Joe and Yvette: 09 Labor Day Loop

What can I say, a fantastic weekend spent with some fantastic friends. My little get-together is growing. The first time I held this event, one person, Eric (ElNomad) showed up. For the second event, Jamey (JameyT) and Trevor (GoofyWizard) were the only VROCers to participate. My wife, my son and two of my local riding buddies rode with us. This year we had Scott (Flying Biker) and his wife Vicki, Daryl (Audiogooroo), Joel (Waterman) and his wife Krystal, Trevor plus his wife Jill and kidlets, and Jamey and his son Austin. We had a great ride. It looked like rain until we crested McClure pass and saw nothing but blue sky and puffy clouds. It stayed warm and sunny until we turned west at Cedaredge, then it looked like we were heading directly toward a dark black, ominous, threatening bank of clouds. I kept checking the GPS, and the road looked to be veering toward the only patch of blue sky on the western horizon. I'm quite sure the group behind me thought I was mad for heading toward the darkness and not stopping, but the road did turn, and we did miss the storm completely. The only mishap of the day was when Waterman was trying to avoid a barbed wire fence at one of our photo pull-offs, and was staring so intently at fence, he drove right into it. Not much harm done to the bike, some minor scratches on the fender and a bruised ego. We gave Joel some good natured ribbing to make him feel better... Austin had never been to Colorado, so he was quite impressed when we crested 10,894ft going over the Grand Mesa. I think he got an eyefull of the beauty that Colorado has to offer, and maybe the desire to explore more of our state. On the opposite side of the Grand Mesa, we stopped in the town named Mesa, and had a late lunch at my favorite Mexican restaraunt, Mesa Grande. I bragged about the quality of the food there, I sure hope the place lived up to the expectations of the other riders. We had a wonderful BBQ at my place, and feasted on Sweet Corn that Waterman had brought with him. We finished the evening off making Smores's on my deck. Corvette, being the consumate Girl Scout Troop leader, had plenty of marshmellows, chocolate bars and graham crackers on hand....
Everyone took off this moring, headed to their respective destinations. Thanks to all who came, we really enjoyed your company. This family we call VROC is sure special...

I took a few photo's but left the camera at home with Corvette on the day of the ride.

Here are some links to the photo's that the other riders have taken.

Audiogooroo's photos:

http://s231.photobucket.com/albums/ee19/audiogooroo/Labor%20Day%20Loop%2009/?albumview=slideshow

Waterman's photos:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/574563366CxTtQT

Flying Bikers photos:

Coming soon

JameyT's photos

Coming soon.

My photos:

JameyT and his son Austin rode the furthest, and were the first to arrive. They instantly started setting up their accomodations..

JameyT's Nomad and Austin's ZX-11. Austin traded me for part of the return ride home. That bike is stupid fast. Way to fast for me to keep my license. I dropped it two gears while cruising at 80mph, and reached between 120-130mph way too quickly...

Now where have I seen that name before...

Audiogooroo

Daryl's beautiful 1500 Nomad.

Flying Biker and Audiogooroo

Audiogooroo and Goofywizard.

Goofy's ride for the day...

Trevor, Jill and Munchkin.

Daryl, Jill, Jamey, Trevor and my honey watching for stray balls...

Vicki and Scott setting up the tent-majal.

Waterman and his wife Krystal have arrived!

The source of the stray balls... Trevor and Jill's kids entertained our dogs, or vice versa, for most of the afternoon, but the tennis balls had a mind of their own and would take stray paths occasionally.