Gremlin's Tall Stories

Time to leave Moab after a full day there the previous day. Dave was up at some early time, so I ended up waking up. Waiting for Dave to leave, Kevin is also up and about packing the van. I haul myself out of bed, chuck on some clothes and deliver my bag to the van.

My bed is calling, so straight back into it, and Kevin thinks it’s a good idea, so heads back to his as well. He even checks for when I have set my alarm, agrees with 8am and we’re back asleep. At 8am, he suggests 9am, and I have my doubts. He reluctantly agrees, but I still have to mumble something about him being on the road.

There’s no breakfast, so some trail mix suffices and once packed I’m on the road shortly after 11am. Kevin is already on the road, having planted enough thoughts about getting there sometime today. I spend some time packing and reading emails. I’m surprised when the room phone rings… its Murray. Apparently he thinks he has left his jacket behind, and provides the room number. I head down to the room and his jacket is in the closet. Fortunate I was still there, otherwise he would have had to have it posted to Los Angeles, or something like that.

Finding a gas station on the outskirts of town, a guy carrying a helmet approaches me asking if I’m on Advrider.com. I reply no, but I know the website. He says he was going to ask for a lift down the road 3 miles to the bike shop, but seeing the jacket strapped to the back seat he says never mind. I say to him that I’m happy to help him out, he can hold the jacket. He agrees and I take him down the road to the bike dealer. I mention to him it would have been far too far to walk, and it was around 30 degrees. He thanks me, mentioning that he owns an Inn at the end of the Tail of the Dragon, and I’m welcome to free accommodation (buggered if I can remember his name, or the places name… something like Dragon Inn).

I head south on 191 passing another Hole in the Rock, lots of tar snakes all over the damn road and turn onto 46-90-145 to Telluride. There are the remnants of a fire in the distance, apparently a building burnt down overnight, some of the others say later in the day.

Telluride is a dead end in a canyon, but there is a free gondola ride up to the Mountain Village. Pity the parking next to the gondola wasn’t free, but it was too warm to be walking around the village to find a park. It only cost $1 anyway. Reaching the top of the high gondola… it was uh… barren. More walking was required to see anything, and I was really tempted to walk right up to get in the great sights, except cordura pants and bike boots made me think it would be a dumb (and crippling) idea. A few photos taken and I returned to the bike. I did glance at one restaurant briefly, but stupid prices, plus you would have to wait, then pay for more parking… yeah, nah.

Retracing my steps it was back to Placerville then north on 62 to Ridgeway and south on 550 through Ouray and Silverton, but more importantly, the Million Dollar Highway. It’s so named because the area was mined for gold, but extraction was expensive on the diggings. The road was built with the remains, then extraction became cheaper, but they didn’t want their road dug up. The road was stunning, great riding and fantastic scenery.

I end up getting rain heading towards Silverton, but simply carry on. The temptation to divert to a lake or two wins, and I U-turn to take some great lakeside photos. Onward to Durango again, and I’m almost there when I pass an old steam train. I ride on ahead, to take photos as it passes. The traffic was difficult to get back into, so rode down the road on the wrong side briefly, as I matched their speed.

Everyone was around the pool when I checked in after 5pm. My backseat passenger was returned to its rightful owner, and Murray was most grateful. I had my own room, so checked in. I was just getting ready to have a swim when Murray knocked. They were heading off to dinner shortly, so back into normal clothes and I joined Ken and Murray for dinner at the Strater Hotel.

The Hotel is historic, having been around for over a hundred years. They’ve kept all the historic aspects, including a honky tonk piano and the waitresses dressed in very nice outfits. See pics is all I will say. I mentioned to Murray afterwards, it’s interesting. If you ask a girl to be in a picture, invariably she strikes a fantastic pose for the shot. In NZ, you tend to ask a bit more for a particular pose.

I had a steak sandwich and followed the waitresses (who by the way, was the cutest of the lot, picture doesn’t do her justice) suggestion of a half order of their special dessert. Glad I did, it was quite a generous helping.

Waddling out of the hotel with stuffed bellies, we had a wander around town and a lot of places for souvenirs, clothing and other touristy type stuff were still open. I walked into one outdoors retailer and found myself the spork I had been looking for. Double ended, titanium, a fork on one end and a spoon on the other. The one tine on the fork is also serrated, so serves a basic knife.

Back to the hotel, I called it a night and headed for bed.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1XLwRDTAvWnaeoeS8