My participation in the this ride is over. Andy is taking them back up into Utah, with a stop at the Grand Canyon, for the next 4 days ending in Hurricane, NV. John Parry will meet them there and take them across Death Valley and on into California where the trip will end.
We decided to ride down to my place so that the 2 Aussies cold put the new tires on that they ordered at Steve’s house last week. Brendans had cords showing all the way around.
I showed them downtown Prescott and the Palace bar while we waited for their tires to be mounted at a loval tire shop. Then checked the 2 of them into a local motel. Andy is staying at our house for the night
I’m done for the trip and Andy is taking the boys back up to the Grand Canyon and Utah for 3 more days before connecting with John Parry for their tour of California before storing their bikes and flying back to Australia.
A perfect weather day. Clear skies and not too cold in the morning and in the 70s in the afternoon. Caught highway 141 NW out of Cortez and rode it to Gateway, stopping at the hanging flume roadside historic site and on into Grand Junction where we had lunch with Darby and Alice. Then West on I-70 dropping down on 128 towards Moab. We cut off early and rode the La Sal loop aroind Moab and then 191 south to Blanding, UT for 2 nights.
Leaving there and running the Million Dollar Highway we saw aw inspiring views of the snow covered mountains that surrounded us.
In Durango I took the guys to the rail road museum and then had lunch at the balcony bar and grill. We had tour reservations at Mesa Verde for the Cliff Palace so no time to explore Durango. We made it to the 3:00 tour and I let the guys go it without me. The thought of climbing around the cliff dwelling at 7,000 feet didn’t excite me plus I had done it 3 times over the years.
Andy made it to Cortez before we did so the motel rooms were ready to go when we got there. Brendan had his first Mexican dinner in America.
That ended up being fortuitous, for Andy. Just as we entered I-70 his motorcycle started making noises and vibrations. There was a wide shoulder right there so we all pulled over. Andy quickly realized his drive shaft rear universal joint had destroyed itself and the housing it rides in. There was a BMW dealer close by so with a phone call to them a retrieval van came to the rescue.
Andy accompanied his bike to the dealership and I led the guys to Ouray. We cut South on 133 at Glenwood Springs through Paonia to Delta and down. The weather turned nasty or we would have taken 92 paste the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.
Oh by the way Andy is back on the road with a 2024 K1600 GT.
That night it got drunk out. Me and the boys tasted several kinds of beer and whiskey.
We rode across Kansas and eastern Colorado today for12 hours arriving in Pueblo for the night. Not much to discuss about the ride.
Down day preparing for the next leg of the journey. A tire change on my bike. Andy and Brendan power washed their radiators. Damian and Brendan made sure their heated gear connections worked and that they would be ready for cold weather if need be. All the bikes were washed.
Lots of sitting around and comparing the 2 countries difference in food, sports and housing costs. Lisa has been feeding us well, too well maybe Thanks Sis.
Tonight is KC BBQ night so we’ll climb into cars and head to a restaurant.
