Paonia 2

Well I see I made a couple of mistakes in my last post. That is what comes of being so tired. Will fix.
I am presently in Brandon Manitoba in a lovely motel but back to the rally. I arrived and got set up with all my friends and got the lay of the land. One is, in the middle of the town park which is ringed by motorcycles. Unfortunately this does create a bit of an issue as most of the towns people enjoy having us there but some of the town hooligans take it as an opportunity to steal things. However the rally was indeed a success with 387 present. I went for a ride up to Grand Mesa by myself and you are also very close to Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Following are a few pictures of the ride.

Here is Joe with his bike. Tent are all in the park behind.

My friends Jan and Stephanie Messersmit from Cove Oregon. Amazing how one forms friendships and we all keep popping up at the same rallies.

Waiting for the closing ceremonies to begin but back to my ride to Grand Mesa.

Some of the bikes ringing the park. And now on to the trip.

Looking up. It is good to look up once in awhile.

This was the tree out the front door of my tent.

On the way up to Grand Mesa. Every little lake had someone fishing in it.

Here is my bike enjoying the view.

There was a series of lakes from the Grand Mesa visitor centre and I stopped at a little bbq store café and had lunch.

 

But this moose on the door is what made me stop in

Then I started back down taking a few pictures of the vistas that presented themselves.

 

Stopped at this spot to get a picture of a Great Blue Heron that was standing here but he took one look at me and flew away before I could get a picture.

I stopped for a pretzel at this charming place and met Lisa the owner.

As I was returning to Paonia I passed this wonderful old church so I took a picture.

For the most part I ate my meals at the campsite to support the people who were putting on this event. But one day I walked uptown and had Walleye at The Hometown Café. It was very good. The scouts were going around selling baking at the tents and I was able to purchase a Colorado Council patch for my campfire blanket. Great way for the youth to make some money. The high school did the breakfasts and the kayak club did Mexican dinners. We had a band both nights but I fell asleep listening in my tent. It was a good rally but unfortunately it had to come to an end. I could not decide who to travel to St Paul with but finally chose Dennis and Greg as they seemed to be taking the most direct route. It was indeed direct 560 miles the first day and 625 the second. Hardly any pictures Nose to the grindstone ride. Will tell you about almost being thrown in jail in the next episode.