Pic Heavy 2016 Ride Report - 40 Days Following the Front Wheel

[Gorilla]

he served his county well. tu for the insite

[Ed Hobgood]

As a lot of vet's in his era they have not received the honors they deserved. Sorry for your loss Mary, as we know he is in a better place now.

Kevin, I'm just down the road from your house, well I'm in Tupelo headed home from Gulf Shores where we have been this week.

[desertclassic]

I am sure that Mary's dad is resting after being a Soldier for his Country. Jim

[DK Custom Products]

I am sure I have said this before, but sorry for your lose. Mary's Dad sounds like he was an awesome man to know and quite the patriot.

Looking forward to the rest of your trip!

It couldn't have been expressed better, ol' school, Ditto!

+1

he served his county well. tu for the insite

As a lot of vet's in his era they have not received the honors they deserved. Sorry for your loss Mary, as we know he is in a better place now.

Kevin, I'm just down the road from your house, well I'm in Tupelo headed home from Gulf Shores where we have been this week.

I am sure that Mary's dad is resting after being a Soldier for his Country. Jim

I just read all these posts to Mary. She was speechless.


Just cried a bit, and then said he was so proud of being a Soldier.


Thank you so much, from the both of us.


Kevin & Mary

[DK Custom Products]

Day 33-


We're changing up our route a bit, so that Mary can be in Colorado Spring by noon tomorrow.


Today we're headed down the Million Dollar Highway, will be going as far as Alamosa, CO tonight.




The river behind the River's Edge Motel we've been staying at.











This is a really nice motel...













...in the perfect setting.















As we're leaving out...











...a couple of pics of downtown Ouray.













One of Mary's favorite roads, and one she's been looking forward to the whole trip.













The views are amazing, right off the bat!











A last look back at Ouray.













Last time we rode this road (which was the first time), we took it at a pretty good clip...











...this time we're taking it slower and enjoying the views more!









More on Day 33 coming soon.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Day 33 Continued-




The 550, aka Million Dollar Highway is an amazing road to ride!











Right near the beginning of it, outside of Ouray, is a scenic stop. That's a lotta water!















They have quite a bit of information on how it was built, pictures from the olde days, and there was this old fart wondering around the area. lol















Looking over the edge at this stop.













Back rolling. Not the place to be doing anything but paying 100% attention.













This pic was taken as we were riding, Mary reached out and took a pic down the side of the road.













A look back...













...anther view of the road we've just traveled. Incredible amount of work to get this road cut thru!











Views everywhere we look. The water coming down the mountain did look much bigger in person than it does in this photo.















This is definitely a fun road, even though we are sort of taking it casual today.











More in next post.

[DK Custom Products]

Day 33 Continued-




Enjoying the winding road and views!













Another look back at the hugeness of what we're traveling thru.













I believe this is the river that the EPA polluted about a year ago.













The views that Mary is catching looking back show some of the beauty of this place.













Looking ahead at the first in a series of curves...













...and looking down at the first and second layer.















Yet another curve, viewed from a different perspective.













How fortunate we are to be riding thru this majestic place.











Getting near Silverton. Last year we just rode by, we are going to be stopping this year. Alan has let us know that it will be well worth it.











More twists and turns and we thoroughly enjoy our ride today.











More on Day 33 coming soon.

Kevin

[consitter]

I was away a couple of weeks taking vacation, then don't have access to a computer when I'm in the perimeter truck 4 night a week now, so I haven't been posting much.

Just read about Mary's Dad passing, and I wanted to add my condolences and thankfulness for his service to this great country. If you'd pass that on to Mary, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Scott

[55il]

What beautiful part of the country. Thanks for the ride and photo's and I hope the both of you are enjoying it as much as I am. DJ

[BinIdaho]

I did Hwy 550 (Million Dollar Hiway) from Silverton to Ouray, CO on July 8th. Did you get your patch at the gift store in Silverton? The young lady that runs it was the designer of the 550 patch!

[DK Custom Products]

I was away a couple of weeks taking vacation, then don't have access to a computer when I'm in the perimeter truck 4 night a week now, so I haven't been posting much.

Just read about Mary's Dad passing, and I wanted to add my condolences and thankfulness for his service to this great country. If you'd pass that on to Mary, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Scott

Hey Scott, hope you had an enjoyable vacation.

Thank you, I will pass on your message to Mary tonight.

What beautiful part of the country. Thanks for the ride and photo's and I hope the both of you are enjoying it as much as I am. DJ

Yes, this is a trip that has made a Lot of good memories for us.

I did Hwy 550 (Million Dollar Hiway) from Silverton to Ouray, CO on July 8th. Did you get your patch at the gift store in Silverton? The young lady that runs it was the designer of the 550 patch!

No, did not get a patch, I did pick up an Silverton HD Poker Chip at their little gift shop there.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Day 33 Continued-




As we got near Silverton we ran into stopped traffic. While we were waiting our turn to go thru the 1 lane, 1 way section, this Hot Rod drove by.













After waiting better than 30 minutes, we finally started thru the construction zone. As you can see, there was not much room to work or travel between the rock and the edge.















Back rolling, this is a fun road and I was not behind those cars by the time we were thru the first curve they're slowing down for in this pic.















Some fellow travelers.















Mary in the Mirror taking a photo of "Colorful Colorado".















The town we passed up last time we rode the Million Dollar Highway-















We slow rolled down the asphalt Main Street, all the way to the end. There is a Museum there. Part of the museum is the historic jailhouse.






































More in next post.

[desertclassic]

We are planning a trip by the way of Chama, NM and jumping over to Durango and Silverton 3rd week of Sept. We should catch the change of weather. Love what you are posting, getting me excited about the trip. Jim

[DK Custom Products]

Day 33 Continued-


This museum is huge! Different from many museums you can walk around the displays, some have a barrier, but many you are walking right around them.















Very interesting read-















We are now in the underground section of the museum.











I lost count of how many rooms there are underground AND above ground. Thousands upon thousands of items on display. We took a couple hundred pics, just sharing a few.


Back upstairs-













That is a Really Old 'calculator" in the center.















Hey! Many kids nowadays don't know what a rotary phone is, let alone a switchboard!













We spent a couple of hours here, could have spent more.















An old printing press-













A Two man chainsaw!















After leaving the Museum, we traveled down the other, dirt, Main Street in Silverton.











More in next post.

[DK Custom Products]

Day 33 Continued-


Couple more pics on the dirt/gravel Main Street-




















Back on the asphalt Main Street. Stopped in for a couple minutes at the highest elevation HD store in the world. No bikes, just knick knacks. Picked up a poker chip.













Back rolling- A look back at Silverton.













This is a fun road, still got a ways to go to Durango, where we turn east.













We forgot to change batteries in Silverton, so we stopped on the side of the road here to change them out. I decided to walk down to this stream and see if my boots were still waterproof...and to see how cold the water was. These boots have well over 70k miles of riding on them, still holding up well, and still waterproof. The water.... IT'S COLD!













Great pic looking back of this beautiful area!















A look ahead at a upcoming curve...













...a look behind at the same curve. Very different perspectives.















Beautiful view, even with rain threatening.











More of Day 33 coming soon.

Kevin

[ol' school]

That museum looks like an awesome place! Loved the old cook stove ! Reminded me of the one my Grandmother had in the kitchen of their farmhouse. She made many a good meal on it and made the best sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls in its oven. And it heated up the place in the winter too and dried my hunting gloves many a time. Thanks for the memory!

[DK Custom Products]

That museum looks like an awesome place! Loved the old cook stove ! Reminded me of the one my Grandmother had in the kitchen of their farmhouse. She made many a good meal on it and made the best sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls in its oven. And it heated up the place in the winter too and dried my hunting gloves many a time. Thanks for the memory!

Very cool. We have a wood-burning cook stove in our home currently. Mary has not cooked on it much, but it has heated our home many winters.

Glad you're enjoying.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Day 33 Continued-




Coming up to the scenic turn-out at Molas Pass-















Rain off in the distance, great views of some mountain peaks much higher than the 10,000 feet we're at here.















Back on our way...















...on a Really Fun Road...















...with stunning views...













...Curves and views galore!













Climbing up to...













...Coal Bank Pass.













A bit down the road we stop for lunch.











Got up under the trees a bit, in the shade, and had a nice lunch with some great views!











More in next post.

[DK Custom Products]

Day 33 Continued-




Not only did we have a good view of the country-side, we were right in the apex of a decreasing radius curve and got to watch the different bikes and cars negotiate it.















Getting ready to continue on our way.















Back rolling...













...more curves and amazing views.

















Wow! What a cloud pic!















Getting close to Durango...















...passing thru Durango.















When we got to Durango we turned east, a bit down the road we saw rain off to the right...













...but none ahead of us.













After an hour of mostly easterly travel, that changed!









More on this amazing Day 33 of riding coming soon.

Kevin

[Ed Hobgood]

As usual, great report thanks for keeping us up on your ride.