886 something like half of the cattle in this basin were wiped out by the winters... It's a hard life sometimes.

I was heading for a camp at Dumont Lake just over the left shoulder of that peak. That'd be rabbit ears. They used to call it bears ears ... which it looks a lot more like... I sure don't know who or why they changed it...

Buuuut... first I had to cross over Muddy Pass... and then Rabbit Ears pass right after that...

I got into camp with the lightning flashing and the thunder booming. Though I've not set this tent for a little while I had it up and camp set dry in under ten minutes. :)

and then with only a slight bit of rain the sun came back out...

It's kinda tough to travel through such a barren land ;) but I'll manage.

Just after I got my camp set I rode on into Steamboat Springs to get my supper. I'd planned on picking it up back in Walden. As it turned out, the lil' store I'd figured to pick it up at is closed up now. So it was 19 miles or so into Steamboat and the same 19 back.

Wouldn't have been an issue, it's a nice ride... if it hadn't been for that frog strangler that broke loose while I was in the grocery store!

I came out and had a choice... wait it out, which could be a while... or Billy Bad Azz it, suit up and ride!

Well... ya'll know me... I zipped up my rain gear, twisted the throttle and took me, my supper and a pint of nice ale home! Rain be damned!

Actually... outside of adding a little concentration dealing with the affects of rain on motorcycle traction... I don't mind rain riding at all... most times I even enjoy it.

Had to dawdle around the next morning...

*Dumont Lake Sunrise*

... To let my gear dry enough to pack up.

Then it was load up and ride out to see what the new day would bring...

I'll save the rest for another post ;)
Brian

Sonja Takes us Hunting for Fruit, Flowers and Bats in Leavenworth, Washington

They said it was gonna rain, and had in the night, but what can I say, when ya gotta ride, ya gotta ride. I put the Raider on the ground and we headed off in search of... Fruit! ;)

From where we're camped above Coles Corner you run fifteen miles or so down along the river dropping east back down to Leavenworth.

That's a pretty little town... but not one you go to if you're searching for quiet serenity. ;) Now, if you're hungry, or thirsty Leavenworth, Washington is the place to go. You can gain weight there as fast as on any cruise boat.

The Cheese place, with I forget how many different varieties of cheeses and 150 different BEERS caught my attention. Hooua!

But... on down below the town a couple miles there's a "Fruit Stand" we were aiming for... Preys Fruit Barn...

Am I just twisted? or is there truly a bit of dark humor in that name for a touristy place? ;)

The main thing 'bout the Leavenworth area that always gets my attention is the flowers. Everywhere you look are hanging baskets, window boxes and beds of bright flowers... Even on an overcast day they just pop...

We loaded up our fresh picked nectarines and apples and backtracked to another spot between Preys and the town... Heidi saw something there that's her life's ambition...

*Cow Train*

With her experience hauling drunk rednecks at NASCAR, she wants her own place where she can drive her own COW Train...

In Leavenworth we found a spot to park the scooter protected by a curb from the milling Toyotas and errant Buicks... and took a short stroll to find a turnover, a cup of Americano... and...

Bats!

If you look just above the lil' gal wearing the striped shirt... can you see a dark spot on the wall?

The boy says; "I'm gonna touch it! Can I touch it?"

Yeah, well... when a shy critter like a bat, decides to roost in a spot like that it says one thing to this old drifter... "He ain't right"

Best keep your fingers to yourself!

*Leavenworth Bats*

It's a good place to grab a bite... and a sip of something hot, or some cold brew... and then hightail it back to the relative quiet of squealing kids cutting loose in a campground! arrrrgggghhhhh.... :)

That's a skill I've got to learn... to be able to tolerate kids... squealing and playing... and being kids... Shoot me in the head should I ever get to be one of those grumpy old rock chuckin' hermits that grouses about kids kickin' it up in the woods. ;) ... and I'm pretty sure I'll live to regret sayin' that!!! :)

Yup... it's pretty lush over here on the "dry side" of the Cascades... and that's not even countin' all the wineries scattered about. ;) The hillsides are adorned with orchards and vineyards... the pastures are full of horses and cattle... the roads wind through river valleys that are filled with fresh scented wind...

... yeah... it's the small bits that keep you goin.

Brian

A Rough Start to a Fine Day on the Way Into the Past...

The idea was to run up to the cafe' at Silverlake for an Anniversary Breakfast. (34th) and then continue on to the Ghost town of Bodie.

There' a bit of Trivia for you... the name of the guy the town is named after is "Bodey" on his grave marker... the state spells the town "Bodie" I guess you can take your pick. ;)

Anyhoo... we made it 'bout a mile... and smoked the alternator in the truck... again. You might recall we smoked it early during the great Hitch destruction of 2011.

Sooooo... I swapped ends and rolled back to camp.

Unwilling to sacrifice the day to busted machinery... Heidi changed her clothes to be more appropriate to sitting on a bad red motorcycle... and we headed out again...

*June Lake California*

Bright and cool morning. Hot rod Yamaha. Gorgeous high mountain country in the Eastern Sierras... It don't get a whole lot better.

We did have to wait a short while so herself could do a lil' "business management" on the side of the road. ;) Then on we rolled for the Silverlake resort.

We had lunch there a week or so back, which was excellent...

... so we thought it a good place for this breakfast... or by the time we got there after swapping transport... brunch.

With full bellies we headed off to the Ghost Town of Bodie, Calif.

I always get a weird, almost melancholy feeling in a Ghost Town. It's as if I can almost hear the voices, see the people moving about, living their lives. Going through their struggles...

In Bodie, those ghosts are maybe even a lil' stronger. The place lasted up into the 1940's. In places, it's as if the people just walked out, closed the door behind them leaving almost everything behind.

I can see them coming in and out of doorways... working at their various tasks...

Peering through dusty windows into the past... seeing the shadows moving around... it's just an odd, melancholy feeling.

Can't you hear the laughter, the tears, the voices?

Or is this just the rambling of a born out of season, mush brained old pussgut biker cowboy? 

*Bodie general store*

The smell of breakfast cooking... the clink of dishes...

The rattle of trace chains... as teams pulled wagons past the old livery stable...

Or even the grinding of gears and the rumble and pop of those old engines in the later years... as the trucks and cars moved around in the town... or coming and going from far places...

I can see hands on tools and machinery that's been left laying about... Faces looking out of windows...

... we discovered something here that all RV'ers can use as well. It'd be a new technique for Full Time Boondockers to conserve water...

Bathe with your clothes on!

Wash you and your duds all at the same time.

... and it'd work good for those cold winter showers as well! ;)

There's a bit more to tell 'bout Bodie... But there's a busted truck waiting on me... and weather threatening...

The rest of the story'll have to wait for tomorrow.
Brian