The Shining

We met Bill, Sue and Ron for breakfast at the hotel restaurant. They had been sitting there for a few when we arrived and the waitress brought us some coffe and called Ron by the name Brian. We didn't know why but just figured Ron was using an alias in case he hooked up with her later and didn't want a paternity suit.

We decided to head up to Estes Park and see the Stanley Hotel from The Shining.

We got there after an awesome ride through the mountains. Except for the douches that decided he needed to pass us and the car in front of us shortly before the passing zone ended. The first car nearly runs the car in front of us off the road and the second car ends up beside Marybeth and in front of Bill and Ron. We ride the remaining 11 miles into Estes Park with the 4 wheeler in the middle of our group. Anyway, we get into town and its teaming with tourists. We find a parking area and strolled the coue blocks of down town checking out the Outdoor Store. We buy some Power Bars and a Heath Bar and a knife sharpener that they have displayed by the register. I tried it on my knife and I was sold. The cashier asks if we're going hiking we reply, yeh right!  This is just snacks to get us through to our 5 pm dinner with Kelly and Jay Beliveau.  We eat a power bar and check out a couple of the stores and then head back to the bikes. We can see the Stanley Hotel from where we parked and get some pictures. We decide we really don't need to get closer and fight the crowd. Then we spotted 2 Elk grazing down in the gully next to the street where we parked.

As we're taking pictures, a family is walking down the path that passes about 10 feet from where they are grazing on the hillside. The family comes to a stop as they round the bend and see the elk.  After several minutes of contemplation, they decide to walk past the elk. The elk closest spots them and stares them down as they stop to decide if they should chance it. The elk decided to move up the hill a bit and away from the path. We get on the bikes and head back to the hotel. The ride was uneventful. We cleaned up and headed to a place called The Hornet, suggested by the Beliveaus.

                  

The food was great and we had a nice visit. We ordered the Papusa and Calamari appetizers and Lobster Mac n Cheese and the Cubana Sandwich for entrees. 

Marybeth and I now sit by the pool at the hotel blogging as we wait for our laundry to finish. Tomorrow we head to Moab Utah so we figured we better get some laundry done while we could. 

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Started Saturday morning at the hotel restaurant and a breakfast buffet.  Everything was delicious although the sausage gravy was a little spicy. Seems the cook likes to add jalapeños to the mix!

We decided to head up to Black Hawk and on the way we stumbled upon  Beer Festival in Central City so we stopped to check it out. We ended up ignoring all the food venders on the street and grabbed a table in the closest brew pub.

While waiting on the pizza we ordered, Marybeth and I each put $20 in a video poker machine at the bar. I lost about half at Jacks or Better before switching over to Deuces Wild. Then I hit for four Deuces!  1000 credits. Ended up making $265 once I cashed out!  And about a third of the way through the thousand and some odd quarters dropping, the machine stops and say call attendant. They had to refill the thing with quarters so I could finish getting paid. A good problem to have I guess!

Soon after we walked out to the street, it started raining. We headed for our bikes and by the time we pulled out of the parking garage, the rain was steady. We headed back a different route, through Black Hawk and down Route 119 and Clear Creek Canyon. It was a nice ride despite the rain.

Back in Denver, we hit more rain as we made our way to the Piper Inn in the SE section of the city. It's a nice biker bar with motorcycle only parking in the front. We had a beer with Ron and his friends that live locally, then returned to the hotel to clean up for diner with Tom And Dawn Terwilliger. 

Tom suggested a place at Larimer Square, a short walk from our hotel called Ted's Montana Grill. Marybeth and I both had the Bison Fillet. Excellent food. 

We had a good visit with the Denver Terwilligers and then they had to leave to make attend a birthday get together. We searched and found a Irish Pub a block over on Market St called Nallen's. we had a couple beers and a couple shots of Red Breast Irish Whiskey and people watched!  We headed back and called it a night about 11:30. Time to get some rest for a Sunday of riding in the beautiful state of Colorado. 

Don't point that thing at me!

     So, up again at 5 am and we enjoy a free Hampton breakfast.  Not the sausage gravy and biscuits we were hoping for but scrambled eggs and bacon with a side of oatmeal will do.  while packing the bikes and about to leave, another hotel guest is out snapping pictures with a fancy camera.  She offers to take a group shot of us when she sees Marybeth doing selfies.  She takes our picture with our camera, then Bill offers to take her picture by the bikes with her camera.  He starts snapping away and and then she asked if he focused the camera.  Nope, didn't tough a thing he replies.  Well it's not an auto focus and when he looks to check the photos, she advises him that there is no preview because it's a film camera! Geez!  Do they still sell film anywhere?  Yep, Walgreens!

     We head out on the road and Marybeth spots a rainbow.  As we get on I-80, we realize it's a double rainbow!  Wow, it's going to be a good day!  We start taking pictures of the rainbow and next thing you know, it's raining.  But the rain was short lived and not a downpour so not too bad.

     We come up on Kearney Nebraska and pass under The Great Platte River Road Archway Memorial which you can read about here.   http://www.archway.org/       

     We pull off to get gas in Lexington, NE and spot the Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles.  What an awesome museum.  They have all kind of military vehicles and weapons.  they even have a M.A.S.H. display!

  

     After we do a quick recon of the Military Museum and drag Bill out of there, we push on.  It's a beautiful day for riding, not too hot, a little overcast, and the drivers are courteous.  People passing and moving to their right when done.  Only a few on cell phones.  As we are approaching Exit 126 on I-80, the Ogallala exit, there's a white Ford Taurus with Wyoming plates in the right lane.  We're clipping along at about 75 - 80 (don't worry Captain Safety, the speed limit is 75) and I move to the left lane to pass, as does Marybeth and Bill.  Bill's got a SUV and a Van behind him.  As I get up next to the Taurus, it starts to drift into my lane.  Not unusual, it's a straight boring road.  I hit the horn.  Not an obnoxious blast, but just enough to get the driver's attention.  The young lady behind the wheel looks kinda startled and she moves back into her lane.  After I'm by, I watch in my mirror as Marybeth starts to pass her.  All of a sudden, this bitch is intentionally pulling into the left lane trying to run Marybeth off the road!  I pull to the right lane since Marybeth accelerated to get out of her way and the lunatic (The Taurus driver, not Marybeth.) wants the left lane.  Now she's between Bill and I.  As I quickly formulate a plan to protect the group and neutralize the threat, the crazy bitch veers back to the right and takes the exit ramp, flipping us the bird as she goes!  I didn't go with my first instinct, which is to deal out some old west justice, since she is off the highway and no longer a threat.  The van and the SUV both pass us and the occupants both give us the thumbs up.  They should have a good story to tell!  Without stopping, we gather our thoughts and check our shorts, and motor on down the road two more exits for gas.  We discuss what just happened as we gas up. We couldn't figure out if the broad was crazy, high or both.  But she did come real close to dying from lead poisoning!

     We stop for lunch at Lucy's Cafe, about 19 miles into Colorado.  Bill insists on calling it Juicy Lucy's but I don't think she would appreciate that.  We rolled into denver about 3:30 and it looks like all the bad weather has passed by we made it to the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown without getting hailed upon.  We headed out in a big ol' SUV from Executive Rides, LLC, to a Triple D spot called the Highland Tavern.  Their featured dish was the Tavern Tots.  Fresh Tater Tots made right on premises!  Delicious!  As you can see, everybody dug in before I could get a photo of the full order.  And the Confit Rib Tips were quite tasty.

Day 2

Up at 5 am to meet for breakfast at 6 only to find out the Continental Breakfast doesn't start until 6:30!  Oh well, finish packing, then breakfast. A frozen croissant with egg and sausage out of the fridge and into the microwave!  Yum. It wasn't a Hampton Inn breakfast but it filled the void.

As we start loading the bikes, the rain started. We checked the radar and it looked clear to the west, maybe something brewing out by Iowa City. We opt not to put on the rain gear. That turned out to be a good call because by the the time we pulled out and got gas, the rain was done. The sky was overcast but that only made it comfortable riding. We cruised west on I-80 and hit a little rain just before crossing the Mississippi River.

Not enough to matter. On we went, past corn fields and the I-80 dog wash and truck stop. The traffic was light and the drivers moved out of our way after they passed who they wanted to pass. A pretty uneventful ride. Caught a little more rain just as the first gas stop was coming up. We stopped and fueled and two guys from the area pulled in. They were heading to the northwest and the radar was showing some nasty stuff up that way. They talked about getting some garbage bags since they didn't have rain gear with them. To the west it looked like if we timed it right, we would avoid the nasty weather that was heading for Iowa City. We rode on and did miss the nasty stuff. Corn for miles and miles.  I take some pictures to pass the time.

 

 By the time we were approaching Council Bluffs Iowa, the sun came out. As it was last year, the  road through Council Bluffs was in bad need of paving and you couldn't go over the speed limit without busting a rib or something! It was probably a good thing too, since the first cops we had seen all day were busy making traffic stops.

We crossed into Omaha Nebraska and got off the first exit. We were now in a helmet state but I was going to chance it since our lunch destination was right off the first exit. We pulled up to Starsky's to have some of their famous pig wings and as I walk to the door, I see they're closed!  WTF. Why is a bar closed at 1:00 pm on a Thursday?  What? Do these people work or something?  I look on their web site and see they don't open until 3 pm. But they so have another location and its in the direction we are going. We head over there and pass someone getting arrested along the highway. Looks lime their vehicle got searches and some contraband was found. We find the other location and its in an industrial area. I miss the sign but don't realize it until I look in my mirror and nobody is following me. You would think one of them would have beeped the horn or something as they pulled in. Nope. They just let me drive on another 300 yards until I realize it myself. 

Marybeth and I of course order the Pig Wings and the Currans both take advantage of the burger special. BOGO.

After a filling meal and a cup of coffee to stay awake, we press on. More corn.

 We roll into York Nebraska and our Hampton Inn is right off the highway. We get checked in and cleaned up.to head downtown to eat. The choice is between the Chances R Restaurant and Lounge and the sports bar next door, 4th Quarter. Chances R has a bunch of Cadillacs and Buicks in front and there's two vehicles parked in front of the sports bar and a sign that says Oil Wrestling- 8 PM. Yep. We pick the sports bar. As we're waiting for our food, we can hear thuds and booms upstairs. Must be the wrestlers warming up. We leave just before 8 since the ladies don't care to take in the oil wrestling. 

We head back to the hotel for some pool time and blogging. And then bed. And thoughts of what might be on the Hampton Inn breakfast menu. We're hoping its sausage gravy and biscuits. Fingers crossed!

Heading west

Got out of the house about 7:15 and headed to Bob Evans to meet Bill and Sue Curran for breakfast.

65° and sunny but a little cool without a jacket.

Had a tasty breakfast and headed out on the Ohio Turnpike and the world of road construction. The air had warmed up a bit and it wasn't too bad. 

The ride was uneventful for the most part. We stopped for lunch at the Five Star Dive Bar in Elkhart, Indiana. The food was delicious. I had the Bourbon BLT and Parmesean Cheddar Tots!  Awesome!  The waiter/bartender was friendly and on top of things. 

After lunch we had another 40 miles to our next gas stop. Bill pulled in almost on fumes and put 4.9 gallons in his 5 gallon tank. I say that's perfect planning!  

After another 150 miles, we reached our destination for the night, the Annawan Illinois Best Western. Brand new place in the middle of a corn field. I guess they said build it and they will come. And we are here!  Tomorrow, on to York Nebraska. 

Prepping for the road trip

Well, it's been way too long since we've been on a bike trip and the time is just about here for this year's. We both took the day off to cut the lawn, clean the house, pack, pay bills, get money out of the bank, load music on my new Garmin GPS, prep the bikes and do whatever else needed done before heading out on the road for two and a half weeks. It's nearly 8pm as I write this and I'm exhausted!  The mind is constantly trying to think of something that may have been overlooked. 

The new Garmin is a story in itself. My old Garmin only held small sections of maps so I could only load about one days travel  on it at a time so that's what I did. Every evening I'd have to load the next days route from the laptop to the GPS. But when I went to load our first leg of our trip on Sunday, I discovered that the permanent battery wouldn't hold a charge. Which is alright until I realized that it needs to run on the battery while the maps are loading. So unless I wanted to travel around the state of Ohio, I would need a new GPS. I know, I know, I could just use a map like the old days!  Or just make my own trip tiks but a GPS makes it nice to find places to eat or see where the next gas station may be. And hey, I like technology so if its available, use it. So we headed up to South East Harley and bought a Garmin Zūmo 660. I can load music on it and play it through my stereo along with turn by turn directions. I spent Sunday evening installing the mount for it which involved drilling a few hold in the fairing. That was a bit nerve racking!  

So now we're all set and sitting by the fire having a couple adult beverages, because after all, we are on vacation!