Retired and Trippin

At 8:15, when we left Montrose, it was sunny and 55 degrees. Another cool morning. The route today was easy; Highway 50 east all the way to Garden City. We drove 453 miles. Chris and I didn't put the top down until we arrived in Canon City, CO. Di Rito's provided us with an excellent Italian lunch in Canon City. We arrived in Garden City at 6:50 and it was 84 degrees. The visual highlights of the day were Monarch Pass and Skyline Drive in Canon City. Click on this  LINK to see all the photos taken today.

Cool mornings seem to be the norm. It was sunny and 57 degrees as we left Blanding, UT headed for Montrose, CO. Our route would be 191 north, 491 south at Monticello, UT into Colorado, 184 east, 145 north to Telluride and beyond, 62 east and 550 north at Ridgway. Mel was leading and Chris was happy when he stopped in Dolores, CO at the Rio Grande Southern Railroad Museum, home of the Galloping Goose. Chris enjoyed some railroad talk with retired engineer R.J. Before reaching Telluride, CO we were at elevations over 10,000 feet where we saw a frozen lake with lots of snow. I love the mountains of Colorado! In Telluride we stopped for a LARRAPIN good lunch at Brown Dog Pizza and we rode the gondola up the mountain. downtown Telluride, Colorado We arrived in Montrose at 4:00 after driving 212 miles. Click on this link to see today's photos:  Today's Pics

Another cool morning - sunny and 48 degrees as departed our hotel in Cannonville. Today's route would be 12 east and north, 24 east, 95 south and 191 north. Highway 12 was a beautiful route along the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. At places along Hwy 12 elevations were nearly 10,000 feet and there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground. Fortunately there was none on the highway. Our next stops were in Capitol Reef National Park. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and a hike along the Grand Wash Road. Temperatures permitted tops down to Natural Bridges National Monument. Then it was tops up the rest of the way to Blanding, where we arrived at 6:30 with 62 degrees temperature. Today we covered 305 miles. To see photos taken today click on this link:  Day 6 Photos

It was sunny and 57 degrees when we left our hotel in Page, AZ at 9:15. Our route for the day would be Highway 89 north and 12 east (or north?). We found a gas station before heading a short distance down the highway to the Glen Canyon Dam. Lake Powell was still very low. We had a great lunch at Houston's Trail's End Restaurant in Kanab, UT, which is a pretty town. Our next stop was Bryce Canyon National Park. It was cloudy with light rain during our visit but we enjoyed the views anyway. From Bryce it was a short distance east and south to Cannonville, where we stopped at the Grand Staircase Inn for the night. It was a nice little mom and pop hotel. Today was a short mileage day - 173 miles. To view all the photos taken today click on the following link:  Day 5 Photos

It was sunny and 60 degrees when we left Winslow, AZ headed to the Grand Canyon. It was also extremely windy, so the tops stayed up. Our route was I-40 west, and Hwy 180 north at Flagstaff. Our first stop of the day was at MeteorCrater . And the wind was brutal. It was very difficult to hold the camera still. On the drive from I-40 to Meteor Crater we encountered some wildlife along the road. We had Mexican for lunch in Flagstaff and then headed north on 180. As we climbed in elevation we experienced rain, sleet, and snow. Temperatures dropped as low as 34 degrees . . . . brrrr-titties! We arrived at Grand Canyon National Park, where it was mostly sunny and in the 50's. We rode the park buses to many different view points and enjoyed the amazing views. It was dark and in the 40's when we left Grand Canyon National Park at 8:30. Highways 64 east and 89 north took us to Page, AZ, where we arrived at about 10:30. Due to weather the tops stayed up all day long.

At 8:00 we departed Espanola under sunny skies with a temperature of 58. Our route for the day was Hwy 285 south, I-25 south, and I-40 west to Winslow, AZ. During the drive from Espanola to Gallup the amazing Mustang (AKA Poonie) made 28.7 miles per gallon. In Gallup, NM we enjoyed a lunch at the Route 66 Railway Cafe. After arriving in Winslow and checking into our hotel we walked downtown and did some "standin on the corner in Winslow, Arizona." Mel practiced his modeling. To see all the photos taken today click on the following link:  Day 3 Photos

When we departed Dodge City at 8:00 it was cloudy and 62 degrees. Our route for the day was Hwy 56 west, 64 west to Taos, and 68 south to Espanola, NM. In Hugoton, KS the temperature had climbed to 70 so the top came down. We had lunch at the 87 Restaurant in Clayton, NM and we enjoyed a tourist stop at the Capulin Volcano National Monument. The high temperature today was 84. Our route covered 442 miles. To see all the photos taken today click on the following link:  Day 2 Photos

Mel, Trish, Chris and I departed on our convertible trip from Shawnee at 1:15. It was 76 degrees, definitely top down temperature! We drove west on I-70 to exit 225, 156 south and 56 west to Dodge City. We arrived at 7:00. The high temp for the day was 82. Tops down all day (341 miles)! We made several rest stops along the way.

Day 1; Friday, May 3 The Spring Ride is an annual motorcycle trip undertaken each year during the first full weekend (Friday through Sunday) in May. Gary, the trip leader, invited me to participate despite the fact that I'd be driving a Mustang GT convertible. I left home at 6:10 am under cloudy skies with a temperature of 53 and a light drizzle, which ended a short time later. Our meet time was 7:00 am a Gail's Harley Davidson. I was the first to arrive when I drove into the parking lot at 6:40. My brother, Carl, was across the street availing himself of the facilities. The others trickled in until we had 10 people: nine motorcyclists (7 Honda Goldwings, 1 Yamaha Tenere and 1 BMW) and me. Chuck, who was holding the chicken from last year's ride, gave a brief presentation to announce that he'd made a box (coffin?) to hold the chicken between rides. Thanks to Chuck the chicken now has a coffin to rest in from one year's ride to the next. Gary was expecting J