Road Captain – Alan Steiner, Sweep - Ken Lee

Road Captain – Alan Steiner, Sweep - Ken Lee

This morning's 7:00 am temperature was 75 degrees with mostly sunny skies.

Today also happens to be Fathers Day and several of us made calls to wish our dads a happy Fathers Day and some of us received a happy Fathers Day phone call.

Our hotel served a complimentary buffet breakfast this morning and most of us managed to fit in a trip to the restaurant for a pre ride meal.

Today's route was about as straightforward as it gets.  We took highway 285 from Carlsbad and stayed on 285 until we arrived in Santa Fe, with a few stops in between.

Road Captain – Wayne Kanaby, Sweep - Ken Lee

Today is the first day of summer and the longest day of the year.  This morning's 7:00 am temperature was 70 degrees with sunny skies.

We broke in a new road captain today...Wayne Kanaby took the reins and led the group for most of the day.

Our route took us out of Santa Fe at 7:20 via I-25 westbound towards Albuquerque.  Approximately 20 miles outside of Albuquerque we turned north onto Highway 550.  We followed 550 to Cuba (the town) where we stopped and had breakfast at the Cuban Cafe.  After breakfast we filled our tanks, got back on 550 headed towards Farmington...well most us were headed the right direction.  Our new road captain initially had us going back to Albuquerque.  When the group caught the fo pau after about 50 yards we turned around and headed north towards Farmington.  We waited up the road for our RC to catch up once he noticed he no longer had a group to lead.  All was corrected quickly and we were back in formation and head in the right direction. 

Just outside of Farmington we turned onto Highway 64 and by 11:30 we had reached Farmington Four Corners Harley-Davidson where we changed some filters and fluids and repaired a lock malfunction.  We left Dealership by 1:15 headed to the Four Corners Monument.  For those of you unfamiliar with this place the appeal is that it is the only place in the US where 4 states converge.  You can actually be in 4 different states at the same time.  We continued on 64 where we hit a very rough 20 miles stretch a few miles outside of Farmington. Just before turned onto Highway 160 we made an unplanned stop at the Teec Nos Pos Trading Post for liquids a ice cream.  Just a few miles after turning on 160 we came upon the exit for the Four Corners Monument where we had a deja vu moment...our RC blew by the exit while everyone else stopped or took the exit.  However, to our surprise and disappointment the monument was closed for construction.  After a brief pause we all got back onto 160 and head towards our hotel in Cortez.  A mile down the road we saw our RC coming in the opposite direction.  We waved for him to follow and kept on going.  About 5 miles down the road all was righted again and we continue into Cortez where we reached our hotel at 4:00. 

Road Captain – Alan Steiner & Jozef, Sweep - Ken Lee

We awoke this morning to cool temperatures and clear sunny skies...perfect riding weather if you've endured 100 degree temperatures this past several days.  At 6:30 the temperature was a very comfortable 50 degrees but quickly rose to the low 60's by the time we hit the road.

Today's route took us out of Cortez at 7:30 via Highway 160 heading east. Approximately 10 miles out of town we turned into Mesa Verde National Park.  The park features numerous ruins of homes and villages built by the ancient Pueblo people known as the Anasazi who made stone villages their home in the 1200s. It is best known for several spectacular cliff dwellings.  Once inside the park we immediately encountered major road construction that initially had us waiting about a half hour. Once we began moving we found ourselves riding on gravel and grated roads.  Although 10 miles inside the park the road was excellent. We reached the visitors center at 8:50am, snapped a few pics and decided to take a guided tour through Balcony House (billed as the most strenuous of their many tours).  The tour lasted approximately one hour and was informative and fun.  We were walking, climbing a 32 ft ladder, crawling through tunnels and climbing a 65 ft cliff (you can see the pics in the eshog photo section).  After finishing our tour we made our way back to the museum and gift shop where we spent another half hour.  We exited the park at 12:30ish, snapped a couple more pics and were off to Durango...well at least most of us were.  Our RC (Alan) was taking lessons for the previous days RC (Wayne) and started leading us in the wrong direction.  Well the rest of us didn't bite and decided to go in the correct direction.  Once Alan saw that he lost his tribe he quickly recovered.

We arrived in Durango around 1:00 pm where Duncan took us to the Diamond Belle Saloon for Lunch.  Lunch was everything Duncan billed it be...everyone was well fed and enjoyed the 1800s theme.  After lunch we toured some of the shops of Durango and said our good byes to Duncan who had business to attend to back in Grapevine Texas. Everyone enjoyed having Duncan on the ride and look forward to his participation on future ones.

From Durango we took the Million Dollar Highway (as it's been named) to Silverton.  The highway is very scenic and challenging for those looking for a twisties fix. The lack of guardrail protection and very steep drop-offs certainly make it a thrill ride for those willing to take it.  Well...we did and it was.  Those on the back seat may not have seen it the same way as those holding the bars.  Once in Silverton we stopped briefly for more economic stimulation before heading off to Cortez.  The first third of the road from Silverton to Cortez was every bit as scenic and challenging.

We finally reached our hotel around 6:30pm, cleaned up, and had dinner at the nearby restaurant.  Although the day was short on miles it was a full and enjoyable day.  It was a good balance of riding, exploring, and shopping.