We agreed that today, being a shorter day, we'd start out a little later than usual. After a great breakfast included at the Best Western, we looked over the maps and talked about the yellow slip under our door, "Want to stay an extra night? Second night only $69!". Seeing as our plan to end up in Naturtia, which other than the silver loop was only 2 hours away, we decided to keep our rooms, leave our gear and just enjoy the 264 mile day.
We headed SE for Ouray and Silverton, part of the Million $$ hwy. Great scenery and changing weather combined with tight twisting roads and sprawling stretches, it was sight to behold. Not too much though as you must keep your eye on the road or else dropping off the edge of the mountain. Rain gear came on, off, on, off, on then off when we arrived in Durango for Lunch at a little hidden cafe (special thanks to Migues for knowing all the greatest places for good eats). Leaving around 12:45 we stopped for gas in Mancos and began our journey Northward to return to Montrose.
We headed SE for Ouray and Silverton, part of the Million $$ hwy. Great scenery and changing weather combined with tight twisting roads and sprawling stretches, it was sight to behold. Not too much though as you must keep your eye on the road or else dropping off the edge of the mountain. Rain gear came on, off, on, off, on then off when we arrived in Durango for Lunch at a little hidden cafe (special thanks to Migues for knowing all the greatest places for good eats). Leaving around 12:45 we stopped for gas in Mancos and began our journey Northward to return to Montrose. A mix of long, country roads and mellow twisties were complemented by massive mountain ranges in the distance and a couple more showers. We paused at the top of Lizard Pass for a quick break before b-lining back to Montrose.
We passed the turn to Teluride and headed for our turn off at Placerville, across to Ridgeway and our final stretch home. Between Ridgeway and Montrose, it was wet. Real wet. But rather than stopping for rain gear again we pressed on to push through the mountain shower. Our decision was rewarded with sunshine the last 20 miles which dried us out nicely.Arriving back to the hotel, it wasn't more than 5 minutes and the room phone rings. Jeff, one of the BC riders whom was also taking a biking holiday, had lost his wallet (driver's licence, cash and credit cards) somewhere in Cortez, CO. Hearing this, without a thought I told him to get here, share a room and we'll deal with it. He has $200 cash. New cards are on their way to meet us on Tuesday when we hit St. George, Utah, plus a quick transfer of $$ from home. Cards canceled and re-ordered, there wasn't a moment of depression, just thankfulness of a friendly voice and a plan to move forward to. Of course, when he pulled in at 8 this evening, we greated him with a cold beer and some left overs from our dinner.
Tomorrow we'll head for Mexican Hat. A fairly short day but through some promising roads. From there we'll have a long, 421 mile day to St. George, Utah, passing through Capital Reef National Park and the recognized "Stairway", to Bryce Canyon, then on through Zion - one of the must do areas I commited to. It will be long and full of ???, but as per my plans, I'll be taking Wednesday off to plan for the entrance to California, do some laundry and put things into perspective. This is a monumentus undertaking. Living out of two saddle baggs and understanding what I need, don't need and must remember for the next time. Next time?
No comments:
Post a Comment