On to Steve's

Today I rode 525 miles to Steve's house in Kansas City, MO. I hit the road at 5:30am to avoid some heat but I still got hit with 95+ temps most of the afternoon and arrived at 3:00pm.

Tomorrow is a day of relaxing and then Wednesday we'll ride up to St. Paul, MN for the BMW MOA rally.

Parked in Steve's garage and time to take a shower.

A little catch up.

I didn't have good WiFi in Paonia so I'll do some catching up. Friday I stayed at the rally site and talked to some of the other riders, a few of which I had met last year at the MOA rally in Salem, OR. There were about 6 vendors selling motorcycle related items and 4 local food vendors. That evening they had  some live music going on in the beer garden.

Saturday I took a ride from Paonia down Highway 92, which is a great motorcycle road that I and riding buddies have been on several times, to The Blue Mesa Reservoir. I rode East along it and then up and over Monarch Pass. From Salida I turned South and at Saguach I looped back North on Hwy 114 which is where I saw the mountain goats pictured below. Then back West along Blue Mesa and up Hwy 92 again.

Back at camp, that evening, there was a tasty pulled pork dinner and more live music. I hit the sack around midnight for a restful sleep.

This morning was a leisurely tear down of the tent and many good byes to the folks I met at the rally. A few of them are going to the MOA rally in St. Paul next weekend so I'll see them there.

So far the ride this morning has had perfect weather and riding temperatures. I'm stopped just off I-70 right now and will probably ride down past our cabin in Grant while on my way to Limon, CO for tonight's stay.

Blue Mesa reservoir

   1964 and 2014 Corvettes traveling together.

Typical Colorado scenery

Nice motorcycle road.

One of a small herd of mountain goats.

A lake along the road going over McClure Pass.

Ovens for turning coal into coke back in the 1890s.

Beautiful morning.

Pete riding his K1600GTL Exclusive back to Denver from the rally. 

All ready for the night in Limon, CO

Day one

I made it to Paonia, Colorado and The Top O' The Rockies rally in fine order. Here are some pictures I took along the way.

Near Kayenta, AZ

Near Kayenta, AZ

Self explanatory 

Lizard Head pass North of Cortez, CO

On my way to Telluride,CO

Tenting in the city park in Paonia, CO

Top O' The Rockies / MOA / Sturgis rallies

I'm heading out on my next road trip in the early hours of Thursday July 17th. This one will take me first to Paonia, Colorado and a BMW rally. Then on to Kansas City to pick up my brother Steve and we will head to St. Paul, Minnesota for the big BMW MOA International Rally. Our other brother Kevin and friends are planning on meeting us there. Afterwards we will push on up into Canada and head West until we get near Glacier National Park. After riding the Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier we will swing South and then East to Red Lodge, Montana. From there we will ride the Beartooth Pass on the Montana, Wyoming border and Chief Joseph Highway in Wyoming ending in Cody. From Cody, Wyoming I will continue East ending up in Sturgis, South Dakota where I will meet friends from Phoenix, Arizona and join the throng of loud pipes saving lives for a week. After that "experience" we will head for the barn but not until I spend a day or so with a cousin of mine in Bailey, Colorado.

This route is subject to change per our whims. You can click on the SPOT button on the right to see my actual route.

Stay tuned for pictures.

End of the ride

I haven't posted for a few days but I have been having a good time. While in Iowa friends had a nice cook out where I was able to catch up on old times with them. Mom and Dad are doing good and we were able to get off the dime and listed their cabin in Colorado for sale. I rode back down to Steve's in KC on Thursday. I put a new tire on the rear of my bike Friday and then that evening my friend Frank flew in to KC and we took him to a guys house where he bought a 2010 Gold Wing that was listed on Craigslist. This morning he and I headed to Arizona stopping in Tucumcari, NM for the night.

It's been a great trip and I've spent some good quality time with new and old friends. Right now I've got another neat trip planned at the end of July that has 2 different directions which I won't lock into until later.

Thanks for following along.

Frank and his "new to him" Gold Wing, nice bike.

A stop today to put on rain gear.

In Iowa

I made it to Mom and Dad's Monday evening. Went to breakfast with Joel this morning and spent the rest of the day here at the folks. The weather is nice, for Iowa, with partly cloudy skies and a light breeze to blow the knats and mosquitos away. Tomorrow there is a get together with old friends that will be fun. All for now.

A good turn out

By the end of Friday night 25 motorcycles could be counted in the camp area coming in from several states. Arizona, Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and South Dakota.

Day rides

MKevin took us on a long ride through the Wisconsin hills on narrow county black top roads. At one point we took a car ferry across the Wisconsin River.

A little rest stop.

Steve wondering where we are.

One horse power 

Loc STOC

Steve and I rode from Kansas City to Spring Green, WI to the Loc STOC motorcycle camp out our brother Kevin is hosting. It was a decent 525 mile ride with only about 30 miles of rain. Shorttly after arriving and setting up our tents it started with a steady rain hence everyone jambed under the EZ up shelter.

Leaving Steve's garage

Mississippi River

Nice barn

Photo op farm

Set up just as the rain started

Kevin in the middle holding court.

Wednesday

Nothing interesting to report today. Cleaned up the bikes and packed them for tomorrow's trip to Wisconsin and brother Kevin's Loc STOC event. Should have a few pictures to post tomorrow evening.

Garage work day

I changed oil and the front tire on my bike today. I should say Steve changed my front tire while showing off his new tire changing machine. I think my rear tire will go the distance to and from Wisconsin later in the week so I'll put the new rear on when I get back here to Kansas City before I head back to Arizona.

Made it to Kansas City

No pictures today. I rode for 528 miles across eastern Colorado and all of Kansas with hellashus cross winds and nothing of interest to take pictures of. I arrived at Steve and Lisa's a little after 4:00pm. I'll be spending a few days of down time here until we ride to Loc STOC later in the week. I will be doing an oil change while here. I had ordered a new set of tires and had them sent here so I'll be checking out my old ones and either change them this week or when I stop back in a couple weeks before heading home. All for now.

Rocky Mountain High

I pulled out of Rifle, CO this morning under clear skies and cool temperatures. It was a nice ride on I-70  through tunnels and along the river with lots of green mountains. I stopped at one of the rest stops and made myself a morning cup of coffee. The joys of no schedule. I continued on and got off the interstate at Frisco and rode through there and Breckenridge finally stopping in Fairplay at the Colorado Mountain Hat company. The owner is a vendor at Winter Range whom I've known for years. We chatted for awhile and then I had a great burger and cold beer next door. I then turned East on highway 285 and stopped at the family cabin in Grant just for a quick look see. I continued on and got off the main road and took some nice twisty black tops into Colorado Springs. From there I continued to Limon, CO where I had a room reserved and met up with a fellow BMW K1600 rider who was going the other way. We had a nice chat at supper and now it's time to wrap up the day.

You don't want to get lost around here and have to call for help and explain where you are.

I'm taking my coffee break, shown below, at this location.

"The cabin" in Grant

So here I am rolling down the highway and my phone rings. It's not a voice call or a text message it's a Face time call from Blake. So we are chatting to each other with live video and audio. Blake took this snap shot that shows each of us while we were talking. High tech at its best ( or worse depending on your thoughts about this kind of thing) I was on an open stretch of road and could see the road clearly.

Done for the day. One bike from Arizona and the other from Connecticut.