WWR XIV - Montrose, Colorado

Welcome to the info sheet on WWR XIV - Montrose Colorado! 

Tuesday July 6th, thru Friday July 9th

Kaw Pasture: 

Rodeway Inn

1480 S Townsend Ave, Montrose, CO, 81401

 
Phone (970) 249-6644 

Amenities include:

Free continental breakfast
Free coffee
Free WiFi
Outdoor heated pool
Guest laundry facilities
(Bonus! Starvin Arvins is right next door!)

Room rates are $110 +tax
Make sure you mention VROC!

Overflow Hotel:

(Directly Across the street from the Kaw Pasture)
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Montrose
Address: 1391 S Townsend Ave, Montrose, CO 81401
Phone: (970) 240-1800

I've listed some suggested runs, IMO the best of the best in the area. 

I'll need volunteers to lead them!   

Suggested run: Creede, Co. 

A very scenic run past Blue Mesa Reservoir to US 50 that offers stunning views of the mountains , a ride a long the banks of a river, and sections that ride next to beautiful rock walls. The route goes to Lake City, crossed the Slumglullion Earth flow, and climbs up to Slumgullion Pass at 11,361ft. It then goes thru Gunnison National Forest over Spring Creek Pass at 10,901ft. It ends at the Historic Mining Town of Creede.

Suggested Run: Black Canyon of the Gunnison

This run takes you to the Blue Mesa Reservoir, then heads north to Hotchkiss, CO. Expect plenty of photo stops. 

"One of the most breathtaking drives, Colorado Highway 92 crosses over Blue Mesa Dam and winds along the north rim of the Black Canyon, providing gorgeous views at every turn. Pioneer Point offers great views of the Curecanti Needle and Curecanti Creek. Golden Eagles, Turkey Vultures, other birds and wildlife are common sights. Get a great view of the canyon at Hermit's Rest Overlook or take a hike to an overlook that begins on Highway 92 at Crystal Creek. Continue west to the north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park."

Suggested Run: Lizard Head Pass to Red Mountain Pass: Million Dollar Highway

Lizard Head Pass is a breathtaking 10,246 foot mountain pass along the San Juan Skyway. You'll then decend into Dolores, then over to Durango, and then head up Red Mountain Pass. Red Mountain Pass is the stunning 11,018-foot summit of the Million Dollar Highway in Southwest Colorado. Colorado’s “Million Dollar Highway” is a 25 mile stretch of U.S. 500 that is consistently rated as one of the most scenic drives in the country. You'll then pass thru the Historic Mining town of Ouray. 

Suggested Lunch Stop: 

We've got room for one more! If there is a run you'd like to do beyond these, let me know!

🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍

WWR2 Coos Bay

Coos Bay, OR July 2008

Grand Lake Pins

Grand Lake, July 2007

Letter from the 1%

We are Wall Street.  It's our job to make money.  Whether it's a commodity, stock, bond, or some hypothetical piece of fake paper, it doesn't matter.  We would trade baseball cards if it were profitable.  


I didn't hear America complaining when the market was roaring to 14,000 and everyone's 401k doubled every 3 years.  Just like gambling, it’s (sic) not a problem until you lose.  I've never heard of anyone going to Gamblers Anonymous because they won too much in Vegas. 
Well, now the market crapped out, & even though it has come back somewhat, the government and the average Joes are still looking for a scapegoat.  God knows there has to be one for everything.  


Well, here we are.


Go ahead and continue to take us down, but you're only going to hurt yourselves.  What's going to happen when we can't find jobs on the Street anymore?  Guess what:  We're going to take yours. 
We get up at 5am & work till 10pm or later.  We're used to not getting up to pee when we have a position.  We don't take an hour or more for a lunch break.  We don't demand a union.  We don't retire at 50 with a pension.  We eat what we kill, and when the only thing left to eat is on your dinner plates, we'll eat that.


For years teachers and other unionized labor have had us fooled.  We were too busy working to notice.  Do you really think that we are incapable of teaching 3rd graders and doing landscaping?  We're going to take your cushy jobs with tenure and 4 months off a year and whine just like you that we are so-o-o-o underpaid for building the youth of America.  Say goodbye to your overtime and double time and a half.  I'll be hitting grounders to the high school baseball team for $5k extra a summer, thank you very much.


So now that we're going to be making $85k a year without upside, Joe Mainstreet is going to have his revenge, right?  Wrong!  Guess what:  we're going to stop buying the new 80k car, we aren't going to leave the 35 percent tip at our business dinners anymore.   No more free rides on our backs.  We're going to landscape our own back yards, wash our cars with a garden hose in our driveways.  Our money was your money.  You spent it.  When our money dries up, so does yours.


The difference is, you lived off of it, we rejoiced in it.  The Obama administration and the Democratic National Committee might get their way and knock us off the top of the pyramid, but it's really going to hurt like hell for them when our fat a**es land directly on the middle class of America and knock them to the bottom. 


We aren't dinosaurs.  We are smarter and more vicious than that, and we are going to survive.  The question is, now that Obama & his administration are making Joe Mainstreet our food supply...will he? 


 And will they?

I'm offended...

TEA vs OWS

Teardrop Trailer!

 Well, the Teardrop project is mostly complete. We had it out and on the road on Saturday when we took it up Buford road, that leads up to the flat tops. We found a nice little pull out to set the up the teardrop and took some pictures. 

Ready to go! The trailer pulls like a dream, with the exception of it filling the back window, you wouldn't know it was there. 

Here it is in travel mode from when we first arrived.

A view of the inside. 

Galley hatch open, check out the reflection in the side... 

Galley closed. 

Galley open showing the two external counters. 

Set up and ready to use. 

I say mostly finished because there are some small projects I still want to work on. I'd like to build some drawers that will go where the small action packer sits, and I'd like to add a pull out shelf for the cooler. Someday soon, maybe. But the camper is ready to use as is, so hopefully next year we will get a lot of use out of it!

2011 Pikes Peak Trip

2011 Pikes Peak Trip

We were invited to visit Scott and Vickie in Colorado Springs, and ride up the Pikes Peak Highway. We were both excited at the idea as Yvette had never been up there and I hadn't been up there in a long time. I had to work so Yvette did all the packing and getting ready. I rode the bike in, and Yvette was planning on meeting me at work so we could leave from there. We left Glenwood Springs right at 4:00 and headed east on I-70. The afternoon was warm and the sky was blue. We had a great ride until we got over Floyd Hill, and could see the black clouds and rain hanging over Denver. Yvette said it was as black as Mordor... We headed south to Colorado Springs, and I just knew we were going to hit rain before Castle Rock, but we didn't. The was however a huge black cloud due south of us. By the time we had gassed up and suited up, the cloud had moved east. We chased rain clouds all the way to Scott and Vickie's house, but never got rained on... 

Packed and ready to go

Scott and Vickie

Warning,  Big Foot Crossing

The Colorado version of "Abbey Road'...

Scott and Vickie on the Pikes Peak Highway

Short section of road construction

Higher

and higher

Its getting chilly, so we stopped to add layers

Our friends Skid or Susan would appreciate this view!

And higher still

The view of Colorado Springs from the top

14,100 ft

Heading down

We were hungry by the time we got back to Colorado Springs, so we headed to the Bird Dog BBQ.

Not much to look at, but Scott and Vickie recommended it highly.

It looks really good...and it tasted even better! I would say this rivaled the BBQ we had in Kentucky.

Happy, and hungry riders. We had a fantastic day and this was the perfect end to it. Afterwards we headed back to the Dedeker Casa and had ice cream on the patio.

Skid and Sandy's visit

On their return trip from the Ableskiver rally, Skid and Sandy honored us with another visit. They arrived early in the evening and we set about chatting, blogging and eating! IIRC, there was even some wine flowing...

Early the next morning, we set out for Gateway, CO, home of the Gateway Auto Museum. The Gateway Canyons complex is owned by John Hendricks, of The Discovery Chanel fame. The museum is first rate and boasts of  owning the only Old's F-88.

The ride was a beautiful one. Blue skies, black and red rocks, and a gentle breeze made the day perfect. We did run into some road construction on Hwy-141. It was a pain, but not too bad. For more photo's see Skid and Sandy's blog: http://skid1850.blogspot.com/2011/06/silt-colorado-gateway-ride.html

Our arrival at Gateway Canyons

The Gateway Auto Museum

Yvette found and Indian

An original Indian

1906 Cadillac Model H Coupe

Skid called this 'The first Smart car"

1913 Pierce-Arrow Model 38C Brougham

1930 Duesenberg Model J – Transformable Cabriolet

1947 Chrysler Town & Country Convertible 2 Door Convertible

1953 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible

1954 Oldsmobile F-88 Convertible Concept Car

"The F-88 seen here is literally the only car left of its kind – and was sold to John and Maureen Hendricks at the prestigious Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona for an unbelievable $3,240,000."

1934 Ford Custom Coupe, In Excess

1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500 Fastback

1981 Pontiac Trans Am 'Bandit' Edition

1957 Ford Thunderbird Convertible

For someone nicknamed 'Corvette' she sure took a shine to this Thunderbird...

Ford Fairlane Stationwagon and Airstream trailer.

This was not one of the exhibits, it belonged to a couple who was travelling Colorado!

1956 Ford F100 Truck (Good Humor)

Skid doing what Skid does best... talking!

This is the couple that owned the stationwagon and Airstream trailer.

We stopped  at this diner in Gateway, the 141 Diner. It's a neat place with good food. 

Skid and Sandy

Skid really should try to not be so shy... here he's talking to a couple of HD riders who also stopped for lunch.

Two pretty ladies, an Drifter and a Pegasus

Scenery shot traveling Hwy 141 headed back towards Whitewater.

More scenery...

Heading into Clifton, Co.

Skid and Sandy in Debeque Canyon east of Grand Junction

More Debeque Canyon on I-70

Outside of Debeque on I-70

Skid getting ready to load the Wing into it's trailer.

Here he comes!

And he's in...

Skid and Sandy's W.H.O.R.E. house. 

We had a super fun day. There were tons more cars at the museum, I didn't even try to take pictures of all of them. This was my first trip, and it occurred to me that the next time Jazz is in town, he would most certainly enjoy it. 

It did get a bit warm coming home, near 100° in Grand Junction. It stayed warm all the way home, all of us craved an ice water as soon as we got into the house. Skid loaded up the Wing, and started to catch up on his blog. I had asked them what they wanted for dinner, and Skid wanted hot dogs. Yvette wanted some of my Texas chili to go with them, so Skid and I went to Wally World to get the necessary ingredients. I whipped up a batch of chili, grilled the dogs, heated up some fresh corn on the cob and we had a feast... 

Tomorrow I have to go back to work, and Skid and Sandy will resume their homeward trek. We are sure glad they stopped and spent some time with us, they sure are good people... 

We already look forward to their next visit...