Little America WY
I
got the early start I needed, 0745 back on the road. Before leaving the motel I met Stan from
Canada, then Marlene also from Canada then I met probably the oldest riding
couple in the group. I forget their
names but he must’ve been 76 and she in her early 70’s. Each was riding a new Gold Wing. She is so petite that she steadied the bike
on her toes! OK, I’m not sure about that….but
that’s what it seemed like.
The
planned route took us North on the US24 then northwest on CO62 which was full
of climbs, twisties, descents with more twisties…scary for me a little but I’m
getting better at handling these drop off cliffs.
62
took me through Aspen! Always wondered
where that was and what it looked like.
I’m so glad I never spent $$ just to go there….totally plastic for the
in crowd. But who am I?? I can barely stay up on a pair of skis.
The
route then briefly took us west on I-70 to Rifle where we took CO13 north to
Meeker then CO64 west to Rangly ultimately connecting with US40 to ride into
Vernal. I’ve wanted to visit Vernal
since last year when I discovered the neatest H-D name in Utah was “Beers
Harley” and located in Vernal. It took a
double ride-by before I found it. I
initially rode past it because I saw only the other motorcycle names. Seems the store is a multi-bike store. Regardless, I got my Harley “Beers” Tshirt J.
Out
of Vernal I experienced another great ride of climbs and twisties going up atop
some plateau. I stopped briefly at the
hard right turning point of 191 heading to Rock Springs and continuing road on
CO44 where we were supposed to head west on the CO43.
Just
as I was getting ready to leave, another biker pulled in behind me on the side
of the road. It was Marlene, whom I had
met earlier this morning at the Buena Vista motel. She said her riding buddies had taken off on
the 191 and she knew that was not the way to go. I showed her the map and my plan to ride the
530 along the west side of the Flaming Gorge for another great ride.
She
agreed wholeheartedly as it would save us about an hour of riding time. That was when her buddies double-backed from
the 191 and joined us on the 44. We
showed them the modified route and they liked it also. So all four of us headed out on a road that
allowed us to speed at 85mph! The road
was as good as an Interstate and better than some of them!
This
brought us into Green River WY where my son in law and his sister had lived at
one time. Nice quiet little town. From
there it was a fast dash to the Little America check point and get inside
before the horrendous dark cloud/storm hit.
From
here I was supposed to double back towards Green River and connect onto the 191
north to Pinedale where I had a motel reserved.
But the storm was upon us and it darkened the skies to the north east
where Pinedale was located. I had
purposely planned this additional 100 miles so that the next day I could do 600
and be positioned within 200 miles of Nelson on the last day of riding.
But
Stan and Bill encouraged me to stay put….so we were able to rent a 2 bedroom
room for three at a low cost of $40 each!
So I stayed put with the plan to get a very early start. I will need to ride 700 miles tomorrow to
reach my next reservation at Trout Creek MT.
Here’s
hoping the weather mañana is accommodating!
And
yes, Little America is just like Big America….sit in the gas station and you’ll
see Americans from all over.
C ya mañana,Gonzo
Twitter: @GonzoCrossUSA
Email: GonzoCrossUSA@gmail.com
Cell: 949-433-0761
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