Colorado 2018

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Wow, I don’t even know where to begin!  This was definitely a dream trip for me.  Not so much because of the destination or the 2,464 miles we rode, but mostly because it was with my Riding Brothers and our girls!  Of course, Colorado was amazing too, and everything in between.  We all had looked forward to this trip for months – getting our bikes serviced, packing our bags way too early, and checking and re-checking everything.  I was a little envious that the ladies left on the 29th and us boys didn’t leave until the 30th, but that meant that I could sleep in the garage next to my bike the night before we left (ok, I didn’t really do that, but I thought about it!).

When the big morning finally came, most of us met at Pat’s house at 6 a.m..  True to form, Pat was standing out front with a cup of coffee taking it all in.  As we started to roll, I just knew that there were many a smile behind those helmets.  We picked up Rob and then, of course, stopped in Victorville for a big, fat Cracker Barrel breakfast! What’s a ride without those biscuits and great coffee?  There was a little 100 degree traffic in Las Vegas, but then we were out of there and thundering up I-15 through Utah.  Late afternoon found us pulling into the hotel parking lot in Richfield, and the high-fiveing went all around.  You’d think we just landed on the moon!  And after a nice, hot shower, we all walked over to a steak dinner at Frontier Village restaurant.  Let’s just say it was a very talkative meal!

Friday morning dawned beautiful, and after loading our bikes we headed up the onramp into the sunrise for a fantastic ride across I-70 through Utah and into the beautiful Colorado Rockies.  I remember thinking “OK, is this a Harley Davidson commercial?”  At first, we rode through long, forested sweeping curves.  Then the landscape morphed into Grand Canyon-looking cliffs.  Being the tourists, we had to stop at a lookout point for a nice photo op and then we were off again through Grand Junction and on into Colorado.  Some of us were bantering on our headsets about how much we missed Jerry Brown (not!), but most of the talk was about the big, dark clouds up ahead as we neared Vail.  It looked like we were going right between storms on either side of us, but after cresting the continental divide at over 10,000 feet, our luck started to run out.  We were a little late putting on our rain gear, and I remember cursing a stuck zipper as a big bolt of lightning flashed down a couple of hundred yards away. While the girls shopped at an outlet mall south of Denver, rain began soaking us riders and our jeans.  But hey – Dale and Jane’s house was getting a lot closer!

As we finally made the last turn to roll down Rocky Point Lane, the girls were all out there waiting for us holding a big ice bucket full of Coors Banquet beer – the real stuff, in stubby bottles!  So many hugs ensued that besides Jane, I  can’t even remember who I was hugging.  We laughed, fisted, high-fived, and slurped down the icy beer – it was really one of those epic moments in life, to be remembered always.  After the girls helped pull our boots and rain gear off, we walked inside to the heavenly smell of Colorado roast beef – of course! What a great dinner and fun time!

That night, most of us turned in pretty early, but popped up first thing on Saturday morning to enjoy coffee on the deck while watching deer and their fawns.  Another beautiful, fun day was dawning and no one wanted to miss any of it. While the girls got ready for a hike in the foothills, us boys rolled our bikes north up to a bike rally called Thunder in the Rockies.  It wasn’t too big, but it sure was a nice ride along the mountains through all the small towns and farm country. That afternoon, we cleaned ourselves up (minus shaving) and drove down to the town of Golden, where we took in a great view of the river running right into the Coors brewery while we watched classic cars drive up and down Washington Avenue. After that, it was time for an amazing steak dinner and drinks at The Keg, which was so much fun.  Of course, the toasting went on and on!

Sunday morning was time for yet another ride, so after a big breakfast all together at the aptly named “Cow” restaurant, the boys rode west on highway 8 through the pretty town of Evergreen, along a lake and back down I-70 to Avalanche Harley Davidson.  While the girls shopped in Lakewood, us guys gave our credit cards a workout at the Harley store – dang I love those places!!!  Then it was off along the Rockies to Brett and Hope’s new home, where we left a “Welcome Home” sign that they would see when they returned from their honeymoon that evening.

Sunday afternoon we had some down time, watching sports and getting our bikes ready for the trip home.  We smoked barbecue tri-tip and ribs on our Traeger, which was a big hit as we chowed down looking off the deck at the pretty Colorado landscape below.  After Dale and Jane passed out some cool Harley gifts to the guys to commemorate their riding achievement, we all piled in the cars for a wonderful concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater by Jason Mraz.  What an amazing venue, and Jason’s music was out of this world!

Monday morning came a little too quickly, and like most Mondays we were a little quiet after having such a great weekend.  As the boys rolled away down the street for the long trip home, we thought we saw the girls back there doing a “happy dance” – really????  Maybe we just imagined it.  This time we took the southern route, down through Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico.  During a little hail storm, we found an over pass to hide under and once again donned our rain gear.  I think one of the most beautiful parts of the entire trip was across New Mexico, which was lush green rolling hills with red rocks .  We rode right into the sunset for a long time and finally stopped in Gallup for the night after an ultra fancy dinner at Denny’s.  As we drove across Arizona the next day, we were once again in familiar territory.  I remember passing Winslow, the destination of our last big ride, and thinking “boy, that was nothing compared to Colorado”!

Most of us said our last goodbyes at the Ludlow Dairy Queen, and pulled into our driveways that night wondering if we would ever want to drive a car again.  For days, I couldn’t believe something that amazing was over.  I just kept thinking “ok, where are we riding next”?  This trip was truly one of life’s highlights for all of us.  In fact, I almost had to change our website name to “Epic Rides, With My Brothers”!