El Durango Cinco

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FJRBandit

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El Durango Cinco - May 2016

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The motley crew you see above assembled in Durango, CO back at the end of May 2016 for a few days to terrorize the good citizens of New Mexico and Colorado. While this story recaps some of the fun and frivolity of the adventure, the names have been changed to protect the guilty. Pictured from left to right; FJRBandit, Cornbread, FJRBritbob, Hondapotamus and LA2wheeler. These, mis amigos, are the banditos that comprised El Durango Cinco.

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The idea for this ride was borne in the Ozarks one year earlier while Britbob, Cornbread and I (fjrbandit) were in the midst of Dixie Shunpikin’ 2015. Cornbread lives in central Arkansas and Britbob, since I’m sure you wouldn’t have guessed, is from the U.K. He and his wife make it a point to visit the U.S. every other year, whilst Britbob makes the trip solo on the opposite years and takes a 10 day or so motorcycle tour somewhere that he “fancies” visiting. Dixie Shunpikin’ happened to be his solo trip in 2015 and for 2016 he and his lovely bride planned to return to the U.S. to celebrate their 30th Anniversary. Being the consummate planner, the old chap had already laid his itinerary down for the 2016 visit. While sipping some sour mash one evening, on the banks of the Jacks Fork of the Current River in Eminence, Missouri the plan for El Durango Cinco was hatched.

Britbob and his wife would be coming to the U.S. in mid-May and planned to spend a few in the Keys. They would then fly to El Paso, TX, rent a car and head to a dude ranch in the Gila National Forrest, deep in the back country of southwest New Mexico and spend a week there. Well, Britbob has managed to convince Mrs. Britbob that she would prefer to ride horses for a few days without him when they make these trips, which allows him to go ride steel horses for a few days. So on this trip he planned to slip away from the dude ranch for four days, rent a bike in Albuquerque and ride in Colorado and New Mexico before returning to Gila N.F. to retrieve his bride and head back across the pond.

Cornbread and I, being the opportunist we are, saw an opportunity to let the sails out a bit and do what we referred to as a “rocket ride” across the Plains and join Britbob on his four day jaunt through NM and CO. Britbob thought it to be a magnificent idea and thus the planning was on!

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Since we had a year before the ride was to take place we had plenty of time to discuss options and make the necessary arrangements. One thing led to another and Cornbread and I decided that, hell, if we are riding 2,000 plus miles round trip out and back we might as well stay longer than four days. So we decided to make a 10 day ride out of it ourselves and we would join up with Britbob for the four days he planned to ride. His only requests were that we include the Million Dollar Highway and CO 141 through the Escalante Staircase through Uravan and Gateway. CO 141 was HIGH on my priority list as well because I had to skip it due to time constraints last year on my Western Adventure when I followed Rush from KC to Denver to Calgary. But that’s another story you can read at this link. Other than those two places, Britbob wanted to ride through Taos and Red River, NM, which was perfect because that would be our gateway in and out of the Rockies. He left the remainder of the planning up to me. I scratched out an outline, presented it to both he and Cornbread and with a little tweaking we had our plan.

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In the meantime I had been talking with a good friend that lives in Huntsville, AL about riding with us. He’s an avid motocross guy, still rides competitively at age 51 and has a Goldwing as his chick cruiser, aka Hondapotamus. I had also mentioned this ride to my good friend from the frjforum, LA2wheeler, who lives in southern Arkansas. If one or both of these guys could join us we’d have a blast and still have a manageable size group. By mid-February we had commitments from both, Hondapotamus and LA2wheeler. So now there would be four of us doing the rocket ride across the Plains and then meeting up with Britbob mid-stream in New Mexico.

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Our plan was for Hondapotamus to ride down from Huntsville on Thursday evening, May 19th, meet me in Birmingham and then we were to depart on Friday, May 20th. We would meet LA2wheeler somewhere near Shreveport mid-day and then ride into the Dallas area for the evening. Then we would head to Amarillo on Saturday, meet Cornbread, and the four of us take it all the way to Durango on Sunday, the 22nd. As I laid out our plan I decided to make Durango our base camp for four of the six days we would be in the Rockies. This put us right in the heart of the action and only a half days ride down to meet Britbob on Wednesday before returning to Durango that evening. It also allowed us to ride unencumbered by our gear for three full days. It’s very rare that I don’t have to pack every morning when on a long road trip and drag my gear into a different hotel each night. This I found to be a luxury and everyone else agreed that plan made a lot of sense. So Durango it was, from Sunday night through Thursday morning. On Thursday we would strike out of Durango and end up in Gunnison, after a 450 mile trek through western and central CO. Friday morning we would strike it down the spine of the Rockies on CO 149 through Lake City, into Creede. Then cross Wolf Creek Pass enroute to Pagossa Springs, before turning south and making our way to Taos and ultimately Eagles Nest, NM for our last night with Britbob, before striking back across the Plains homeward bound. Hondapotamus and I would travel the furthest and return home after 10 days and right at 5,000 miles on the clock. It was an aggressive plan, but hey, that’s just how we roll.

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Tomorrow, or whenever I finally get around to posting the second installment, we’ll finally go KSU and get El Durango Cinco underway! The two goons above are begging you to stick around as the fun has only just begun.
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With that motley group in one place, this should be good! :scare: In!

 
Me too! Hppants asked me if I was going to FJRBandit's Shindig. I asked him where and when? I've yet to here back from him. Maybe FJRBandit might fill me in. Just Sayin' :unsure:

 
Me too! Hppants asked me if I was going to FJRBandit's Shindig. I asked him where and when? I've yet to here back from him. Maybe FJRBandit might fill me in. Just Sayin'
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I'll be glad to fill you in, and anyone else interested in joining us. This is the link to the thread running in the SFO section of the Organized Meetings section of the forum. SFO - Oct. 27th-30th in Jemison, Alabama

This was devised primarily as camping event. However, about half of the attendees currently committed will be staying at an off site hotel, which is fine. Our evening activities will be at the event site, but we plan to provide transportation for those that want to imbibe a bit and not have to ride the bike back to the hotel afterwards. So whether one wants to camp or be a hotel queen (like I would be), you are welcome to join us. I will be posting important information regarding the official hotel this afternoon in the SFO thread. I encourage all of those who plan to stay in the hotel to hurry and make reservations as there will not be a block of rooms reserved for us. The cancellation policy of the hotel is full refund up to 6 p.m. on the day of arrival. So if you are even considering attending you should go ahead and make reservations, as you can cancel without penalty up to the day of your scheduled arrival. Campers need not make reservations, they just need to let me know they plan to camp onsite. There is ample room for as many as want to show up - unless we have a Woodstock type turnout.
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Questions - PM me directly or post up in the thread if you think it applies to the group as a whole.

Regarding El Durango Cinco - Day 1 has been drafted and will be posted this evening.

 
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Me too! Hppants asked me if I was going to FJRBandit's Shindig. I asked him where and when? I've yet to here back from him. Maybe FJRBandit might fill me in. Just Sayin' :unsure:
I'll be glad to fill you in, and anyone else interested in joining us. This is the link to the thread running in the SFO section of the Organized Meetings section of the forum. SFO - Oct. 27th-30th in Jemison, Alabama

This was devised primarily as camping event. However, about half of the attendees currently committed will be staying at an off site hotel, which is fine. Our evening activities will be at the event site, but we plan to provide transportation for those that want to imbibe a bit and not have to ride the bike back to the hotel afterwards. So whether one wants to want to camp or be a hotel queen (like I would be), you are welcome to join us. I will be posting important information regarding the official hotel this afternoon in the SFO thread. I encourage all of those who plan to stay in the hotel to hurry and make reservations as there will not be a block of rooms reserved for us. The cancellation policy of the hotel is full refund up to 6 p.m. on the day of arrival. So if you are even considering attending you should go ahead and make reservations, as you can cancel without penalty up to the day of your scheduled arrival. Campers need not make reservations, they just need to let me know they plan to camp onsite. There is ample room for as many as want to show up - unless we have a Woodstock type turnout. :no: Questions - PM me directly or post up in the thread if you think it applies to the group as a whole.

Regarding El Durango Cinco - Day 1 has been drafted and will be posted this evening.
Ahhhh... It's the SFO. Sounds wonderful. Thanks for the info, Bandit. I'll look at my schedule and see what I can do. If I can make it, I'll definitely be a hotel guest. Aviation is brutal on my freedom to take off on a whim. I'm on call all the time. I do all of the EOMs but, even that takes moving a mountain to fit that in. I'll keep you posted. :)
 
T-minus 12 hours to departure -

Hondapotamus is a self-employed cabinet maker and as luck would have it the week before departure he ended up getting several new jobs AND had to terminate one of his only two employees. But there was no way he was missing this trip. Fortunately, on the eve of the planned departure everything came together and he was able to head to Birmingham to meet me just as we had planned for the past six months. The contractor he does a lot of work for had made arrangements to cover for him while we were gone and Hondapotamus would be able to make the ride without having that worry hanging over him the whole time.

He showed up at my house around 8:30 p.m. and immediately I threw him in the car to head over to see a couple of friends that were strumming their guitars at my favorite place to see them play. Things were getting off to a great start. That was, until way too many beers and Fireball shots and the next thing we know it’s 1 a.m., and quite frankly, I really haven’t even finished packing. doh!

We made our way back home and milled around in the garage pulling things together for what we hoped would be a 7 a.m. KSU. So around 2:30 a.m. we decided we better get some shut eye. Oh, I forgot to mention that Mrs. Bandit was out of town so at least we weren’t disturbing her - so as I go to get into bed I realize that the oldest of our three dogs isn’t in the bed with me. He ALWAYS sleeps with me when my wife is out of town. I search and search but to no avail. Kinda hard to miss a big furry 70 lb. white shepherd but he’s nowhere to be found... He’s a runner and doesn’t just hang around the house when he gets out. Now I’m in panic mode!

I go and wake up Hondapotamus and in a very frenzied tone I said, “Dude, we’ve lost Alex”!!! We jumped in the car and started driving around the neighborhood looking all over. At one point we even flagged down a policeman that was patrolling in our area and asked him to keep an eye out for him. Despite having a collar with his name and our phone number around his neck and the fact he has a microchip implanted, I couldn’t think anything but the worst. It was killing me! We finally gave up and went home. I gulped down some liquid sleeping aid and somehow was able to fall asleep, worried to death I had lost our dog.

This is our three mutts, all of which were picked up from the road while they were each still puppies. From L to R: Cassie (boss bitch), Chester (little dude) and Alex (old man)

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Day 1 - Departure day, Birmingham to the Big “D”, and I DO mean Dallas

I guessed that if I lost my wife’s dog, it might mean the other Big “D” , I mean, he is her titty baby afterall. So when I awoke three hours later at 6 a.m. I immediately jumped out of bed and got in the car again to drive around and look for him. Still no luck. I finally made the decision that I dreaded making, but I had four other guys counting on me to make this trip happen and really there was nothing more I could do that my wife couldn’t do. So I called and woke her up at 7 a.m. and gave her the bad news. Of course she was sick to her stomach but said she would come home immediately, as we had to get on the road. She was only about an hour and half away at her mother’s house in Montgomery.

Something told me to take one more look see around the house and sure enough, I open the door to our second guest room and out walks Alex! He looked up at me with this look I’ll never forget. It said something to the effect of “You stupid mother .....” and he even kinda shook his head! I was too relieved to get mad at myself. I was just so thankful that nothing had happened to him. Of course I called my wife and told her the great news, and like me, she was too relieved to be angry. She was just thankful he was okay as well.

So you ask, how the hell did that happen? Well, in my defense, he apparently was asleep on the bed in the guest room that has an off white comforter and the overhead light in that room was blown, so I had just looked in the room and obviously didn’t see him laying on the bed. Yep, I felt like a big dummy, but again, I’ll take all the ribbing in the world just to know he was okay.

Now we could finally head out, despite the fact we both had not gotten much sleep at all and had definitely been over-served the night before... We were ready to roll!

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As you see in this first shot of the trip we had our mascot with us, Popcorn Chicken, or PC for short. PC had been given to me by a friend at work as a “stress reliever”. When you shake Popcorn he clucks and you laugh so hard you forget why you were stressed in the first place! We figured the chicken would have fun cruising around the country with us, so we stowed him away in my tank bag for the big ride.

We made our way to Lousyana and LA2wheeler was at our designated meeting spot waiting on us.

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As we made our way deep in the heart of Texas, we were about an hour outside of Dallas when the sun began to set in the West.

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and the moon started to rise behind us in the East.

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It wasn’t long and before we knew it we were in Allen, TX, 30 miles north of the Big D where my brother lives. We checked into a Hilton Garden Inn. We hadn’t had any dinner yet so we walked next door and met my brother at 11:00 PM for dinner at the very smokey and aptly named "Dirty Rooster". The grill had closed an hour before we arrived, so we got the pleasure of eating some nasty cold turkey sandwiches while listening to this loud ass grunge band! Just what the doctor ordered after 695 miles and 14 hours on the road. It's so bizarre it's comical! I mean, even Popcorn Chicken is laughing his ass off. See....

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Popcorn Chicken ordered us all a round of Fireball

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....and we told a few lies to my brother and his work buddy from South Africa who had joined us. I don't recall his name, but he was a hellu'va nice guy and I enjoyed my conversation with him, at least the parts I could understand.
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From L to R: my brother Colby, Hondapotamus, FJRBandit, LA2wheeler and South African dude that I could barely understand! He probably couldn't understand much of my redneck speak either....

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Soon it was time to wrap it up. Popcorn wanted to roost for the night on this cute little young lady's head. She was kinda enough to oblige him for a bit until I finally rescued her....
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I figured out real quick that we were going to keep a close eye on this chicken!

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So from there it was just back to our Plain Old Room to get some MUCH needed rest!

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Tomorrow, we’ll strike out for Amarillo to meet Cornbread and eat where the Big Texans eat! It won't take long and that damn chicken will start clucking, "Stay tuned for more adventures of Popcorn Chicken". Eventually I'll have to tell him, "Uh excuse me chicken, but this ride ain't all about you......"
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Day 2 - Allen, TX to Amarillo, TX

It’s Saturday morning and I am feeling MUCH better than the day before, for obvious reasons. The three of us headed downstairs and enjoyed our complimentary breakfast of cooked to order omelets and just about anything else you could even think you might want for breakfast. I mean, this place had it going on! I am a Marriott Rewards member, but seriously, this breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn had me thinking of switching my loyalties! In addition, the tables were white table cloth and came with full service. It was really one of the highlight meals of the entire trip, completely unexpected.

We finally pulled ourselves from the table and with only 470 miles on the agenda sauntered our way to our rooms, got packed and readied for departure.

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We made our first stop in the little town of Henrietta, Texas at the Pecan Shed. This place was all about Pecans - I bet you couldn’t tell from the name. We fueled up then took an extended siesta on the porch while enjoying our homemade Butter PECAN ice cream cones. Yummy doesn’t even begin to describe the taste of these double scooped monsters!

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Just up the road a piece and I forget why we stopped, maybe for a bio break, but whatever it was turned into a three hour stop. Hondapotamus wouldn’t start! It tried to throw us for a loop because the instrument panel would flash and then it wouldn’t. We attempted to jump the bike with no luck. We checked fuses, switches, you name it, nothing made sense. Then we recruited assistance from a good old boy who ran a truck service shop next door and his big F-350 wouldn’t even get it to turn over. Even Popcorn tried to put his two cents in!

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Popcorn was getting a little put out with the delay...

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After what had been close to an hour we finally decided to try to locate a battery. It didn’t make sense that it was the battery if it wouldn’t even turn over with a big dually trying to give it some help, but we were out of options. We got on the phone and sure enough, located a battery at a Yamaha dealer in Wichita Falls only 15 minutes up the road. So LA2wheeler and I struck out to go pick up the new battery, hoping the whole time this was going to do the trick, but not completely sure this would do it.

The parts guy told us the battery needed to charge for two hours so what else do you do when in Wichita Falls with two hours to kill. So we tried this joint, but the smell was worse than the appearance, somehow...

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Just across the street from the dealership we found this place and figured It’ll Do. Hell, it had to, we had no where else to be for a couple of hours....

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After a couple of hours we returned with the battery, threw it in and turned the key. The instrument panel lit right up and Hondapotamus roared back to life!!!

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Everybody was relieved and we suited up and hit the road again. Even though we were now four hours behind schedule, we had to pull over about 60 miles up the road to mark a momentous occasion, Hondapotamus had his 100th birthday - he turned 100,000 (almost) trouble free miles. Here’s the owner dancing a little jig.

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We continued on up the road towards Amarillo as the sun began to set.

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We arrived at The Big Texan just before nightfall. It felt good to be at the hotel and know that we were about to indulge ourselves in some sho nuff good eatin’!

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and there’s the Cornbread. He had been there a couple of hours patiently waiting on us to arrive before heading over to the restaurant for dinner. We took quick showers and off we went, across the parking lot that is, because we stay on premises of The Big Texan Steak Ranch!

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I dare not even attempt the 72 oz. big boy, doesn't look like anyone else was giving it a shot while we were there.

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This 21 oz. sirloin was MORE than enough for me. WARNING - SERIOUS FOOD PORN FOLLOWS

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We were even serenaded while we consumed copious amounts of 'merican beef!

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Then we took a stroll around this place. For a tourist trap I have to say it is a pretty cool place. It was my second time there and I couldn’t wait to get back. Some may not like the fact it’s so “touristy” and that’s your prerogative, but not me, I love the place! I feel like a little kid in a candy store walking around looking at all the goofy shit, drinking a Lone Star and just loving life. I’m about as happy as a man can be when I’m at the Big Texan, even if I don't always look it.
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Speaking of kids.....
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As for Popcorn, he was back up to his nefarious ways.

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We finally got Popcorn Chicken out of there and somehow kept him out of jail, headed back to our rooms and got some more much needed shut eye. After two days we’re already over 1,000 miles from home and we’ll lay down another 500 tomorrow as we make our way to Durango, CO, via U.S. 62 through Eagle's Nest, Taos and on to Pagosa Springs. If you are tired of looking at pictures of us, you are in luck, the scenery is about to get MUCH better. Stay tuned....

 
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Day 3 - on to Durango!

So now that quatro (that would be four for you Spanish challenged folk) of the El Durango Cinco have assembled in Amarillo we struck out for Durango early Sunday morning. First stop was 40 miles up US 87 in DumAss, TX for breakfast and fuel. Nothing to report here, trust me, move along. But shortly thereafter I had my Chevy Chase from Vacation moment. This pretty blonde lady driving a bad ass Viper pulled up along side of me and gave me a big smile and a wave. I think she was just admiring the Grey Ghost, but it didn't matter, I didn't have time for her games. So I showed her what the Ghost would do, and disappeared!

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From there we’re headed to Dalhart and then on to Clayton, NM where we’ll catch US 412, which crosses the Kiowa National Grassland. Some eastern folk complain about having to cross the Plains to get “out West”, but not me. Crossing the 90 miles across Kiowa is all reward to me, because I generally make it in about 60 minutes. I’ll let you do the math.

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We had a damn blast burning down the grasslands and then all of the sudden, there they were in the distance, the snow capped Rockies. Of all the steak we had eaten, and the Lone Star beers we consumed, all of that was good, but there, right in front of our eyes, 60 or so miles in the distance now was the real reason we were here!

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We fueled up in Springer and caught US 64 in Cimarron, passed the the gorgeous Cimarron Canyon on our way to this!

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WOW! The beauty of Eagle’s Nest is just so striking. It’s one of those places that burns into your mind and you just never forget the first time you rounded that corner and saw that massive lake and the backdrop of all of those peaks, covered in snow, right out in front of you, almost like you could reach out and touch them. It’s just a sight to behold and you feel as though you just want to stay right there in that moment forever.

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But we couldn’t, we had a cold snack and suited back up, made our way to Taos and enjoyed an excellent lunch at Michael’s Kitchen. This was Cornbread’s first, and probably only, recommendation on the entire trip. (For those of you that know Cornbread - you know that ain’t true!!) But at least this was a good’un!

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After lunch, it was time to head on toward Durango on US 64 towards Tierra Amarilla. We had planned to stop at the Rio Grande Bridge and do a little hike. But decided we would wait until we returned in a few days with FJRBritbob, knowing he would enjoy it. Well, as you'll later learn the reason why, this was my only picture from the Rio Grande Bridge on this trip!

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We passed those funky underground houses...

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Then began the big climb. It’s hard to believe this was a major thoroughfare before the interstate system. But the road essentially had no traffic, and what little bit there was all they saw of us was a blur....

We stopped for a photo op at a pullout overlooking the valley below Brazos Peak and Grouse Mesa. Only one word needed here - AWESOME!!!!!

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Cornbread apparently ran off and left us so he didn't get his picture taken....

Popcorn Chicken wasn't invited into Michael's back in Taos, so we stopped to let him eat some road kill.

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More beautiful countryside on the way to Tierra Amarilla.

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We came back down from the big mountain and made our way towards Chama and then caught US 84 to Pagosa Springs. Along the way, we crossed a significant border.

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LA2Wheeler and Hondapotamus both had a little fun with PC over on the New Mexico side.

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Onward to Winslow, AZ - NOT!

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After the SLOW ASS 35 mph for 20 miles with everyone obeying the speed limit Pagosa Springs we finally broke free and passed Chimney Rock. WOW!

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Then it was on into Durango after 500 miles.

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We took a walk around town and found a girlfriend for Hondapotamus. But he must have been eager because in short order he was back with us in the Old West Diamond Belle Saloon at the Strater Hotel.

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After a night cap or two we turned in and got some MORE much needed rest.... we had a big day planned for the next day. The boys are in for a BIG surprise!

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Till then, keep puffin’ those pipes, we’ll be right back.

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Day 4 - Durango to Durango via 400 miles

We struck out early on the morning of Day 4 with the furthest destination for the day to be Monument Valley, UT. This was the first day of this trek that we were headed into uncharted territory for FJRBandit. So I was excited, above the normal day of excitement that comes with riding the FJR! To add to the excitement I had promised the boys a big surprise for later in the day. No hints to anybody, but I did get clearance that a little gravel wouldn’t upset anyone.

We stopped in Cortez for a warm up coffee and short break before heading to the Four Corners and a little ride into Utah. We didn't pay the admission fee for the monument, we just did the Bandito thing and raided the area, took a few pics and crossed the state line, not sure which one because there were four after all, but we got the hell out of dodge.

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On into beautiful Utah!

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We stopped for lunch in Mexican Hat at the Suan Juan Inn Trading Post. The scenery was much more remarkable than the lunch, and the lunch was WAY more remarkable than the service, and quite frankly, the lunch sucked. So, I’ll let you decipher the quality of the service from that. But as Forrest said, ”My Mama always said you’ve got to put the past behind you before you can move on.” So I’ll digress and get back to the scenery, which was over the top remarkable!

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Then, as we approached our Westernmost point of the trip, I was reminded of something else Forrest Gump said after running 3 years, 2 months, 14 days and 16 hours, “I’m pretty tired... I think I’ll go home now.” Well, we weren’t going home, yet. But we did turn around at Monument Valley right where Forrest Gump turned around.

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Next up we took a chicken to see a goose.

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What a cool place! I’d love to camp at Gooseneck State Park sometime. I’ll definitely be back here someday.

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So I had been promising this big surprise to the guys. As I said earlier, everyone gave me the a ok on a little gravel. So I didn’t tell them anything. We just kept on riding out through the Utah desert on Utah SR 261 and in the distance was a large mesa. As the miles passed the mesa grew larger and larger. Then we came up on this. The Moki Dugway.

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Looking back at the first of many switchbacks.

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Switchback after switchback we finally made it to the top! I don’t think I’ve ever seen Cornbread so excited. He came up to me, high-fived me and said, “Dude, I will never say a bad word about you ever again! That was AWESOME!!!” And it was, and yes he lied. Not that it wasn’t awesome, because it was, but he has and will say bad things about me again. But the Moki Dugway was one of those times in motorcycle riding that you feel like you accomplished something. Plus, the reward of that view from the top was simply breathtaking! Again, I can not wait to go back!!!!

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From there we began working our way back. Just before here, I ALMOST got bit hard by a tar snake. From there I plodded my way through the desert with extreme caution, to the ribbing of, you guessed it, Cornbread. It didn’t take him an hour to break his excited promise! HA! I didn’t care, I wasn’t going down 2,000 miles from home if I could help it. Especially at the end of another incredible day on the Grey Ghost!

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Day 5 - Duango to Durango via Rocky Mountain High, Colorado

Although we had a short day panned, we had some great “heights” we planned to go. On the agenda for the day was Telluride, then over to the Million Dollar Highway south through Ouray and Silverton on the way back to Durango for our shortest day of the entire trip. So off we went. Durango to Cortez and then north on the gorgeous CO 145.

Our first stop was in Rico at the Mountain Top Fuel and Market. The lady proprietor obviously took great pride in her store. Everything was very clean AND she had fresh cinnamon buns. mmmm She was a bright spot to start the day... If you are ever on CO 145 passing through Rico make sure you stop in at Mountain Top Fuel and Market.

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Then more awesome scenery as we made our way to Telluride.

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In Telluride we had a wonderful lunch at a little cafe downtown, then stepped next door to check out the local dispensary.

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Cornbread said, "Hey, it's all legal here, dude!"

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From there it was on to the Million Dollar Highway. I had ridden it a few years prior, but the other guys hadn’t. They really had no idea what was in store for them!

But first, a little stop in Ouray at the Ouray Brewery.

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Then up the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Just more awesome scenery all the way back to Durango.

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Just freaky to see this on the 24th of May!

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Was that a Sasquatch sighting???

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Just after this picture was taken we began to pass that ENTIRE line of cars in one pass. But around that big curve at the bottom of the mountain you could see about a mile in the distance and there were no oncoming cars... off we went. It was nuts!!!

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Then it was another night cap in The Diamond Belle Saloon.

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Soon it was time to get ready for another big day ahead. Tomorrow, we’ll go meet FJRBritbob and El Durango Cinco will finally be whole!

 
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Enjoying the ride along.

I'm disappointed that I didn't ride the Million Dollar Highway when I was up there in October. I shall have to try again next year on the way to (or from) Yosemite.

 
You definitely have to work the Million Dollar Highway into the Yosemite run, Pants. The views are worth, well.... a million dollars!
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Couldn't resist...
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Day 6 - Durango to Cuba

Cuba, NM that is.

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Wednesday morning, May 25th, up bright and early. We had a train to catch. We'll not that kind of train, but our own caravan of four bikes and a chicken, and we had a Brit we needed to go get. So we were headed out of Durnago at had become our daily departure signal, when the Durango & Silverton blew it's whistle leaving the Durango station at 8 a.m. each morning we knew it was time for us to roll. Off we went. We headed south out of Durango on US160 and turned right on CO 172, which led through the Southern Ute Reservation and into New Mexico onto NM 511. Our first stop was at the overlook of the impressive structure of the Navajo Dam.

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Even though he doesn't look like it, Popcorn Chicken was enjoying the view too!

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Hondapotamus thought about doing some offroading again, but decided it was a little too big of a drop.

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We headed east on US 64 for a little ways then turned south on NM 537 and into the Jicarilla Apache Nation Reservation.

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If you look real close you can see the Snow capped Rockies way off in the distance. I presume that was looking generally to the west of Durango, at least 50 miles away. And in the not too distant, you can see some Rocky Mountain spring water.
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It wasn't long and we made it to the designated meeting spot in Cuba, NM.

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Yes, the coconut margarita was fabuloso!

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Even PC agreed.

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We had quite a wait on Britbob, as I had gotten the time he planned to pick up the bike in Albuquerque mixed up with our meeting time. So we had an extra hour and a half to kill. Oh darn, so we took a little 15 mile jaunt up NM 126, which turned out to be one of the best roads we rode the entire trip. It was a 30 minute power ride to say the least. We left PC back at EL Brono's to wait on Britbob and when we got back from that exhilarating ride, Britbob was there waiting on us, with a drunk chicken by his side.

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PC was hammered and actually admitted that he'd had enough.

But it was time to make our way back towards Durango anyway so Britbob said, follow me! He made for the perfect Ride Captain on his rented Heritage Softail!

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And off we went, back the same route we had taken heading down to Cuba. Before long we were back at what had been our home away from home for the previous three nights. Unfortunately, this would be our last night at the Historic Strater Hotel in downtown Durango. Great place, reasonably priced and located in the heart of the city. I highly recommend the Strater, at least for a nostalgic night in Durango!

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Day 7 Durango to Gunnison via Urvan and Gateway

Let me start off by saying, those of you who have never ridden CO 141 through the Escalante Stairway MUST make plans to do that sooner, rather than later! CO 141 gets plenty of props from everyone who has ever ridden it, but trust me, it should be at the top of your list if you have never been. Definitely a highlight of this 10 day ride! Pictures at eleven, stay tuned.

But first, we strike out that morning for our third trek on the Million Dollar Highway. It wasn't long and we pulled over on the extremely wide shoulder
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at the foot of Grand Turk Mountain to gaze down into the valley at the beautiful town of Silverton.

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This was where we took our first mugshot of El Durango Cinco gang in it's entirity!

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Then down into the valley and into the colorful little town of Silverton itself.

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The place just oozes history!

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The problem was, the shoulders in the town were too wide.
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We had to get back into the mountains where we could feel a little more at ease.

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Soon, Britbob was asking if we had taken a wrong turn in Albuquerque.

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I assured him that we had not and we continued on up US 550 to more gorgeous sights!

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We had stopped the day before, and it was good! But today, with 450 miles ahead of us we had to keep moving on....

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We made a stop for fuel in the town of Ridgway. Next thing you know Cornbread has run into an old Concourse riding buddy of his. It's a small world, afterall.

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Until now we had managed to dodge ANY rain for seven days. I'm not sure how that happened, but it had. As I said, until now.... As we passed through Norwood on CO 145 we saw this on the horizon we knew we were getting wet, soon.

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There were lighting bolts cracking all around and really no where to pull off. So we just kept rolling. Next thing you know, this was what our windshields looked like!

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And then this!!!!!

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I'm not sure how I kept shooting pics, as the crosswind was whipping and the hailstones or snowstones or whatever the hell it was, was pelting us. But all I could think about was 1) keeping it upright and 2) how was Britbob managing back there with just his brain bucket and goggles. I was feeling for him and had hoped he sought shelter.

Just a few miles up the road, the skies cleared and I found the first pullout I could find. Next thing you know, Britbob pulled up and the look on his face said it all!

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The dude is a trooper y'all! I'm not sure about these other three though....

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Soon we entered the Maverick Draw and joined up with the famous CO 141. We had to endure some obstacles both in the road and just on the side of the road.

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But this gateway to Gateway was just the beginning of one of the most fabulous roads I've ever ridden!

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PC was having a blast! And we were too. I can say without a doubt, I WILL BE BACK to CO 141 some day in the not too distant future!

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We made our way the 90 or so miles from Gateway to Hotchkiss, and went from sweltering 90 degree temps to 45 all in the matter of about two hours. But riding through the grove of Aspens on CO 92 in the Gunnison National Forrest was just awesome!

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To close out a stellar day of riding we stopped to take in the breathtaking views of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

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As Britbob said, it just don't get no better than this my friends!

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