Day Eleven: Moab, Utah, to Delta, Colorado

Sometimes it is better than you think

Today was shaping to be another downer. I did not sleep too well, despite being tired from the 3 mile/ 5 km hike yesterday. While it was not a long hike, it was uphill and it was hot so that's my story and I am sticking to it. I got up at 9, took a shower and went downstairs to get some breakfast. I had some coffee, a waffle and some cereal with yogurt. Then I went up to my room and began getting things ready. By now I have it down nicely, so it did not take me long to get the bags packed. I sprayed some Pledge on Blue's screen and headlights in an effort to get rid of the dead bugs. I was somewhat successful, since some bugs are now almost as hard as the plastic itself.

Not wanting to haul all my stuff downstairs by hand, I got a cart and used the elevator. There are two hard cases, one large rear pod/trunk, a tank bag, the helmet, my jacket, the camera, an extra bag that straps on the back seat and carries water, way too many things to carry by hand, although I have done it several times already.

With the bike ready and fueled, I headed out of town. There are two ways to get back to I 70: the way I came in, which is nice but nothing worth writing about, and SR 128, which goes along the Colorado River Gorge. Just as you get to the edge of town, you turn right along the river. And then the fun starts. You are immediately surrounded by tall, red, canyon walls, as the road weaves alongside the river. At places the canyon walls recede and the stage opens into grandiose views or sky high mesas, snow caped backdrop mountains, green meadows. It is a fantastic ride and far more impressive than what I was expecting. This goes on for 15 miles and the views are simply fantastic.

Blue and I under the Great Blue Sky

Then you are out of the gorge and the landscape opens up like a book laid flat open. On the side of a lonely road I saw some sort of four legged goat/deer thingy, with large, curled back horns. He was as surprised as I was, and I made a point from then on to go slower, you never know what else might pop up out of nowhere.

A quick stop in Frutia, Colorado, for some coffee, then another hour on the road, through Grand Junction and down on to Delta, a place I had never heard off and my first stop that is just that, a stop.

From the outside edge, Delta appears as a small town, nondescript, with a river running across the main highway. I follow the GPS to the Riverwood Inn, but I see a sign that says " Riverwood Motel and RV, some RVs parked in a small cluster f trees, a river that runs right behind the main office, and a gravel driveway. Blue does not like the gravel, which is deep and loose. I park in front of the office, which turns out to be the motel part as well. It is a long track home sort of building, with a nice little lobby, a fireplace and a hallway that leads down to the 10 or so rooms that make up the motel. The young attendant is nice, tells me I can park my bike around the building, since " people like

to see their bikes". I get Blue around the gravel yard and park by a tree, not 50 yards from where the river flows. The room is nice and everything is very clean and neat. Nothing fancy, but the AC works, there is plenty of hot water (even if it takes 5 minutes for it to flow) and sitting here on the bed I can see the Gunnison river flowing by while the wind stirs hand fulls of cottonwood, falling like snow . It is peaceful and different and I welcome not having anything yo do for the rest of the day, no wonders to see, no photos to take. A long shower, some coffee and downtime. This was a good ride after all.

I spend the rest of the afternoon resting and updating my blog. The weather is warm and windy, with heavy dark clouds above. now and then sudden gusts of wind wake up the cottonwood trees, which unleash another fuzzy snow storm.

I ride into town in search of an Italian restaurant I saw online. The town, aligned along its main street, which is Highway 50, is a pretty,  tree lined town, with buildings hearkening back to the 30s and 40s, and well preserved, small stores, all close at this time of the evening, but which speak of a quiet, old style community.

I find the place, Davetos Italian Restaurant. It looks like it was remodeled not long time ago, with Italian scenes painted on the walls. It is a cozy, family oriented place with a touch of class. The place is not busy, this being a week day I imagine. The waitress comes over and I order some pasta and a glass of wine. The food is ok, the service is very good. I eat quietly looking at Blue, which looks funny parked outside without her saddle bags.

Tomorrow we tackle the mountains and the Million Dollar Highway.

Below is one of the videos I took while ridding down 128. This is raw footage, since I do not have the means to edit video right not. Don't get car sick now!