Back Out On The Highway

Day 23: Pagosa Springs, CO to Silverton, CO

Day 23
August 26, 2010
Pagosa Springs, CO to Silverton, CO – 108 Miles

A not so early start to a beautiful day! Of course there was no hurry, since Silverton was so close.

Made Durango by lunch and after a slow loop through downtown, stopped at the Strater Hotel for lunch. They strive for a bit of the “old-west” atmosphere and serve good grub.

Photos from the road from Durango to Silverton:

And as I round the last turn before the vista that overlooks Sliverton, I spy these two! When I stopped, one asked if I wanted a photo taken and we ended up hanging out for a half hour or so. Turns out they are brothers from Texas and they trailer their bikes up out of the heat every year and spend a week or two touring the Rockies. And this vista is one of their favorites as well.

The pic one of them took:

And the view of Silverton – the white tent in the lower right corner, as I was later to find out, was set up for a Horizons Unlimited rally.

I found a hotel, checked in, and went in search of a laundry and a place for dinner.

Day 22: Tucumcari, MN to Pagosa Springs, CO

Day 22
August 26, 2010
Tucumcari, MN to Pagosa Springs, CO: 331 Miles

An early start got me into Northern New Mexico where you can at least see the mountains.

Back on sightseeing mode, I took Hwy 68 north to Taos and then across the Rio Grande Gorge on Hwy 64.

I successfully, through no direct fault of my own, dodged the rain again all the way through the National Forrest on 64.

I guess I got in too big a hurry, because I finally caught up with the rain and experienced about 10 minutes of downpour right around the turn at Chama. The storm was moving east, so if I had been about 10 minutes later I would have missed that too. Oh well, the raingear would have been disappointed not to have gotten used.

Too late to make it all the way to Durango, I stopped in Pagosa Springs.

Day 21: Clinton, OK to Tucumcari, NM

Day 21
August 25, 2010
Clinton, OK to Tucumcari, NM: 285 Miles

Another half-day of work and half day of riding got me to Tucumcari. I saw a lot of this:

And arrived at camp just in time for moonrise, which my iPhone camera couldn’t quite capture.

How civilized, this campsite even had electricity!

Day 20: Tulsa, OK to Clinton, OK

Day 20
August 24, 2010
Tulsa, OK to Clinton, OK: 192 Miles

I spent the first half of the day working and watching a massive thunderstorm roll through. Headed out of Tulsa around noon as it was clearing off and having been warned of the construction on turnpike, chose the old Route 66 to Oklahoma City and then I-40 as far as Clinton.

Route 66 reminded me of most two-lane highways with one major exception: almost no traffic. And most of 40 looked about like this:

Other photo

Time to head back to my mountains!

Day 19: Russellville, AR to Tulsa, OK

Day 19
August 23, 2010
Russellville, AR to Tulsa, OK: 199 Miles

An early start put me into Alma, AR by 9AM to set up shop in a local restaurant in time to complete some deliverables and run a 10 AM meeting. Then all email broke loose and I didn’t get things wrapped until 3 PM. Tulsa was in striking distance, so I called up my college roommate to see if he wanted to grab a beer after work. He did of course (he was, after all, my college roommate) and not only took me to his favorite brewpub in Tulsa, McNellie’s, but put me up in the new guest room as well. Thanks Keith & Shelly-it was great to catch up!