The last 20 miles into Glenwood Springs was a great 4lane divided highway through a gorge - rather than being cut into one side or the other the road was built like a bridge and as well as fabulous views of the river below, made for very quick riding. We were by ourselves at this point and 80mph seemed like a comfortable speed. This morning’s ride was as impressive once we’d cleared the town’s surrounds, with our route following the curves of the fast flowing and very picturesque Crystal River through another gorge, climbing all the way. During the course of the morning the scenery included just about everything, with an emphasis on the aptly named “Red Rock”. At one point we saw a coal mining operation in the distance, the huge piles of black rock a give away - regardless of the magnificence of the scenery, coal towns are seemingly always dreary depressing places and this one was no exception, the poverty and hopelessness apparent with broken down wrecks and unkempt homes jammed together in grubby clumps as we roared past. The Day started warm in the early 20’s and only got hotter with late 30’sC late afternoon - that said there were many ups and downs along the way as we climbed to over 11000ft (Mt Cook back home is 12218), the air thin and breathing more difficult. Some of us jokingly “prayed” for cooling rain and our prayers were answered several times with brief showers that were freezing in our T shirts - the hail was slightly character building but never impeded our progress. After lunch the “million dollar highway” was before us - the first road in the US that cost over a million dollars a mile to build (during the depression I believe), blasted and scrapped from the side of a mountain by hand - with no Armco barriers between the road and sheer drop offs of hundreds of feet offering certain death to the unwary, this pass was really quite scary. Our stop for the night is in Durango Colorado, an erstwhile mining town of about 20,000 people in what is pretty harsh country (most of Colorado is very harsh country) - our hotel being a beyond walking distance for most of us weary travellers, pizzas in the lobby seemed like an easy solution.
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For those of use not particularly technically savvy, a simple thing like setting up a website falls into the realms of almost impossible.
Frustration manifested itself as the consequence of the lack of mental dexterity required to do what should be a fairly simple exercise - mind you, I have never been able to bang in a nail or saw a piece of wood either. No doubt time and familiarity will help - at least, I hope so. The purpose of this "blog" is really to allow those who like to travel vicariously, be it on my beloved Harley, or just through my thoughts each day. Onwards |