MB Rides and Eats!: See ya, Husker-land! HELLO COLORADO!!!! (And UTAH!)

Hi again, Kidz! Thanks for coming back to join me! May I suggest getting comfy, perhaps with a spot of tea, a cup o' joe, or a beer because I have to give you TWO days worth of activities in ONE looong blog! Much fun these past 2 days! Hang on.....Here we go!
We woke up bright and early at the Best Western in Kearney, Nebraska. We headed to the attached restaurant, free breakfast coupons in hand, to get some grub! The staff was friendly, the food was average free breakfast fare, but the decor and the vibe from the other customers...YIKES! It was dark and creepy! A guy walked in with his family...all I could think of was "sister-wives"! He was super-skinny, wearing dark dress slacks and a button-down white dress shirt, his longish grey hair slicked back. The women wore long skirts with their waist-length hair pulled back into low ponytails. The man asked the waitress if she had something he could put his sausage in! Bahahahahhaa!!! He phrased it just like that! Hahahha!!! What he was really asking for was a "to-go" container so he could enjoy his sausage whilst driving. (At least that's what I HOPE he meant!) Anyhow, the place made me feel like I was on the set of "From Dusk Till Dawn"! At any minute I expected the locals to start morphing into vampires! Good thing Tom & I were both packing. Although, I'm not sure how much power 9 mm or .45 cal have against the undead! Just then, the pack of bikers from Ohio & Missouri walked in! We met them the day before at a gas stop. Hooray! We have back-up! (Unless...Unless they're one of "THEM"!) We chatted with them for a while. They were heading for Deadwood...their first time there. I was sure to tell them to do the "Alkali Ike" Bus Tour in downtown Deadwood. Although, it was early, and my mouth wasn't yet awake, because it came out "Alkali Ike Butt Tour"! God help me!! Hahahhahahaa! The Ohio half of the group was from Toledo. Over the course of the conversation we told them we work for Solon. One of the women bought a horse from someone in Solon! SMALL WORLD, I say!!! We bid them farewell and safe travels before heading back to our room to finish packing and loading the bikes. (Side note...second floor with no elevator. Bah!)

When I last left you, I was commenting about how Nebraska wasn't nearly as dull as I imagined it would be. Well, I stand corrected. From Kearney west to the Colorado border, Nebraska was everything I'd imagined it would be! Corn..Corn...more corn....very sad-looking dry, brown corn....a herd of cows here and there, which ALWAYS make me smile! I usually wave or yell "Hello ladies" or "Hello boys" to them! I'm sure they're tired of hearing the same old "MOOO!". I can just imagine them rolling their eyes, thinking "how cliche"! As monotonous as the scenery was, the weather was perfect! Not too warm, it was early, I was refreshed, the traffic was light and courteous, the road was smooth and the tunes from my iPod were awesome! I had the cruise control set at about 80 and my feet on the highway pegs. At times like this, when you're just humming along effortlessly, you almost forget that you're in charge of this 900 pound beast! Seriously! I feel like a passenger sometimes when I get in "The Zone"!

As we neared the Colorado line, the wind was pretty brutal coming from the north. I could imagine the one side of my tires wearing out...I felt the need to go back the other way to even them out! We finally crossed the Colorado line and pulled off at the first exit to shed those awful helmets! We pulled into a Shell station to do so and another couple pulled in not far behind us. The guy was on a Fat Boy and the gal was on a Road King....both with insane custom Green Bay Packers paint jobs, the guy had a GB helmet, and GB patches on his vest. They pulled up to the pump, turned 'em off, and Tom asked "Where you guys from?" Bahahaha! Of course they were from Wisconsin, on their way to visit friends in Arizona. We chatted for a bit before parting ways. I noticed that SHE was carrying ALL the luggage on her Road King while he had nothing on his Fat Boy....Hmmmnnn..not fair! LOL!

Eastern Colorado

As we ventured into Colorado I noticed a street sign that stated "Bicycles-stay far to the right" What?!?! We're on the interstate! Who would ride a bicycle up here? There's nothing around and a bazillon miles between exits! (And lots of coyote road-kill on the side of the road!) Sure enough, about 10 miles later I see 2 guys on bicycles on the opposite side of the interstate! NO WAY! That's hard core! The front bicycle guy must've seen me staring at them across the median because he gave me a wave. I had to wave back! Props to those guys! First time I ever gave "The Wave" to a guy on a bicycle!

We stopped in Sterling, Colorado for gas & lunch. We had no idea where to eat, and we're not fans of fast-food, so Tom asked the gas station cashier for ideas. We were pointed to the River City Grill, which we would've NEVER found on our own! It was a couple miles off the beaten path. They had AWESOME food! Note to travelers....don't settle for fast food offerings directly off the interstate! Ask the locals for suggestions!

Fun with Tom & Dawn Terwilliger

We pulled into our hotel in Golden fairly early, but I needed time to relax for a bit and get cleaned up for our big night out! We had dinner plans with the OTHER Terwilligers and the Beliveaus! We met Tom & Dawn Terwilliger and Jay & Kelly Beliveau at the Table Mountain Grill & Cantina in Golden. What a fun night! It was a shame that we didn't have more time to spend together! It was our first time meeting Tom's wife Dawn and Kelly's husband Jay. It was Tom's first time meeting Kelly, and it was Kelly & Jay's first time meeting the OTHER Terwilligers! We tried to meet and catch up the best we could in a few short hours, we laughed, ate, laughed some more, and took pictures before parting ways. The other Tom Terwilliger wanted to see our bikes before we left, so he and Dawn come rolling up to our bikes in his car. A Ford Edge. YES! The other Tom Terwilliger rolls in a Ford Edge, too! These two Toms are too much!!!!

Fun with Jay & Kelly Bileveau

Monday morning comes around....time for us to head for our next stop in Utah. We start off on I-70 West, into the Rockies. It was so HOT when we left our hotel, but as we continued higher, it got cooler. (Of course!) I had on my usual light-weight long-sleeved fishing shirt. I saw other bikes heading eastbound...they were all bundled up in leathers. Hmmmmm... I started to get even chillier. No big deal. I'd MUCH rather be too cold than too hot. Finally I saw a bike heading the other way on which both the rider & passenger were dressed like eskimos. (One learns to observe what the opposite-direction bikers are wearing to better gauge the weather you will be hitting!) At this point, I was thinking maybe I should don my leather. Luckily, Tom was thinking the same thing! He pulled off at the next exit...Idaho Springs...and we quickly threw on our leather jackets. We continued on...up...I was getting even more chilly. I packed my chaps. They were in my saddlebag. A lot of good they were doing me there! I saw signs along the side of the road with parking spots for trucks to chain their tires. That only means one thing. We're going higher and it's going to be getting colder! Sure enough....I'm freezing! (But I'd STILL rather be freezing than roasting! In fact, I'm appreciating every cold mile because I have a feeling we'll be SWELTERING the rest of this trip!) I see signs warning that proper equipment is required by law from that point foward! What's proper equipment? Am I in violation? Hahaha! I see another sign offering a bighorn sheep viewing area. I'd love to view some bighorn sheep, but it's not to be. We're on a mission to get to Richfield, Utah. The only wildlife I've seen so far were a couple prairie dogs near Denver. By an Interstate entrance ramp. WTF? Are these things like squirrels here? We're climbing higher and we're about to enter a tunnel, I've got the throttle cranked back and it's hardly responding because of the altitude! "Captain! I'm giving it all she's got!" We are thrust into this tunnel...a VERY LONG tunnel! My bearings are not what they should be. It's dark, I've got a semi on one side and a wall on the other, I hear my RPM's souding like they're way up there...I look down and I'm doing 60. I kick it up to 6th gear...or so I thought....RPM's still high...crap...NOW I kick it up to 6th gear! I was screaming along at 60 mph in 4th gear! I'm sorry transmission! Please don't revolt! We finally get spit out of the Loooong tunnel into what feels like a deep freeze! It's sooooo cold, but sooooo beautiful! I want to take pix! But hands...so...cold...can't...get...camera...out...of.....pocket!!!! I get Tom's attention to pull over to put on our chaps. I lugged my chaps all the way from Ohio....I'm gonna wear them if I need them, dammit! We pulled over at a scenic pull-off and there we met a couple from Illinois. We chatted a bit and took pix for each other. He has a bike just like Tom's. He wanted to ride it from Illinois but his wife wasn't keen on the idea. Hopefully we helped change her mind for next time!

Words cannot describe the beautiful the ride through the Rockies! Every turn offered something new for the eyes! From lush green pines to slate grey stone to red rocks to brown with scrubby trees. I was in AWE!!!!! As we were were motoring along, an SUV pulls beside to pass, only doesn't pass me and just hangs next to me. I look over and in the passenger seat is an elderly Indian woman looking at me like I have 3 heads! (Indian woman as in...from India. Not Native American!) SO I smile and wave and then she breaks into a big smile and waves back at me! Pretty funny! I love when we pass minivans full of kids, especially little girls, giving me "the look of awe"! I'm always sure to wave at them! I'd like to imagine the conversation in the car going something like this "Mom! Dad! Can I get a motorcyc....." "NO!" the parents interrupt in unison! Bahahaa! In my opinion, the more motorcycles there are on the road the less sucky drivers will be!
The rest of the ride through the Rockies was incredible! The traffic was light and we were able to get on them a little through the twisties...fun stuff! Again, the traffic was courteous, except for one jackwagon that thought the assured clear distance between me & Tom was enough to wedge his car into! REALLY?!?!?! You see 2 bikes loaded with luggage....why would you shoe-horn your car between them and then STAY THERE!?!?! I passed him and gave him the bad-eye along with a few choice words! I tried to take more pix but now I had gloves on. Really hard to work the camera with gloves but I managed to get a few shots in! As we were descending, the climate warmed and we got rid of the cold-weather gear. I mentioned to Tom that if the Safety Captain were with us, she would probably just be cresting the summit! The Safety Captain is our pal Cyndi. We have a tendency to lose her when we road trip with her and her guy Dan-O!. We stopped outside of Grand Junction for fuel. For us and the bikes! Side note....WE GOT 322 Miles on that tank of gas! And I had 48 to go till empty! WOW!!!! I think the Rockies are some kind of fuel-milage alternate universe wormhole because I usually get about 210 miles from a tank on a good day! For grub, we found a place called Uncle Nubb's! I opted for the BLT and ice water instead of the burger and beer that I really wanted! I didn't want to be nodding off like yesterday with a belly full of food and the sun in my eyes! Good choice, as we headed into Utah there was 100 miles of NOTHING! It was as beautiful as the Rockies! The canyons, the colors, and the rock formations were incredible! We were doing about 75 or 80 and a pig hauler comes hauling-ass past us. Poor pigs. They're jammed in there, getting jostled around...makes me sad. I can easily never eat pork...if not for bacon! So the pig hauler is in front of us. And pig haulers smell AWFUL! Much worse than cow haulers! And at least with cow haulers I like to imagine that they're just Holstein milk-cows being transferred to a different dairy farm. With pigs, well...I think I'm pretty sure where they're headed. :-( We come to an incline and the pig hauler slows. We pass. We come to a decline and the pig hauler gains speed. It passes us again. This goes on for a few dozen miles. I'm so tired of seeing this pig hauler! We finally lose him after a construction zone! Whew! More beautiful scenery! Nothing as far as the eye can see! I want to put a house right in the middle of it! With air conditioning! We stop for gas about 120 miles from our destination. I'm still in "the zone"! I'm loving today's travels! I've had a smile on my face for every mile of it! About 50 miles from our Hotel, I look in my rear view mirror....OH NO! The pig hauler!!!!! I thought we lost him for good! He passes us yet again and I notice about 4 or 5 snouts sticking out from the holes in the side....like dogs in a car. Makes me sad again. Luckily we only did the you-pass-me, I-pass-you game one more time before our hotel exit! When we pull into the Hampton Inn lot, I mention to Tom my thoughts on Pig haulers vs Cow haulers. He said he just imagines that the pigs are going to a 4H farm. That's pretty cool! But don't 4H pigs eventually meet the same demise? Baaahhhh! Enough pig-talk! The day was awesome! In fact, it was the most perfect day in the history of motorcycling! Hahaha!!! We're here for the night in Richfield, Utah. Tomorrow....VEGAS!!! We get to see our pals Bob & Cathy and my brother Steve! I haven't seen Steve in 3 years! I'm so excited!