Sipapu and ride

I arrived at the rally and was greeted by Dennis a friend from Nakusp. Registration was closed so I set up close to where I was last year. I had had a bite to eat in Taos so just walked around after reaquainting myself with the place and meeting new friends. None of the vendors were set up yet. The next morning I went on a 133 mile loop to see some of the area as last year it had rained and I never saw anything. So I went to Angelfire and down to the Rio grande Gorge and Dixon and then back through Penasco.

 

The next scenes are from the Rio Grande Gorge visitors centre and at Dixon I stopped at this great mexican restaurant named Zuly's for lunch.

On my return I found there were a lot more bikes and people who had arrived. That evening we had green chili stew which was very good and plenty for dinner. The Watermelon Jug Band entertained and were delightful as always but as they completed their performance it started to rain. One of the few small showers I encountered on the trip. Once I turned in it did rain in earnest but not for long. The next day though overcast was dry. I had breakfast here and visited with some delightful people I had met. I made a point of going to Paul and Voni Glaves talk about a million miles on a BMW. As always it was entertaining and they had not made it to Nakusp because Paul got pneumonia due to the forest fire smoke in Montana so they had to leave the bikes and journey home to recuperate. On the way to Sipapu they took the truck and trailer and were trailering their bikes home.

This is Voni giving her talk.

This is Eamon, Mr Adventure. Quite a character. I was challenged not to take a picture of his bike. It is not even a BMW.

These 2 Triumph sidecar units stopped by and I thought they looked very cool. Saturday I rode into Taos for lunch and to fuel up so as to be ready for my journey the next day. In Taos I am always taken with the architecture as everything..MacDonalds..Ace Hardware, everything is done in adobe style. I took the following 2 pictures to capture that concept but unfortunately they are not the best.

On returning to the ski area. I took the following pictures to give everyone an idea of the parking lot and the diverity of people enjoying this rally.

And last but not least. A photo of Voni with the one, the only, EVIL KNIEVAL????

And so ends the rally at Sipapu. I won for long distance again and got an Ultimate door prize from Bob's BMW in Maryland consisting of a Bob's T-shirt and cap and certificate for 10% off parts for a year. My favorite BOB got the t-shirt and hat . And so ends this portion of my Blog will start a new one as I say farewell to Sipapu and carry on on this adventure.

Nelson to Sipapu

Tues  morning I headed out. I went to Salmo, BC and then on south through the border into Washington at Selway. I saw a couple of deer along the route and as I crossed into Washington I saw a mother moose and her calf on the far side of a small lake. It was incredibly beautiful the whole way.

Along the Pend Orielle river I stopped to take this picture and then I also stopped at Albeni Falls dam. I fueled up in Couer d'Alene and got onto I 90 and traveled pretty steady to Missoula. At Missoula I fueled up and then oiled my chain and for some reason decided to check the play. It was so loose and sloppy that I called Big Sky BMW and although it was late they said come on over and they would adjust it..Welll when I got there, there was actually a keeper on one of the main links missing and the chain was no good at all. But they had a new one in stock and had me back on the road in 30 minutes. Because I wanted to get as far as I could each day I carried on to Rocker (Butte) and checked into the Motel 6. As I stopped to rest my butt before Butte...I took these photos.

These wild sunflowers were prolific in the ditches but it seemed like everytime I stopped to take a picture there were none there. However I did get some great pictures of them in Fort Apache which you will see in later posts. The next day I traveled steady only stopping for fuel and food. The problem is this bike gets 240 miles before needing fuel and I only have a conditioned 120 mile butt.
Actually it is very comfortable. I stopped in Hardin Montana for breakfast/lunch and parked next to these bikes. Pretty nice. It was a father and sons who were taking their dad on a road trip for his birthday.

 

 

 

It seems like I rode and rode and rode but I did not even make Cheyenne, Wyoming and it was starting to get dark so I pulled into Wheatland, Wyoming a Motel 6. It was at a convenient exit with an Arby's next door. The next morning I got going fairly early but thinking there was no way I was going to reach Sipapu by evening. As I entered Colorado I stopped at this lovely tourist information place.I bought one of the few souvenirs of the trip here...a gorgeous Colorado T shirt...

 

 I got through Denver very quickly and then stopped at a pullout in Colorado Springs and took the following group of pictures. One of them is of a plane pulling a glider.
It reminded me of my father. He used to do this in Olds. Towing the glider up to a good altitude and then there was a release on the tow rope and they glided freely catching the updrafts before landing.

Once south of Colorado Springs I saw a sign which said Walsenburg 43 miles. At that point because it was still early I knew I was going to make it to Sipapu. And make it I did. Stopping and taking this last group of pictures just north of Taos and south of Fort Garland.

Okay I will finish this episode here and continue with the rally at Sipapu and my ride around the surrounding area.

Finishing Nelson and on

Well I had difficulty doing much on my Blog while on my trip.internet connections,,downloading pictures and just plain tired so lets see how far I can get before screwing up dramatically. I covered a lot of ground and met a lot of people and had a lot of fun. I left off with(and a lot more bikers on the ferry)so find it fitting to start there with pictures.

There is Annie down there saying Hi! Once Peter arrived we 3 muskeeers walked down to the Prestige Resort to see if anyone knew what was going on and had dinner. As always I was impressed by the flowers.

Noone was about so we headed up to bed and the next morning I called Jim and found out there was not a lot to do so after breakfast we headed up to Ainsworth Hot Springs and a dip in the pool and then to Kaslo for an ice cream agreeing to meet Jim back at the Prestige around 4. We had met 2 new folks..Stan and Peggy King who joined us for the ride. In Kaslo I met my good friend Penny Nord from Arlee Montana on her BMW. What a small world.

On the way back I insisted on getting a picture of the house that was once a ship. Between Balfour and Nelson and I also got a picture of Stan and Peggy. Then back at Nelson we met with Jim and the Staff at the Prestige only to find some of the participants had rolled in already. So we offered to help put the sign up and went on a trolley ride.

The trolley ride in Nelson takes you down past the waterfront to the bridge and then back to the Prestige. It is a really neat ride.

Yes that is a pirate ship out on the lake. We finally got the sign up on our return and some of the participants had already rolled in but could not register til the next day. That evening we walked uptown for dinner when who should we bump into but John and Dorothy Wetherell so we enjoyed good food and good company before turning in.

 We were back at the Prestige bright and early the next day and greeted the Riders and stamped passorts for   14 hours and it was a very tired and hungry trio that finally trudged up the hill for food and sleep.Because not all volunteers got a banquet ticket I opted out and decided to leave for Sipapu the next morning. So that will be my next story.

Calgary to Nelson Part 2

Nelson, BC

The next journey begins. With the leaves starting to turn from green to gold there is definitely a nip in the air.It was cool as I left Calgary to meet Peter at Aldersyde Petrocan at 8:30 and me miscommunicating to him as usual..I told him 9:30 but we had to meet Annie at the Frank Gas Plus at 10:30. So I started from Aldersyde at 8:50. Met Annie at Frank at 10:50 and together we headed out arriving at the campsite and Peter showed up around 6.

This is the old fire hall in Moyie as Annie and I stopped at the Moyie Pub for some grub.

It was good and a very quaint, oldfashioned place. We decided to take the ferry and in doing so I met this lovely couple from Cranbrook. Scott and Denise.

And of course a lot of other bikers.