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The shot above was taken of the wall art located in Old Colorado City. A fun place to shop and eat and not far from Manitou Springs either. This is where Josh and I met up with crew after coming back down Pikes Peak Road. The rest of the evening was spent hanging out on our balcony while enjoying the sunset and watching the deer wander through the neighborhood.

I’d like to thank everyone who made it out to attend. We had an amazing time and really hope that everyone that visited did as well. It was great seeing family and old friends especially those of the old OTI crew.

Anyway, thanks again to all those who attended. I just wish it could have lasted longer.

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The first picture is from the Black Canyon of Gunnison and the last picture is back home in the driveway. We bumped into a few people along the way home that liked Kate’s little sign taped on the back of the top case.

As for wedding pictures, well, they are being developed. We had a professional photographer come out yesterday to shoot photos but won’t have them in hand until they are fully developed in about four weeks or more.

All-in-all the trip was excellent. We could have stayed longer, of course, but all turned out well. BTW, if you ever need to have an event coordinated at the Chipeta Sun Lodge, talk to Jessica Bresett. She did an outstanding job. I would also recommend the Chipeta Sun Lodge as a great place to stay. Will definitely be thinking about returning some day.

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The last of the pictures are views of old mines and ghost towns as we wound down the base of the mountain and back into the little town of Ouray.

A couple of notes. We started the tour around 9am and got back into town around 1pm. Kate had done a tour like this before, but for me this was the first time. I enjoyed it but couldn’t help but think how I could ride the motorcycle up this road. I think that if I dropped a bunch of weight, thew on some knobby tires, I could maybe do it. Maybe. Of course, I’m not sure Kate would ride with me if I did that. Oh, and for those interested in taking a tour over the mountains into Telliride, there are two main routes and they take all day to do. From what I understand, those tours are only for the most adventurous.

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We didn’t take a lot of photos as we were enjoying the ride too much. As you view the photos, pay attention to the footer notes as they will help explain where we were (roughly). BTW, more photos of Molas Pass (where Kate and I are relaxing in the picture above) can be found here.

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There are a couple of interesting things to note about the Chimney Rock area. The first is that it is part of the Chaco Culture that makes up part of lower Colorado and Northern New Mexico. It was a major trading route that existed around 1000A.D. We learned that when standing from the top of the Chimney Rock area, you can see a plateau about 60 miles to the South. Apparently, back in the day, you could light signal fires from Chimney Rock to that plateau. The plateau could then be used to signal the Chaco Culture even further to the South. Makes me wish I could have spent more time camping at the Chaco Culture earlier this year. I plan to return.

The other interesting thing to note is that during that day in age, the people of this period would have witnessed a few major events. One is the explosion of the Sunset Volcano (now known as Sunset Crater in Northern Arizona), the other is Haley’s Comet, and the last is the bright light of the Crab Nebula super nova (if I have my facts right) which lasted for many days (even in sunlight). Pretty cool time to be alive despite that you started having a family at roughly the age of 12 and were probably dead by 25 or 30 due to tuberculous.

I mentioned that we camped in the Ute Campgrounds just up the road at the start of this post. Not a bad area with plenty of trees. My only complaint is that it is not far from the road so you do get some traffic noise. It was convenient though and, in this case, worth it.

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I had always wanted visit this area but never had the chance until now. Treasure Falls, is located just a few miles North of Pagosa Springs, CO.

This post was composed with the WordPress app on my iPhone. Too bad I can’t mashup the Here I Am app with this one.

More pictures soon.

Well, the time has finally arrived to get married. The motorcycle is packed and we are ready to hit the road in the morning. I’ll be posting updates on this site when apt. Otherwise, I’ll be Twittering as usual.

More from the road!

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The second day started by meeting at the home of the party leaders for brunch and to form into groups — named after suits of cards: 10s, Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Aces — for the Pokenger Runt, a mixture of a scavenger hunt and a poker run. The game consisted of finding information about various bridges in Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs, and it was a lot of fun and a great way to explore the city. We ended up in the Jacks team and our leader, Jim, knew how to have a good time, which is to say that one should stop at the local tavern for a drink while out hunting. Hey, one gets thirsty while out in the sun!

The following pictures are from today’s journey through the city:

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In order to win at Pokenger, you had to answer questions and even write essays. Yes, essays! Luckily, we had a talented and sexy writer in the group. Then once we got back to home base, you picked a card for each right answer — with bonus questions that allowed you to switch out one card for another — to create a winning poker hand. We ended up with two pairs (as shown above), king high. We thought we had it but the Aces team beat us out with three-of-a-kind.

We left for the evening just as they were doing a slow race, where one drives as slow as possible in order to cross the finish line last and win the race. Quite entertaining as one has to wiggle and use just enough throttle in order to not fall over.

Man, what a strange and wonderful group the Peak SC pulls together! We’ll be back tomorrow.

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Here are a couple panoramic pictures from the area while riding through:

The pictures above don’t really do justice to the area so I guess I’ll have to go back again. If anyone is up for riding/camping in that area, let me know. BTW, here are several pictures of the Great Sand Dunes from a previous adventure there.

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While these photos are from the summit, I passed the park entrance as I headed further North on Highway 160 and it appeared the ski lifts were still in operation.

A word of caution to fellow bikers, there is a snow shed just past the summit on the Northern side of Wolf Creek Pass. It was built to allow snow melt to run over the shed instead of the highway. The only problem is that water still gets inside the shed where there is no sun. The shed comes up quickly and with very little warning so be careful because if you start to slip on ice you will be sliding into oncoming traffic due to the way the road bends inside the shed.

The following are pictures from the campsite and surrounding area including a short hike up the Sunset Trail which, as the name suggests, should really be done at sunset instead of sunrise:

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The last pictures in the series above show a bit of what the road is like leading out of the historic park to Highway 550.

I really would have liked to have spent more time at this park but I was only passing through and barely scratched the surface. Besides the hiking and many trails found here there are also many ancient dwellings worth checking out:

• Pueblo Bonito
• Una Vida
• Penasco Blanco
• Hungo Pavi
• Chetro Keti
• Pueblo Alto

Check out the Park Photo Gallery to see more of what I mean. This is definitely a great place to visit for those looking for a back-country adventure.