russell_bynum Posted August 16, 2002 Share Posted August 16, 2002 Part 1 , Part 2 , and Part 3 We slept in. I don't remember when we got up, but we did sleep in. As we were loading the bike, we discovered that the bottle of final drive oil that was in the right sidecase had leaked. It leaked out of the bottle, then it leaked out of the ziplock bag that it was in so that in case it leaked, it wouldn't leak. Anyway, there was a bit of oil in the bag, and a little bit had gotten on the back of my Kilimanjaro Jacket and the Heat Troller for the Gerbings as well. We pulled it all out and started washing. Handsoap worked fairly well. It did take quite a while to get it all out of the bag...all the nooks and crannies collected the oil. By the way...that stuff STINKS! Anyway, we got everything cleaned up and repacked. We headed out towards Crawford on 92. 92 is a great mountain road that winds it's way out of Paonia, across a high plain and into the town of Crawford. We easily found the Mad Dog Ranch...it's the place with all the RT's out front, and pulled in for breakfast. We had the buffett. Honesly, I wasn't impressed. Things seemed a bit picked over. Then again, we WERE arriving after Big Mak. After breakfast, we rolled out with Denny and Rick bound for Gunnison. We followed Denny for a while, but got tired of the burning rubber smell. He had just installed a set of peg lowering doohickeys on his RS and now he was dragging his boot on way too many turns. We made a pass, then started up the hill. We had been warned that many of the turns had gravel at the apex...that information was correct, and we stepped our speed down appropirately to match. We snaked our way along the rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River...STEEP walls. GREEN trees. BLACK rocks. BLUE sky. Real Colorado stuff. Beautiful We stopped for quite a while at the overlook and took roughly six million pictures. Then we saddled up and headed down the hill. Across the lake, and onto US-50. The road carved its way along the Gunnison and eventually into...you guessed it...Gunnison. We headed straight for the Ramada and checked it. We arrived about 6 seconds behind Gleno, so we had to wait 35 minutes while he applied his charm on the lady behind the check-in desk...it's a wonder they didn't kick us out of town right then and there. We checked in (the lady really was delightful), then changed into our "street clothes"...fresh T-shirts and our Microfiber Pants from REI. Then we headed back over to the KOA to do the meet and greet. You know...I'll never remember who showed up when and what happened, but I'll mention a few things that stuck out in my head: Yeehaa! Stephen and his Texas-sized grin really are larger than life. Kathy R (Paper Butt) has the most infectuously happy personality...you can't help but get swept up. Tom Roe's hugs are among the best in the world. Dick and Laney made a great entrance...with Sock Monkey's help, of course. Jake...great guy. When a new bike rolls in, everyone clusters around them to say their Hellos. Tom Roe's big welcome hug was twice as good as I remembered it. The air was thick with excitement. New friends. Old friends. Lots of possibilities. We set out with a small group bound for the local A&W to grab some dinner. Among our group was Kris, Gleno, Sean and Shelly, Dick, Laney, Sock Monkey, Brian and Meghan, Daryll, Mitchell (Joe Frickin' Friday), and Roadkill. I think other people filtered in and out. If I've left anyone out, please let me know...it's not intentional. Dinner was great. We talked about everything from Sean's packing system to tires, to Sock Monkey's latest escapades. Gleno and Roadkill heard that the *'s Angel's had a merchandise booth setup, so they took off to go buy HA T-shirts. Eventually, we finished up and cruised back to the KOA to finish off the evening with lip-flapping. Eventually, we faded back to the hotel and drifted off to sleep. At a rest stop on the way to Gunnison Russell and Denny (D Tool) At a rest stop on the way to Gunnison The Gunnison River The Gunnison River At a rest stop on the way to Gunnison Lookout at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison The Black Canyon of the Gunnison Fasterpill rolls in with Kris is tow Russell and Kathy model their stylish REI pants for Jim Registration David (recourses) arrives Kathy's bike Friends, new and old Tom Roe at registration Cary and Kris OldRider gives a talk about hair styles Johnathan Marty, Laney, Kathy Laney and Kathy...a giggly reunion Laney and her Toyota MR2 Spyder RT's as far as the eye can see Gleno and Sock Monkey Shelly and Meghan Link to comment
90%angel Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 This day was really fun. Sleeping in is always a treat, and taking it easy was nice too (allows me to get better pictures than when we are zooming through turns at 80!) It was great hanging out with Denny and Rick. Two very quality guys! Mad Dog Ranch was pretty good. I forgot to get my bandanna though, so Laney was kind enough to pick one up for me when she went there the next day! Thanks Laney! Getting to Gunnision and finally arriving at the KOA, and seeing all you beautiful people was a real kick! I was so thrilled to meet all of you and see friends again! The dinner at the A&W was a memory I'll take with me for life! So much fun! Russell, you left out Connie and Dean!! They were also at the A&W, although we didn't get to know them better till our ride the next day. I'm glad we did! You also left out Kathy! How could you?!? Say it isn't so! --Lisa Link to comment
russell_bynum Posted August 19, 2002 Author Share Posted August 19, 2002 I have no idea how I left out Bigfoot littlefoot....and forgetting Kathy??? I must have really been tired when I wrote that. Link to comment
Kathy R Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 Ok...I'm having a big old emotional "I WANT TO GO BACK TO GUNNISON NOW" day!'' I loved the pictures THANKS I love you two I miss everyone I miss the mountains and those cloud formations! Cripes, eh...nah...I do not miss the HA's Link to comment
russell_bynum Posted August 19, 2002 Author Share Posted August 19, 2002 Oops...add SageRider to the A&W crowd. Sorry about that, Mike. Link to comment
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