2 September 2011
I got a bit of an earlier start than I've managed so far this trip,
with the result that I missed hooking up with John Sullivan.
The road out of Norwood was tasty, and the temperature had risen with
the sun to the point that it was comfortable, if a bit chilly. The only
downside was riding into the early morning sun.
I got to Ridgway just before 9, and although I didn't need fuel just
yet, filled up at the station there, thinking that John had been
monitoring the Spot, seen I'd left early, and would be arriving
shortly. I dawdled a bit; a 12GS pulled in with California plates, but
it was red = not John. I had a long day laid out, so I finally headed
up 550 to Montrose, and 50 east.
50 follows the Gunnison River, there are lots of National 'whatevers'
along the route, but not knowing where (or if) any stamps were, I
settled for the gorgeous scenery and lovely roads.
(You may remember that I travel with two GPSs--the main one is
currently a 60csx, which has a very readable screen, and will accept
routes; the other is a touch-screen nuvi that accepts a maximum of one
destination and a 'via' point--I load a bunch of the route waypoints
into it, and route to two of them at a time, but depend on the 60 for
the main route. I noticed sometime after Poncha Springs that the nuvi
wanted me to turn around, but I ignored it--the 60 was happily pointing
me on. It wasn't until I downloaded the track and compared it to the
MapSource generated route that I discovered why--the 60 had picked a
different route! But I digress...)
Just past Canon City 115 heads north toward Colorado Springs, as do I.
I can see nasty looking clouds up that way, and I cringe every time the
road bends left-ish; the closer I get, the worse it looks. As a
precaution, I peel the mp3 player off the tank bag and tuck it into an
Aerostich pocket, then do the same for the nuvi gps. About a mile
later, the first drops of rain hit, then I go though a squall for a
minute or so, and come out the other side onto fairly dry pavement.
That was just a harbringer of the deluge that hit minutes later; within
a couple of minutes I can feel water in my boots, and seeping through
my gloves. The rain slacks after about five minutes, but continues
intermittently even after I turn east on SR94.
Finally, though, all the clouds are gone, and I'm down on the plains
with the Rockies disappearing in my rear view mirror.
I'd gotten a lot of miles out of my Ridgway tank of gas, so was
somewhat surprised when the light came on at 160 on the current tank.
And as I've noted before, the GPS database is pretty useless out in the
boonies. Even towns are few and far between in eastern Colorado;
nothing in Weskan, but it looks like I should make it to Sharon
Springs, and I do--nice new Shell station there.
I'd crossed into the Central time zone some miles into Kansas, so it
was already getting late--looked like there were some motels in Oakley,
where I was planning on heading north. The Annie Oakley (heh!) Motel's
proprietor says "no" when I ask (although the sign hadn't said "No
Vacancy"); too bad, because there's a grocery store about a block away.
Back out of town to the highway and a tired Rodeway Inn--he gives me a
double for the price of a single, as long as I don't mess up the other
bed; I'm fine with that. Rather than ride back into town, I hoof it
over to a nearby gas station / convenience store and its overpriced
'groceries' for dinner.
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