Three National Park stamps

I bought a National Parks Stamp book back in 2024...so now I "have" to galivant all over the country to  get the stamps! Life is tough sometimes! haha.

As it happens, I suddenly have five days with no meetings and only one appointment. So we cancel the appointment and off I go.

My first night is spent in Naturita, Colorado (no pix). The ride from West Valley to Moab is a yawner, but from Moab through La Sal, Utah, into Colorado, past Paradox, and Bedrock to the tiny town of  Naturita is SPECTACULAR!

These two pix are on the way a few miles before arriving at Naturita.

Then the next morning I'm off to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP via the 550 (Million Dollar Highway).
At a gas stop on my way, a local describes the Black Canyon as a 'mini grand canyon', which is a good description.

Below is the model of the Black Canyon in the visitor center.

And the pix that I took while there that fall way short of what my eyes were seeing!

I didn't try to hike any of the (mostly) snow covered trails.

OK....I get the stamp and then point my front tire toward Pagosa Springs traversing even more miles on the 550 - from Montrose to several miles south of Durango, tken to Pagosa where I'll stay two nights. 

The Million Dollar Hwy is beautiful in the summer, but in the winter when nearly everything except the road is covered with snow....it is equally beautiful....stunning even!

WOW!

Typical "don't do it justice" pix

After I get checked in at Pagosa since my lodging has a full kitchen I head to the grocery store for some supplies. Its a good thing they gave me a strong paper sack! I 'seat belted' the full sack on to the pillion seat and CAREFULLY made the ride back to my place - and arrived with no drama! Whew! 

Now I have dinner and breakfasts for two days.

The Great Sand Dunes NP is next and....

the following morning I wait for the temps to warm up a bit and just as I'm about to gear up and walk out the door I hear the unmistakable sound of the burner in a hot air balloon. I step outside and hear a childs voice giving me a cheery "hello" and look straight up a hundred feet or so, to see the balloon - the basket carrying what I assumed to be a young family, and their tour guide.

And....the basket and balloon are desending. They landed on the lawn in front of my condo where the recovery team was waiting.

That was a neat and unique way to start out this day of riding, NP stamping and riding some more!

And its off I go toward the Great Sand Dunes NP.

I'm sure there are those people who can see beauty in an exceedingly large pile of sand, but I'm not one. 

For me, the ride there and then the park was underwhelming - still... a day on the bike is a good day.

I get the stamp and make the return ride back to Pagosa Springs, a two hundred-twenty miles round trip.

The Park sign.

The pile of sand

And off and return to the condo where I enjoy a meticulously prepared dinner....(LOL).... meh....it was filling! Followed by an exciting evening of crosswords and 'sets' playing.

After my 'fine dining' and game playing I start packing for the ride home in the morning. The wind HOWLS all night long as black clouds rumble their way across the sky....sheesh....I'm a little concerned about the weather.

My concern was for nothing, in the morning while it was CHILLY, the skies were mostly blue.

After scraping the frost off the bike seat I was on my way. 

The route home takes me right past the Mesa Verde NP...how fortuitous!

This depiction is at the entrance of the visitor center.

Stamp obtained, bathroom visited, and I continue my way home. By now the temps are quite pleasant, the ride equally so and I'm able to stay off the super slab until the last 50 miles.

But instead of going straight home I head for the Community Center where Beverly volunteers as a sewing instructor once a week.

But she is not there?? I call from the parking lot and Bev answers...Where are you? - I ask. 

I'm home waiting for you - She answers!

What a pair we are - 45 years and we still missed each other for the four days I was gone!

A happy wife, and a happy life is incredibly good stuff!!

Aaaand motorcycles are also incredibly good stuff!

Aaaaand - Life is sweet!

2 X 3 to Death Valley....sort of

It has been so long since we've been on a ride so we invite the couples to go with us to Death Valley.

We  originally planned to stay in Tonopah the first night but the temperatures forecast were so cold there we decided to go to Moapa instead. 

When we depart West Valley City it is snowing, so overheating was not an issue.  But no problem we all survived the 6 hour ride and arrived in Moapa around dinner time. 

And for dinner we went across the street from our hotel to this place, La Fonda which was very good both the meal and the service.

The next day we are on our way to Death Valley via the Lake Mead entrance then the Valley of Fire State Park. 

Unfortunately while on the way there  one of the bikes developed a slight problem. To address the problem we needed to go into Las Vegas, so Death valley was put on hold indefinitely.

The problem was soon solved - nooo.....actually it was not soon and it was not solved. 

After spending a few hours in Vegas (shopping, visiting the Carrel Shelby Museum, etc) the rest of the group rode on to Pahrump where our next reservations were at. The limping bike was still limping....not withstanding the obscene "repair" bill....or rather "Non-Repair" bill.  Lucky for bike owner though, there was an independent shop in Pahrump that fixed the problem quickly and cheaply - neither of those two things were accomplished by the Vegas shop with their factory trained techs.

While they were doing that I rode to the Las Vegas speedway where my nephew's son was racing. I got there just in time to watch his last race. 

Jan and Kenny, on the black tri glide gave me this monkey with the bandage on its knee when I had my knee surgery. It was too cute not to do something with, so I made a helmet out of a ball and seat belted him on the back of my bike.

As we were going through valley of fire, the group decided to hike up to some petroglyphs. I decided to hold down a picnic table instead.

Ron and Ken take a break.

Beverly, Wendy, Jan.

The Carroll Shelby museum.  Well worth the time!

We stayed at the Saddle West hotel , a place that I have stayed at numerous times over the last few years. Our three wives checked in while the guys were taking care of the bikes. The counter ladies were so rude to one of the wives that I've crossed them off as a place to stay in Pahrump. There are plenty of other hotels to choose from.

After check in and after I arrived from the races with had a super meal and discussed the next days ride - which would be the first of two days ride home. Route and details decided on we all retired for the night.

The route was mostly a reverse from the day before, the lake shore road from Henderson to Moapa.

At Moapa Bev and I left the others to return to Vegas for a wedding, the others continued on to Cedar City, Utah and home the next day.

The Ceremony and dinner were both very nice and enjoyable. Both Beverly and I were so happy that we could be there for the event.

Biker buddy Howard and his bride, Tina

And the next morning it was our turn to start the ride home. Unfortunately, the weather forecast on my route called for high winds and snow.  The high winds were.....high.....and the snow was......snowy.  By the time I got to Scipio, Utah I was cccccold! Another hotel night and home the next morning!

And that's it! Yet another SUPER ride, made even better by having good friends ....along for the ride! (See what I did there?)

No we didn't get into Death Valley, but that only resulted in us all agreeing that we will have to do this ride again! 

Motorcycles are excellent fun!

Thanks for visiting and reading!!