Day 15

 We woke up in Ouray to low hanging clouds and close to freezing temperatures. Gingerly we navigated the wet road out of Ouray that had fresh snow right at the edges until it dried out near Silverton. We stopped in Silverton for some much needed hot coffee.

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. 

Day 14

 An interesting day. The weather looked like lots of rain mixed with snow along our planned route of driving straight West through Salida and over Monarch Pass then South on 149 to Southfork. Then to Durango and up to Ouray. After a lot of discussions about alternate routes we settled on running up to Denver and picking up I-70 West and dropping down to Ouray from Grand Junction. 

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.

Day 13

 We rode across Kansas and eastern Colorado today for12 hours arriving in Pueblo for the night. Not much to discuss about the ride. 

Day 12

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. 

Day 11

 Today was the las riding day in the tree lined winding roads of the Eastern United States. We left Mountain View and headed North. Half of the day was on those technical roads but then divided highways on up to brother Steves in Kansas City. We rode on another ferry on a section of The Lake of the Ozarks. Everyone is having a nice time visiting and swapping Australian and American stories. 

Tomorrow is a down day here where we will be doing laundry, cleaning radiators and putting a new set of tires on my bike. 

Day 10

 Today we rode about 250 miles here in the Ozarks working our way to Jasper and back here to Mountain View. Good weather and roads. No pictures. 😢

Here is a link the track we have been on since leaving the TTD event on Sunday.

https://new.spotwalla.com/trip/21d7-106583c5-e759/view

Here’s a fun picture of Damian with his new best friend.

Day 9

 We woke up this morning to wet roads but dry skies at least until we got underway then light rain off and on for most of the morning. Last night Pat, from the K1600 forum and Huron South Dakota showed up to ride with us for a few days. We stopped for lunch at 10:30 and afterwards it was dry and the skies became partly cloudy for the rest of the day. 

We rode another ferry across the Mississippi River  

We are staying in Mountain View, Arkansas for 2 nights. Tomorrow we will ride around here in the Ozark hills. 

Another forum member from Missouri rolled into the motel tonight and will also ride with us for 2 days  

Day 8

 This is a Sunday and time to hit the road West. We got on the road a little before 7:00 with dry conditions. Stopped in Tellico Plains for gas and breakfast. As we looked the bikes over we noticed Damian’s front tire looked pretty worn so Andy and I started brainstorming on what to do about. The final plan was to detour and go to a Cycle Gear shop near Nashville. We arrived and I removed the wheel, in the parking lot, and Damian took it in and had a new tire mounted and balanced. 

Back on the road to Paris Tennessee for the night. Andy routed us so that wee took a car ferry across a river. We met up with brother Kevin and friend Greg at a friends house near Paris for a short visit. A quick ride to Paris before the rain came and we checked into our motel rooms.  

We had supper next door at a pizza and beer restaurant where we met Pat from Huron, South Dakota, who is a member on our K1600 forum. He will join us for a couple days of riding.