Start-Colorado Springs
End-Dinosaur National Monument
Today's Miles: 394
Total Miles 394
Passed through: Breckinridge, CO, Keystone, CO, Steamboat Springs, CO
Marriage Status: Good and Steady
Notes for today: I have to say that the start of our trip went swimmingly. We had beautiful sunny weather all day. The view going through the locations I listed above were amazing! Plus we had no major issues with the bikes.
We left Colorado Springs around 6:30 AM and arrived at Dinosaur National Monument around 5:00 PM. We stopped for lunch in Steamboat Springs and ate at a place called Freshes which had really good green chili chicken soup. After that things got a bit more rocky.
After lunch we pretty much left the high mountains and the last 160 miles of the day were on a VERY STRAIGHT AND WINDY ROAD! For those of you that have driven through the state of Kansas it was much like that, but on a motorcycle. For those of you that don't ride motorcycles, riding on a road like this is like being really bored but at the same time feeling like the hand of God is bitch slapping you left and right. It could also be equated to a boxing match (Wind V. Paige), and you are constantly trying to counter punch while your opponent is clearly still kicking your ass. It's pretty exhausting, so I was really thankful it was the last part of the day's ride.
Finally we reached our destination, and are staying in a campground in the park near a river. While this sounds nice it is horribly mosquito infested. Currently as I write this Tomme and I are taking refuge inside the tent because we fear the outside will eat us alive (our bug spray was not much help, we have already been fairly devoured). We did cook ourselves an excellent meal tonight with our Jetboil camping stove. We made beef stroganoff and cornbread, and not from the pre-made freeze dried packages you get from the camping store. Instead we made use of a book we purchased for this trip called, Backpackers Guide to Backcountry Cooking by Backpackers Magazine. Both dishes turned out awesome, and we are pretty excited about the prospect of being able to "bake" stuff in our camping stove. Before we turn in we are going to take advantage of an astronomy session being done by the park at our campground. They told us that if the clouds clear we may be able to see the rings of Saturn.
So that wraps up the first day. So far so good minus the wind, mosquitos, and the fact that while writing this I spilled red wine on my sleeping bag and licked it off instead of braving the mosquitos outside to get a towel, and oh yeah the fear that I may have broken the campground toleit. After I pressed the manual flush button it preceded to flush 4 separate times by itself while I washed my hands.
Mediocre tip #3- If you are riding your motorcycle a long distance and it does not have a touring size windshield, do not tell yourself "I don't need it, we don't have the money anyway, I'll be fine". Freaking find the money to buy one or stay home. This tip I learned the hard way.
Mediocre tip #4- If you are going to be camping for an extended period of time, and don't just want to eat instant oatmeal and red beans and rice the entire time, buy Backpackers Guide to Backcountry Cooking by Backpackers Magazine (no I am not being paid to say that).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Dinosaur National Monument
First off, I thought that said you were going to an astrology session. And I was thinking why would a campground have that, and then wondering if you found out how compatible aries & leo are supposed to be...since you are testing your marriage after all :)
ReplyDeleteAnd second, I am not at ALL surprised by the comment about you licking the wine off your sleeping bag.
Angela
That's hilarious. No. Astronomy. Secondly I would hope you would be at least a little surprised. It was because of the mosquitos, I promise.
ReplyDelete