Road Trip!

Leaving the Queen

In Cortez Colorado FINALLY!

Leaving Cortez the next morning

So we finally decided to do it! We took at 1084 mile

road trip on the motorcycle. We left out on Monday

morning and headed out through St. Johns, onto

Zuni, up to Gallup and then to Shiprock. In Gallup

we ate lunch at a little place called "Jerry's" that

I found on Trip Advisor - it was great! That leg of

83 miles from Gallup to Shiprock seemed like 283! It

was hot and windy and the dead reservation. Whew!

We were so glad to finally get to Cortez another 45 miles

past Shiprock where we spent the first night in the

smallest hotel room we have ever had! I made reservations

on hotwire and it was a Days Inn. Super small room!

But we didn't care - we were pretty tired.

The next day was an absolutely gorgeous ride from Cortez

Colorado to Ouray Colorado. It is only about 125 miles

so a short day but the roads are super winding so it takes

a bit longer but it was so nice. It was cool and beautiful

and just great! We stopped at "Stoner Ranch" in Stoner,

Colorado - a little stop in the road literally. For those of

you who may not know - Stoner is my maiden name.

From there we went to Telluride and had lunch at another

Trip Advisor recommendation which was good again.

Telluride is gorgeous and we saw the home that Tom

Cruise once owned. The ride from Telluride to Ouray

is again spectacular. I have always loved Ouray and

wanted so badly to finally stay there -so our next night

was planned for here. Unfortunately I wasn't able to

get reservations at the hotel I wanted so we ended up just

stopping in and getting one - wow - they do not need

good deals in Ouray because it is so touristy - we paid

a fortune for a Best Western but it was clean and nice

and had a real hot springs pool right at the hotel that

we got to try out. The next day on the way from

Ouray to Santa Fe New Mexico I talked Chris into

stopping at Purgatory and riding the Alpine Slide. We did

this with the boys when we took them about 16 years ago.

We were surely the only people there in long sleeve dark

shirts, jeans and boots - but we had a ball - it brought

back great memories.

We found a nice little mexican place in Pagosa Springs for

lunch and then into Santa Fe. I had never been to Santa

Fe and there is alot of history here - it dates back to about

1620. I got a great hotel here on hotwire that was in the

plaza and therefore walking distance to everything. We

had dinner there that night and walked around the plaza.

We were having so much fun that we decided to extend

our trip a night and not go home on Thursday as planned,

instead we got a Priceline room in Albuquerque for the

next night. So on Thursday morning we had some extra

time and took a trolley ride through Santa Fe that told

alot about the history - we had a great time. Then on to

the short 50 mile or so ride into Albuquerque - because

we got there early we had time for dinner and a movie

that night. The next day was the ride home. About 285

miles to Show Low through Soccorro. The ride from

Socorro home was really nice - we got a little bit of rain

a couple of times but it was nice and helped keep us cool.

We had lunch at a favorite biker place in Quemado and

then on home over the mountain from Springerville. We

realized on the trip past Sunrise that with the exception

of parts of Colorado, we have as beautiful a place as any

we visited right here at home! We feel fortunate to live

in such a beautiful area and we loved getting out and seeing

more of our wonderful country! What a great trip.

I am learning the pros of being a biker chick is that you just

can't worry about your hair - I had a hat on the whole time

and getting ready in the morning is sure speedy!