The Bumblebee and the Vespa 2014

I think it's time for me to redefine what this new blog is about. In the past I've posted individual blogs for motorcycle/motor scooter rides to places like Alaska, Nova Scotia, Key West, Mexico, Canada, New York, etc. That's all well and good but it seems nowadays I'm dividing my rides into shorter ones comprised of two or more weeks each on different bikes. The total time and mileage is about the same, it's just split into multiple rides with a break somewhere in the middle.

The summer of 2014 serves as a good example of that wherein I rode south to Tombstone, AZ on my '92 BMW R100GS Bumblebee/Ural sidecar rig, (phew!) then returned home for a few days and set out again on my '07 Vespa 250ie motor scooter to visit Canada. That summer has gone and the seasons have changed as will the reports, some will be about shorter rides, some will be about maintenance, and maybe on occasion I'll post a photo or two just for interest. I may even introduce other bikes, a few of which are lurking under cover in the barn...

Navigating this blog is easy, just scroll down the list of posts by date to whatever interests you, click on it and you're in. Photos can be viewed in larger format by clicking on them.

Finally, if you'd care to post comments please do so, I'd love to hear from you. CLICK ON "NO COMMENTS" TO ENTER YOUR REMARKS. That seems really silly but that's how it works. The entry window is located at the bottom of each screen. Thanks for visiting, I hope you enjoy your stay.

LL

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Jul 02 - Day 09 Bumblebee - Georgetown, CO

Longish day today or so it seemed. Woke up this morning to discover it had rained and a large pool of water had accumulated in the middle of BB's cover. Good thing I'd secured it with bungees, otherwise I'd have had a soaked seat. I hate wet butts early in the morning. Without any real idea of where I wanted to go next I headed north towards Cheyenne but after a few miles shifted towards Denver. I like riding with me, I never know where the voices will tell me to go...

The rain continued for most of the morning with only a couple of short breaks and I was glad I'd worn the rain gear. I didn't bother to stop for many pics, there's not much worth looking at through a wet lens. Finally I broke out of the nastiness into sunshine when I got closer to Denver. That was just in time to participate in the largest traffic jam/construction delay I've seen outside of LA. It got pretty warm and the traffic was barely moving, mostly at walking speed which is a bugger on your clutch hand. It took nearly two hours to move just a few miles after which I decided to find a place to crash. Georgetown is a small skiing resort located right along the freeway in the mountains and I was happy to find it.

After checking into the first motel I came to I cruised around till I spotted a restaurant with cars in front of it. Restaurants without cars in front during dinner time I pass on. Also places with names like "Mom's" or "Truckers Welcome". Also "Good Eats" tends to spook me. The place I chose was catering to the outdoorsy crowd, hikers, poseurs, all of whom seemed to be engaged in lively conversations about their outfits, etc. Snore. But the food looked good and the beer was cold so I sat outside on the patio where I scarfed down a dinner of Caesar Salad, Tortilla soup, and Guinness.

The highlight of the meal was making friends with a big yellow Lab hanging out with his owner a few tables away. Yellow Labs are some of the best people you'll ever meet and I was glad to make his acquaintance.

Outside I encountered a young guy with his wife & kids taking pics of BB. He looked a bit embarrassed when I approached and started to apologize for some reason. I could see that if his kids were bouncing up and down on the hack but they weren't so maybe he was just caught out by my appearance? Who knows these things? Anyway I told him lots of people take pics of the rig and that seemed to make him relax. Also re-holstering my .44 mag probably helped a bit. [ Hey, just kidding, I wanted to see if you were paying attention.]

Anyway that's it for today's wonderful entry, here's the pics:

Rainy days make me pissy

Stopped at the Trinidad view sight. Nice. Wet.

Read this and you'll know more about Trinidad than me. Lots more.

More scenic wonder - This time it's about coal, that nasty black stuff.

Notice the pretty rain clouds?

Here's the scoop on the two preceding  pics. 

Evidently building railroads up mountain sides is difficult. We all need to understand that in case we decide to build one ourselves. Pics & shovels, that sort of stuff is likely needed. And helpers, get lots of helpers.  



This was the monumental traffic jam. Rats! Bugger All!
Done deal, I'm gonna watch the tube, send a couple of emails and get horizontal. 353 miles today.

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