2010 WWR IV Cortez Rally...

June 7, 2010

The Beginning

The Cortez rally started a bit early for us, with the arrival of CheapB (Mark Hicks) and his grandaughter Elyse from Slapout, Georgia. Shortly after they arrived we were treated to the arrival of our mutual friends Skid and Sandy from Sudbury, Ontario. 

You can click on any picture to make it larger

CheapB and Elyse travelling in style

The dogs already have Elyse trained to throw ball

Skid and Sandy's arrival

Skid and CheapB taking it easy.

A simple BBQ on the back deck rounded out a very nice day. 

June 8, 2010

Silt to Moab

The crew is heading out to Cortez! We are taking the long way, through Carbondale, over McClures Pass, past Paonia reservoir to Delta, then turning north to Grand Junction with a visit to the Colorado National Monument. Then we will cruise I-70 to the Cisco exit and take the back way into Moab where we will stop for the night. 

Getting ready to roll. Yvette is riding, as am I. My son Vinnie and his girlfriend Sami are driving the Jeep, bringing down his Seca and Y's Intruder for the Kiwi's to ride. 

Hays Creek Falls, near Redstone CO, one of the must do stops for folks new to this road

A Honda 90 at a gas stop near Paonia. This one is identical to the one I had as my first bike.

We stopped in Grand Junction for lunch at The Pufferbelly restaurant that was train themed. 

We toured through the Colorado National Monument. This road challenged all the work Skid has done with his fear of heights. Here Sandy got up the courage to get near the edge to take a picture. 

Here is the view from the edge

After the Monument, we jumped on I-70 and took the Cisco exit to ride the back way into Moab.

Surprise! Sherm beat us there and selected a wonderful little motel called The Adventure Inn to stay at.

The day was great, and relaxing in the motel yard was wonderful.

A bunch of travelers settled down to a very fine meal at Pasta Jays. The food was excellent... 

Heres the route: http://www.mapquest.com/mq/2-u*pAffxAkVdD

 7 hours or so, 279 miles

June 9, 2010

Moab to Cortez

We decided to just head to Cortez, and hang out for the afternoon. It was an uneventful, short ride.

The morning planning session.

We had an unexpected visitor. Mo, the Motel Cat was a stray that had been dumped off near the motel. We had every intention of stopping by and picking her up on our return trip, but she had disappeared by then. Hopefully someone else had the same idea and took her home.

We stopped here for breakfast. 

They had a really nice patio to sit on. 

While here we heard from F'n Willie, he and his lady, Rocket Girl and Ham showed up for a bit. Just what was Skid talking about? 

My Chorizo Scramble. Man, was it good!

On the road again. This is a little bit south of Moab.

We stopped at a tourist trap called the 'Hole in the Rock'. This little guy was just hopping around.

Me and Yvette

Skid, Sandy and Sherm

Kioti and his lady

CheapB showing affection, MoParMan, Sandy, Tom Miller, Corvette, Skid and...

(Somebody remind me who this is please..)

TonyD, Tom Miller and Skid enjoying the High Life... 

Brillo and Deb arrived in this flashy ride. 

Corvette, and a red Corvette... 

http://www.mapquest.com/mq/1-La6hm2LK

3 hours, 147 miles

June 10, 2010

Mesa Verde

Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde

Bunch-O-tourists looking at the Cliff Palace

A line of bikes 

Sami and Vin

Corvette

Here kitty, kitty... 

Junior Ranger Drager

There has been several fires run through the area over the last 10 years

The crew who braved the Balcony House tour. Elyse, TonyD, Corvette, CheapB, Vin and Sami

The 32' ladder entrance to Balcony House. Skid, Sandy and Susan would not appreciate the solid construction... 

Two by two

Pretty amazing stuff. I remember exploring here as a kid. And no, the Anasazi were NOT still here... 

Look Ma, no handrails... 

The shorter ladder to the exit

That ladder led to this traverse across the rock. Hey Suzan, check out the view!

Some pretty flowers by one of the ruins

Wow, what a view. Oh, and Tony. <G>

The Kiwi's arrive. Skid greets Jazz (Howard) and Barbershop (Clive)

Susan (zmean1), Margot and Melanie (Trouble)

Taz (Taz)

Clive and Howard eating one of many meals at Jack and Janelle's Place

B from E (Bob), JameyT, Trouble, zmean1, Tom Miller eating and socializing

CheapB (Mark), Elyse, Slammer, Scotty, Marlene, Sherm and Sharon

zmean1 and Trouble getting into trouble. <G>

Biglefti (Lanny) and Jazz. Looks like Jazz brought his own entertainment... 

As is usual for a VROC gathering, the evening was spent standing around in the parking lot renewing old acquaintances and making new ones. The evenings spent socializing are the main attraction of the rally, IMO. Great friends, and great fun... 

Lots of hours, only about 40 miles

June 11, 2010

Million Dollar Highway Ride

During the socializing last night, Skid was talking about the ride from Durango to Ouray via Silverton. Since he is sensitive to heights, he volunteered me to lead the ride. Not having offically led a ride, I was a tad nervous about stopping enough or too much, or setting a pace that was too fast, or not fast enough. All in all, it went just fine. I managed to bring everyone back, and that was what mattered. 

Getting lined up for the ride. 

Jazz and Clive ready to go riding Yvette's Drifter and Vin's Seca. 'Vette stayed in the hotel for this ride, trying to catch up on her studying. Next time this year, she will have graduated and will be able to make all the rides she wants! I am so very proud of her for going after what she wants... 

Slick and Honey. 

Just one of the absolutely incredible views on this ride. 

The bikes at the summit of Molass Pass 

Clive enjoying a scenic overlook 

A breathtaking picture I stole from Jazz

The bikes lined up on Silverton's main street. 

The bar inside the Mainstreet Brewery

?, Lanny, TonyD, Patience, Honey, Slick and B from E

The Brewery had a special on Elk Burgers... most folks tried them, but weren't too impressed. My beef burger was excellent!

Elyse, MacGuy, ?, Clive, Jazz, CheapB

A cool, old truck

The obligatory picture of the Silverton-Durango Narrow Gauge train.

Looking south out of Silverton towards Durango

The view towards Ouray near the top of Red Mountain pass, and the beginning of the Million Dollar Highway. There are several legends as to the origination of the name, including that it cost a million dollars a mile to build, or that it contains a million dollars in gold ore. 

Stopped at a pull out above Ouray. The scenery is incredible as the road winds back upon itself through some old mining areas. 

The view from the pullout. 

I didn't try to take any pictures on the move, for obvious reasons. The rest of the ride, through Ouray and then back to Cortez via Lizardhead Pass was made kinda quickly as the weather became uncooperative. The wind came up over Lizardhead, and as we got closer to Cortez the rain started. We didn't get very wet, and everyone arrived safely back at the hotel. 

http://www.mapquest.com/mq/2-CSp*vfuzmyRTU*gtCRhY  

About 6 hours, 236 miles

June 12, 2010

Not much to post about today. The rain really let us have it. I woke up to the sound of hail bouncing off the outside part of the AC, and the day didn't get much better. It rained, and lightly hailed throughout the day. 

Sherm said that he had a little to drink, and woke up the next morning with new arm art... 

<sigh>

Still raining

Some one had some fun at Sherm's expense

Sherm's a good sport. 

A very nice Victory Vision. I kept expecting Rosie the Robot from The Jetson's to pop out of the trunk. 

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor threat of hail will keep VROCers from making their appointed rounds. 

Here is Nash, Barb and David

Waterman (Joel), Trouble, JameyT and Skid. Good thing the hotel had a covered pull through... 

zero miles, but lots of smiles

June 13, 2010

The Last Day

Today is the last day of the Cortez rally, and the first day of the Kiwi Invasion. I figure I will split the day in two, as this post is getting kinda long.... The day started out with folks packing, loading up bikes and saying their farewells. It is always the bittersweet part of the rally. It is tough to say goodbye... 

Sherms got the Harley all loaded up. 

Sandy's gonna keep Sherm company in the tow vehicle. 

Looks like a couple of trailer queens... see below for Skids response when I said that. 

<G>

While we were goofing off, Sherm got a call from Tinker, who had broke down just a mile out of Cortez. I volunteered the Jeep and the trailer to go get him, so Skid, Sherm and I went out to where he was. Something electrical had fried, so we brought Tinker and his bike back to the hotel, where he managed to fix it and get back on the road.

This ends the Cortez Rally. See the next post for the continuing adventures of the Kiwi Invasion...