California to Texas, places in between and back

[cyclist63]

What started out as a trip to Canada with a group of friends instead turned into a solo trip from my home in northern California to Texas and back. Last December, a group of us decided to plan a trip to Canada to start in August. There would be three couples and my neighbor and I. In early July, my neighbor informed me of an unfortunate medical emergency in his family and he would not be able to make the trip. Since he would have been my roommate on this trip I had to decide if I wanted to go to Canada or skip the trip. I decided not to go with the others to Canada because I did not really want to be the "third wheel". I already had the time off so I hastily decided that I would plan a trip and go by myself. The question now was "where to?". I decided to go to places in the Southwest that I have never been which is pretty much anywhere in the Southwest. I am not a camper and I know tourist season is in full swing so I decided to take my chances and book all my lodging before I left and hopefully make all my deadlines. I booked all eleven places to stay three weeks before my departure date of August 1st. My trip was planned to be thirteen days. Thanks to the Pashnit forums and way too much searching on the internet I had an idea of places I would like to take a ride to. In the meantime I got new tires on the V-Strom, changed the oil and made sure the bike was road ready. I anxiously awaited two more weeks for the departure date and off I went...

DAY 1, August 1st, Home to Ely, NV

I always wanted to ride "America's Loneliest Highway"... so I did. I left Fair Oaks at 6:30am and headed east on I-80. As I passed Donner Summit, I had to get the obligatory picture.


After passing through Reno, I turned off on Hwy 50 and got fuel in Fallon. Beyond Fallon there is alot of open desert riding. I passed through Austin and looked back over the road I had just ridden.

I eventually came upon the town of Eureka, made another gas stop and saw the famous sign as I was leaving town.


I made my way to my destination of Ely. 440 miles ridden.
On to day 2...

[cyclist63]

Day 2, August 2nd, Ely, NV to Moab, UT
I was on the road at 6:30am. Traffic was next to nothing and the speed was fast. I was averaging 70-75mph. As I passed through Baker, just before entering Utah, my boots were getting pelted with some type of bug that I could not see. When I filled up with gas a few hours later I realized what they were:
Hwy 50 runs into I-70 and i was enjoying the Utah scenery. I passed through Castle Valley to take a break
Past Green River I turned onto 191 to Moab.
The weather was changing all day from cold to warm to cold to alot warmer. I finally made it to Moab an hour later than I thought. Before Moab, I stopped at a gas station to get some cashews and a Gatorade (my lunch). I looked at their clock and it was an hour ahead of me. I totally forgot about the time change. It was 3pm when I got to the Red Stone Inn in Moab. Miles logged today 430.

[cyclist63]

Day 3, August 3rd, Moab, UT to Gunnison, CO

After a quick walk to McDonald's for a breakfast burrito, I was off. A look back at Utah. I made it to the Colorado border within an hour. As I stopped to take this picture, there were noticeably more bugs than Utah.
The weather for riding was perfect temperature, probably somewhere in the low 70's. The weather started to look ominous and I managed to get the very fewest of sprinkles. After passing through Grand Junction, I was back on Hwy 50 riding past Delta and Montrose. Past Montrose, the scenery from the road is absolutely beautiful.

This took me past the Blue Mesa Reservoir

Shortly thereafter, I arrived in Gunnison around noon. My goal for this trip was to start early and beat the afternoon thunderstorms. I went to lunch at Sonic and shortly after returning to my room it started to rain. Miles today 240

[cyclist63]

Day 4, August 4th, Gunnison, CO to Pueblo, CO
I had a small danish from the motel's continental breakfast and was on my way around 7:30. The morning air was brisk, thick and had that wonderful mountain air smell.I had a little more time today due to my ride being a little shorter so I had to decide where to go on my way to Pueblo. Originally, I was thinking of going to Colorado Springs and drop by the Focus on the Family headquarters. My brain told me that I would have to rush if I did that because of the incoming weather. I decided to head to Crested Butte since it was only a 30-45 minute ride from Gunnison and I have heard so much about it. The news said it was in the mid 40's in the morning. I was wearing my electric vest and rain jacket under my main jacket and was very comfortable even though I did not plug the vest in. The turnoff for Crested Butte is the same turn as downtown for Gunnison. After only about a half mile out of the turnoff I was out of "downtown Gunnison" and on the scenic road to Crested Butte. I hit some road construction a few miles outside of Crested Butte and was delayed by only ten minutes. I do not know what I expected Crested Butte to be but it reminded me of Breckenridge. Very nice but much smaller than Breckenridge. I quickly turned around and made my way back to Hwy 50.
I started to climb in elevation along green tree lined mountain curving roads. I did not realize I would be riding this high when I planned my route. As soon as I knew it I was at Monarch Pass at an elevation of over 11,000 feet. I stopped at the store at the top of the summit and bought a lunch size bag of nacho Doritos. I had about 10 chips which would serve as my lunch. Clouds quickly started to move over me as I was sitting at the summit. I started to head down and was treated to only a few drops of rain.
As I came down in elevation the temperature began to rise. I was soon riding to gorgeous scenery along the Arkansas river carved through orange colored rock. Unfortunately, I couldn't safely pull over to take pictures. . I approached the sign indicating the Royal Gorge Bridge turnoff was ahead. Storm clouds were heading towards the direction of the bridge but I really wanted to see it. A few years ago while on my bicycle trip I attempted to see the bridge but got discouraged because of the narrow and uphill road that lead to the bridge. I had ridden my bike that day already about 90 miles and only made it about a third of the way up the narrow road pedaling my bicycle with a 60 pound trailer. I turned around and never got to see the bridge even though I was only about 2 miles away. I wasn't going to let that happen this time. The road that leads to the bridge is like a circus of advertisements which I think most people hopefully ignore. I made it to the parking lot and managed to get a great parking spot right near a trail that led to a view of the bridge that most people probably don't notice.
As I was getting all my gear sorted in the parking lot the sky was getting dark from the darkened clouds. I quickly left the bridge and was back on Hwy 50. I was soon getting blown sideways from gusts of wind and a little rain was starting to fall as I headed towards Canon City. Canon City is not in the mountains so the skies started to clear. Mountainous weather is strange. It started to get hot and windy. Green, colorful mountains soon turned to flat landscape with dry and dead fields. I was still getting blown around and finally made it to the Wingate Pueblo, my lodging for the night. Miles today 220

[cyclist63]

Day 5, August 5th, Pueblo, CO to Amarillo, TX
I knew I would be losing time today because of the change from mountain to central time. I left Pueblo at a little after 7am after eating a continental breakfast of a chocolate donut with sprinkles and a biscuit with gravy to give me hyperglycemia and hypercholesterolemia all in one meal. I was immediately heading south on I-25. I hit wind gusts for about the first half hour with omnious dark clouds overhead. Luckily it did not rain on me but was cool. I crossed into New Mexico around 8:30 and headed southeast on 64/87. The northeast corner of New Mexico is beautiful. The landscape changed from being green and mountainous to flat and green with large open ranges with grazing cattle. The view then changed to cloudless, sunny and warm. This was followed by sunny, hot, dusty and dry as I entered Texas.
I enjoyed views of cornfields, cows and oil wells.

After a few more miles, I turned on 385 and it began to get very warm and hilly. My temp gauge on my tankbag read 110 on the asphalt air.
I passed Boy's Ranch (I guess it is famous) and then I was at my lodging in Amarillo. I was tired, hungry and a little dehydrated. I put my belongings in the room and walked to Johnny Carino's, an Italian restaurant a quarter mile from the hotel. Service and the food was excellent. I had a salad and chicken fettucine with a root beer. They also included a very large loaf of bread with a dip of olive oil with dices of garlic. The waitress even offered me a root beer to go! I like Texas.

Total miles today: 320

[cyclist63]

Day 6, August 6th, Amarillo, TX to Tucumcari, NM
It has so far been a "take it easy" day. I left at around 8:30, that's Texas time or 6:30 back home. I headed east on I-40 for a few minutes and stopped at the Big Texan Steakhouse for some pics. I heard about this place from the Travel Channel's 10 best places to eat segment a year or two ago. It is famous for offering a meal for free if you can eat it in an hour. The kicker is the meal that must be eaten is a 72 ounce steak with fixins. If you can't finish the meal I believe the cost is around $55. They even offer limo service to the surrounding motels/hotels. I was then on my way and stopped at Tripp's Harley Davidson, Amarillo. I bought a few things and saw a guy from New Zealand who had his bike majorly overpacked and it looked unbalanced. He and his "mate", friend to you and me, started their ride in Toronto, Canada, headed down the east coast, now west and then they will finally go up Hwy 1 on the west coast.
Now on to the Cadillac Ranch. To those unaware, the Cadillac Ranch is ten cadillacs faced nose down in the middle of a corn field off I-40 about 5 miles west of Amarillo. They used to be all one color but over the years graffiti has taken over.

Heading west, the ride was a little breezy with alot of 18 wheelers doing the speed limit of 75. I passed a few remnant towns of Route 66 and finally ended up at my destination of Tucumcari, NM.
I checked into the Blue Swallow Motel. I heard about this place on a biker forum. It is quaint and I even get my own garage. Pretty cool. I then walked in search for lunch/dinner as I strolled up and down the "strip" and snapped a few pictures. I ended up at Del's Diner and had a few enchiladas,a taco and a sopapila(sp?)....dipped in honey that was very good.
Miles today 120

[cyclist63]

Day 7-8 Tucumcari, NM to Santa Fe, NM
I wanted to get to Santa Fe early because of the expected bad weather the newscasts have been reporting. I left at a little after 7 am and arrived a bit after 10am. 175miles. Instead of taking I-40 and getting blown around by big rigs and crosswinds, I followed route 104 as suggested by my gracious host at the Blue Swallow Motel. It did not disappoint. It seemed like I was just missing rain showers as evidenced by the slightly wet darkened roads. On and off rain started to fall after about 70 miles into the ride. It began to clear 20 miles prior to entering the Santa Fe city limits. Santa Fe isn't what I expected so far. There seems to be traffic everywhere and the drivers are a little testier than the other places I have been on this trip. It seems like everyone runs red lights more so than at home. It started to rain as I checked into the hotel. I spent the next day wandering by foot around Santa Fe.

[cyclist63]

Day 9, August 9th, Santa Fe, NM to Ouray, CO
I was a little worried about the weather today after watching all the news reports and the weather channel issuing flash flood warnings for half of New Mexico and Colorado. Last night I decided to take my chances and try a more scenic route to the Million Dollar Highway rather than the less scenic. I left at 6:15 and discovered many of the cars with New Mexico plates do not know how to drive. The sun barely had risen so it was still dark and shadowy. A majority of the cars on the road did not have their headlights on, drove parallel to me and usually did not use their turn signals. I was glad the traffic thinned and immediately found myself riding on wet roads with rain that had fallen earlier. The scenery was beautiful but the skies started to look like rain. I kept on riding and the rain did not fall. I headed north on Hwy 84 which leads to Chama, NM. After passing through Chama, I entered Colorado shortly thereafter and immediately was treated to lush high altitude greenery. At times sunflowers lined the roads mixing in with the asphalt and green grass. I eventually got gasoline in Pagosa Springs after turning east on Hwy 160. It is indescribable how beautiful the views have been today. I was in a hurry because even though the clouds looked far away I was turning right into them. The clouds weren't going to deter me from stopping at Durango Harley Davidson which was located conveniently on US-550, my turnoff that is also known as the Million Dollar Highway (MDH). I could have easily taken hundreds of pictures of this portion of the MDH if I had more time. I managed to take a few pictures but my breath was taken away with the view at Molas Pass.
At this point, I was about 25 miles from my destination of Ouray. The road became extremely curvy with many tight "s" turns marked by 15mph signs and the clouds become closer and darker. I was stopped momentarily by new paving about 10 miles outside of Ouray. This road gets pretty beat up in the winters so the new and smooth asphalt just laid down was welcome. I made it to Ouray about 1:30. I checked into my lodging and walked a block to Buen Tiempo, a mexican restaurant. The salsa and chips were excellent and were complemented by tasty chicken enchiladas.

Halfway through my meal it started to rain. God is definitely watching over me as it rained for the next three hours. I actually heard a warning siren that was a flash flood warning.

Miles today 285

[cyclist63]

Day 10, August 10th, Ouray, CO to Torrey, UT
I left the motel parking lot at 7:15. My bike was covered with moisture from last night's rain. It was cool so I layered up. It was nice to see "Little Switzerland", Ouray's nickname. Ridgway was the next town I passed through which was at the bottom of the current mountain range which meant the foilage was very green due to the abundance of rainfall. The landscape soon changed 25 miles down US-550 when I entered Montrose. Montrose was alot larger than I thought it would be. It was also not as green. At this point, US-550 becomes Hwy 50. Sixty five miles further led me to Grand Junction and Hwy 50/ I-70W. There was not traffic to speak of so I picked up the pace and was averaging 75-80mph with the posted limit being 75mph. My itinerary had me turning on the Hwy 24 turnoff. Hwy 24 is an incredible stretch of road with the landscape becoming amazing rock formations in the distance. Eventually I entered Capitol Reef National Park.
I never even heard of Capitol Reef N.P. until about a month ago. The sights are amazing and best of all it is free. I passed through several low spots that had been affected by the recent monsoon rains that were marked with warning signs and remnants of soil scattered across the road. At one point the sky in the direction I was going grew darker but my good fortune with weather continues.
[ATTACH][/ATTACH]
I left Capitol Reef and then headed to Torrey where I had a room. As I got closer to Torrey, I kept my eyes open for the Wonderland Inn which is supposed to be at the intersection of Hwys 12 & 24. I couldn't see the sign for the inn. I gassed up and then headed south on 12. Three miles down the road and still no Wonderland. I backtracked and headed back to the 24 intersection. For some reason I looked at a sign that said Sandstone Inn a little closer. It had a banner that said "formerly Wonderland Inn". I was right there when I got gas. It was right up the street. It was worth the minor delay as the views from my room were excellent. The choice for food within walking distance was Subway in the gas station or Tacotime. I chose Subway and had a sweet onion teriyaki chicken sub and a Snickers brownie ice cream sandwich. Because I walked back to my room and had no freezer, I ate desert first of course
Miles today 310

[cldaigle]

What a great trip! Thanks for sharing your pics.