COLORADO, NEW MEXICO, AND OKLAHOMA RIDE
We left on Thursday, August 18th/05 in the evening after work and headed west on I-70. Our goal was to make the Veteran’s Run at Cripple Creek and Woodland Park Colorado over the weekend. We were going to leave early Friday morning, but we were excited to go and the bikes were loaded, so we left right after work. We rode to Hays, Kansas, and got a room for the night. When we got up the next morning, it was pouring rain, so we waited for a bit then looked at the forecast and saw it was sposed to rain for the day. So, we loaded the bikes, zipped up our rain gear, and off we went in the rain. We ran about 60 mph on I-70, and about the Colorado border we finally got out of the rain, where it was hot and muggy. We pulled over, stripped off the rain gear and continued on. We got into Colorado Springs mid afternoon, and hung out, going to the Harley store, stopping in to see a friend. About 6pm we headed up the mountain to Woodland Park where we had a room reserved for two nights. We went out to eat that night, and walked around town a bit. The next morning we rode to the local high school and got our bikes in a line up that eventually totaled about 2000. There at the high school the local veterans association was fixing breakfast for everyone! About 10am, we all loaded up and headed to Cripple Creek. We hooked up with several thousand bikes coming from Denver. We went west on 24 highway, then turned to head to Cripple Creek at Divide Colorado. It was something to see looking ahead and behind, all you could see up and down the mountains was motorcycles. When we got to Cripple Creek, it was already packed with bikes and bikers. We hung out for 4-5 hours, seeing the sites, looking at the bikes and all the vendors. We did some gambling, but with my usual luck, it would have been less painless to just walk by a casino and throw a 20 dollar bill in the door and keep walking. There is a place there (I hope its still there) called the General Store, where I ALWAYS stop in and buy peanut butter fudge, it is killer!! After we got tired of the crowds, we hopped back on the bikes and headed back to Colorado Springs to visit with friends. We got halfway between Cripple Creek and Divide, out in the middle of nowhere, and got hit by a hail storm. Luckily it was only pea size, but hurt too much to ride in, so we stopped and just stood by the bikes with our backs turned until it quit. Of course there was nothing to get under where we were. With our leathers and helmets, it felt like rain, so no big deal. After it stopped, we went on to Colorado Springs. The next morning, we loaded up and headed out towards Ouray, Colorado where we had a KOA Camping Cabin reserved. We would highly recommend the KOA at Ouray. Ouray is one of the most beautiful spots in Colorado, especially if you have a Jeep or rent one and go off into the mountains. We’ve been going there for over 20 years and never get tired of it. Ouray is a very historical mining town and has a natural hot springs pool. It is about the size of a football field and the water temp is 110 degrees where the inlet is. From Woodland Park we took highways 24, 285, 50, and 550 to Ouray, some of the most beautiful scenery you could ask for. Once in Ouray, we spend a couple days just hanging out, riding some mountain roads, just enjoying our bikes and being together. After our 2 days were up in Ouray we headed south. We stayed on 550 to Durango, then headed east on 160 to Pagosa Springs, again great scenery!! We then turned south and headed towards New Mexico, and that’s when the rain started again! It rained on us from Pagosa all the way to Cebolla New Mexico, where we again broke out into clear skies and sunshine. We got into Espanola, and it started to rain again, we decide heck with it, we’re stopping. We got a room in Espanola, and asked around about food. We were directed to an incredible Mexican restaurant. One thing we always do on these trips is to eat at a local place. We can eat at franchises in Lawrence all we want. We spend the night there and woke up to a sunny morning. After breakfast in a little café we headed east. We took a scenic route to Taos, then 58 to Springer, and then stayed on 58 into Oklahoma. That’s where it started getting HOT, remember this is August! We rode to Guymon Oklahoma and stayed at a little mom and pop motel, and ate at the truck stop café next door. The next morning, we headed east on 412 until we hit Fort Supply and stopped to eat lunch at a little roadside café. I got their KILLER double bacon, horseradish, cheese, and jalapeño hamburger, best I have ever had. An hour later I thot I was going to die, it was so good!! We headed east to Oklahoma City where we visited relatives. It was so hot that every time we would stop we would drink a liter of water each. A couple of times I stopped at a house and used their faucet to soak my long sleeve denim shirt. That’s just like an air conditioner worn over a t-shirt. It’s good for about an hour. We also stopped at a couple Applebee’s just for ice tea along the way, and none of them charged us! After eating dinner with relatives in Oklahoma City, we crashed in a motel, worn out from the ride and the heat. We slept in the next morning, and then took off for Tulsa. We got there late in the day and decided to do a little night riding towards Kansas to beat the heat. We got almost to Skiatook Oklahoma, and we could see nasty lightening ahead of us. So, we found a little motel, and stashed the bikes up under the awning. Guess there were tornados north of us that night, so probably a smart move on our part. The next day, we motored on into Lawrence. We had a great vacation even though it rained on us. When Glenda was taking her riders course it rained all one day, so she was familiar with riding in the rain so we didn’t mind it. As long as you have rain gear, helmet and waterproof boots, it’s no big deal, just gotta be more alert to what’s going on around you. I would highly recommend this route, there is a lot of great scenery, well, maybe not in the Oklahoma panhandle, but it was fun and we met a lot of nice people! We are thinking about doing the same route again some day, except go the other way... We’ve had several other fun trips, into Arizona, Old Mexico, Sturgis, Arkansas, etc... but that’s another story(s)!!!
Robin and Glenda Moore