{"id":15354,"date":"2014-09-25T15:44:52","date_gmt":"2014-09-25T22:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/?p=15354"},"modified":"2014-09-25T15:44:52","modified_gmt":"2014-09-25T22:44:52","slug":"mini-gypsy-tour-ii-photoblog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/?p=15354","title":{"rendered":"Mini-Gypsy Tour II Photoblog"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Wednesday to Wednesday, September 17 to 24, 2014. Here&#8217;s the itinerary:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Day 1: Tucson AZ to Las Vegas NV<\/li>\n<li>Day 2: Chillin&#8217; in Vegas<\/li>\n<li>Day 3: Las Vegas NV to Moab UT<\/li>\n<li>Day 4: Moab UT to Ouray CO<\/li>\n<li>Day 5: SW CO (Ouray\/Silverton\/Durango)<\/li>\n<li>Day 6: Ouray CO to Cedar City UT<\/li>\n<li>Day 7: Cedar City UT to Las Vegas NV<\/li>\n<li>Day 8: Las Vegas NV to Tucson AZ<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I had\u00a0three objectives\u00a0for this mini-Gypsy tour: to explore the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado, to visit my friends Bruce &amp; Tamara in Ouray, to spend a few days on the road with my son Gregory. Objectives\u00a0achieved and then some, especially the third, the time I got to spend with Greg, a great riding companion.<\/p>\n<p>As you can see from a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/?p=15333\">previous entr<\/a>y, the weather forecasters feared\u00a0Hurricane Odile would\u00a0be a repeat of Hurricane Norbert\u00a0and warned\u00a0of huge and potentially road-closing rains on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. Based on that forecast I decided to trailer my motorcycle to Las Vegas and start the riding portion of the trip from there. The first and last days of the trip, then, were on four wheels (six if you count the trailer).<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a title=\"image by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15348651411\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3897\/15348651411_3b4e376c3d.jpg\" alt=\"image\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Leaving Tucson on a rainy Wednesday morning<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I didn&#8217;t really need to leave Tucson until Thursday. Greg and I weren&#8217;t scheduled to ride out of Las Vegas until Friday, but since Donna was taking off on a separate trip Wednesday, I figured we might as well both clear out and leave the house to Polly, who came over from Ajo to house-sit. Because I left a day early, I had Thursday free in Las Vegas and was able to help Greg pick up his rental BMW and set it\u00a0up for the trip.<\/p>\n<p>When I left Tucson Wednesday morning, it was overcast and beginning to rain. The rain was steady as\u00a0I drove west across town\u00a0and then north toward Phoenix, but hardly\u00a0the torrent I&#8217;d been warned to expect. Halfway to Phoenix the skies cleared. Hurricane Odile was real enough (just ask the folks in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/travel\/california\/la-trb-baja-los-cabos-hurricane-odile-20140924-story.html\" target=\"_blank\">Cabo San Lucas<\/a>), but it fizzled out by the time it got to southern Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>Still, I&#8217;m glad the weather folks over-anticipated the threat and scared me into taking the\u00a0trailer. Greg needed a jacket, cold weather and rain gear, and a good helmet, all of which I had but wouldn&#8217;t have been able to stow on the\u00a0Goldwing. With the car, I had all the room in the world. The downside was a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/?p=15342\">last-minute wiring repair\u00a0job\u00a0to the trailer<\/a>, plus\u00a0some wholly unexpected repairs before beginning the homebound trip a week later\u00a0(which\u00a0I&#8217;ll get to presently).<\/p>\n<p>As I mentioned, Greg&#8217;s a fine riding companion. He was happy to take the lead leaving and re-entering the freeway chaos of\u00a0Las Vegas, and was a good wingman the rest of the way, following me through rain and clouds, right there behind me on wet and gravely roads. I hope he waits until my grandson is a little older, but some day he needs another motorcycle of his own.<\/p>\n<p>Okay, enough babbling. Here are some photos. The rest are in a Flickr album and you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/sets\/72157647958202355\/\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a> to see the lot.<br \/>\n<center><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"image by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15313968692\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3881\/15313968692_f2b2b15a8b_m.jpg\" alt=\"image\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Outward bound from Las Vegas<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<td>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"image by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15313967702\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3895\/15313967702_e673af28de_m.jpg\" alt=\"image\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Greg in Cedar City, Utah<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"IMG_3045 by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15147480617\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2944\/15147480617_6432905aeb_m.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_3045\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Back road from Utah to Colorado<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<td>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"image by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15165098049\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3913\/15165098049_3d4dd3d131_m.jpg\" alt=\"image\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">With our host Bruce in Ouray<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"IMG_3055 by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15165009099\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2949\/15165009099_d54cea7528_m.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_3055\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Million Dollar Hwy, Red Mtn in background<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<td>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"IMG_0821 by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15165259887\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2943\/15165259887_8d65e8839a_m.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0821\" width=\"240\" height=\"160\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Our Million Dollar Hwy guide, John<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"image by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15328853046\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3900\/15328853046_bac5ea7dce_m.jpg\" alt=\"image\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Silverton, Colorado<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<td>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"IMG_0824 by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15147517557\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2942\/15147517557_cc57db5319_m.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0824\" width=\"240\" height=\"160\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Molas Pass between Silverton &amp; Durango<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"image by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15127545840\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3903\/15127545840_5cd524265c_m.jpg\" alt=\"image\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At Bruce &amp; Tamara&#8217;s in Ouray<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<td>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"image by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15127559350\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5575\/15127559350_e5c1db2e78_m.jpg\" alt=\"image\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Durango, Colorado<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"image by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15291220406\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3916\/15291220406_dbec3d0a81_m.jpg\" alt=\"image\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lunch at Handlebars, Silverton<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<td>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"IMG_3059 by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15328731176\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2950\/15328731176_f810a09cd8_m.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_3059\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Happy dogs in Silverton<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"IMG_3072 by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15147291130\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2944\/15147291130_cb10b6915d_m.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_3072\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Greg, Tamara, Bruce, me<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<td>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"image by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15160789349\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3850\/15160789349_b59acdac46_m.jpg\" alt=\"image\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Homeward bound, Nothing AZ<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\nOverall, Greg and I were incredibly lucky. We rode\u00a0through some rain in Utah\u00a0and had\u00a0to negotiate some tight hairpin turns on a freshly-graveled\u00a0mountain pass between Utah and Colorado, but otherwise? Things couldn&#8217;t have been better. We had the roads to ourselves and riding conditions were ideal. Our hosts in Ouray were fabulously accommodating, our hotels in Moab and Cedar City were first-rate, gas stations magically appeared\u00a0when our gauges hit\u00a0empty, truckus no kill us, coppus no catch us, amen.<\/p>\n<p>Oh, that other trailer trouble &#8230; when I went to put the motorcycle back on the trailer for the return drive to Tucson, this is what I found. If you don&#8217;t immediately see it, look at the three o&#8217;clock position on the tire.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a title=\"image by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15324517246\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3865\/15324517246_360a906558.jpg\" alt=\"image\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Trailer tire trouble!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That was a heart-stopper. Both trailer tires looked good before I left, but they obviously were not. The bubble probably started during my drive from Tucson to Las Vegas the week before. A trailer tire blowout with an 800+ pound motorcycle strapped\u00a0on top would have been ugly indeed, and I don&#8217;t want to know how close I came to disaster!<\/p>\n<p>Okay, one more. This is the season the aspens begin to turn color in the mountains, and I&#8217;d be remiss if I didn&#8217;t share a bit of that with you. Eat your hearts out, non-motorcyclists!<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a title=\"IMG_3068 by Paul Woodford, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/halfmind\/15165250027\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"click to view full sized image on Flickr\" src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3841\/15165250027_baf6fcc644.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_3068\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Colorful Colorado!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wednesday to Wednesday, September 17 to 24, 2014. Here&#8217;s the itinerary: Day 1: Tucson AZ to Las Vegas NV Day 2: Chillin&#8217; in Vegas Day 3: Las Vegas NV to Moab UT Day 4: Moab UT to Ouray CO Day 5: SW CO (Ouray\/Silverton\/Durango) Day 6: Ouray CO to Cedar City UT Day 7: Cedar [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2,1601],"tags":[1669,1499,1667,1670,1668],"class_list":["post-15354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-motorcycling","category-personal","category-photoblogging","tag-colorado","tag-gypsy-tour","tag-motorcycling-2","tag-mountain-roads","tag-utah"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15354"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15362,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15354\/revisions\/15362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}