Our last day of the tour starting with the Roosevelt Arch at the North entrance of the park which was built in the early 1900's thinking the park needed a grand entrance. Wasn't to honor then President Roosevelt, he happed to be vacationing there at the time of construction and did the dedication.

A stop off at Mammoth Hot Springs where Fort Yellowstone was located. The Army was tasked to bring 'civility' to the area establishing roads, medical care, policing and anti-poaching responsibilities. Did a little shopping and in this case wasn't what we bought but the Sinclair bag with the dinosaur on it that we wanted.

Last stop before leaving the park, the Grand Prismatic Spring. The vivid colours are from the microscopic organisms that not only survive in near boiling water but thrive.

 

To close out this trip, it was one we were glad we took to learn that we don't like this kind of tour (traveling with a group). The tour operator, Ride America, was just fine and did everything they said and advertised. We've now taken 3 long tours since getting the bike, the first being with a small group of 4 through Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Fe. Our issue with that was following a U-Haul truck and many times going 80 or 85 down the interstate. The second was on our own, following Route 66 from Barstow to Santa Fe, trailering the bike to a city and then riding a loop, all done at our own pace. Third was this most recent tour through Yellowstone, at times doing 60 within the park (roads are 45) and honestly felt like we flew through Yellowstone.

Having those 3 under our belt, we've concluded traveling with a group is just not for us. When we think back to the group tours, we liked the sights but did not enjoy the pace. The one we did on our own we remember with fondness and how much fun it was. We're not putting down any group tours, they are great for those who like traveling in a group with everything planned and scheduled. Being kinda, sorta retired (can choose when to work or not), we have the luxury of time and flexible when we want to spend more or less time somewhere. We really did have to go through those experiences to learn what works for us, so no regrets taking those group tours.

We've wanted to return to the Petrified Forest in Arizona which we did last year on our own. At that time, we could not do much walking but have since had surgery to fix that problem. We plan on going down next month in September, taking advantage of the cooler 70-ish deg weather.

We'll finish out this part of our TRiO/Indian adventure with our 'Christmas Card' shot for this year.

Previous Christmas Card shots from Route 66, Parts I & II

 

Having those 3 under our belt, we've concluded traveling with a group is just not for us.

Agreed. We find that a small group, ranging from 3 - 8 bikes is great. Not necessarily couples on each bike. Or, just the two of us. Small groups tend to be much more flexible. Also, it helps with finding seating at meal stops. Trying to seat a group of 10+ people can be a challenge.

A few years ago, I noticed that the hard trunk kind of limited packing. After a trip or two looking at my wife's soft bags, I decided to switch out. Now, we both use soft bags.

 

Thanks for keeping us posted, both about the conversion and your experiences with tours. Good info.

 

Here are a couple of things I learned from this trip. This was our first time traveling for several days carrying whatever we needed on on the bike. The rain suits, we learned from previous experience to always have with us, fit in the trunk rack bag. The particular model we have I could not find available so I guess no longer made.

We did make use of the trunk travel bag which worked out great. Holds a lot of stuff and makes it easy to bring the whole thing in and out of the hotel room and when packed, you know it will fit in the trunk.

With the trunk full up, there was no room for our helmets and the first time we stopped somewhere for lunch in a large parking lot, particularly out of sight of the motorcycle, we didn't want to carry around our helmets nor just leave them by the bike for fear our $800 Shoei helmets walking off on their own. Something we didn't think about beforehand and we learn every trip we take, eh? Another couple on the tour had a cable lock they use to lock their helmets and were able to secure ours with theirs. That evening, got a cable lock from a Target store that saw us through the rest of the tour and went looking for something with a longer and thinner cable when we got home. Found this adjustable cable lock on Amazon that is perfect for the job.

 

Couple more items of interest post trip. Sandy mentioned swinging the arm rests had become quite difficult (very stiff). I took out the lower screw with the intention to grease the pole only to discover that is not where the arm swings BUT in the process, noted you can adjust the height of the arms from that screw. As it turns out, Sandy liked having it up higher one notch. Did get the actual pivot points lubricated and swings much easier.

This next discovery I've not heard anyone talk about and was a major breakthrough for us. Sandy would say after a long ride how her ears hurt from our Shoei Neotec 2 but always said would live with it. This trip was the breaking point, after many days and hours of wearing the helmet her ears were killing her and said, "That's it, throw this thing in the trash". We tried cutting up some of the inner liner, helped but not the answer. Had resigned myself we would need to get a new helmet when, by accident, came across the Shoei Personal Fitting System.

Turns out there is a certified dealer 45 minutes away, Performance Cycle of Colorado in Centennial, next to Denver. Took her helmet up there and Evan, who does the fitting, was extremely knowledgable about fitting a helmet and the extensive customization you can do with a Shoei helmet. Evan diagnosed the problem with just one look as Sandy wore the helmet, was sitting too low and pressing down on her ears. He took measurements of her head, put padding in the top (crown) and also in the sides.

Sandy noted an immediate difference in the feel and was very pleased. We ordered a replacement liner for the one we cut up to make the helmet whole again.

As a lark, I put my helmet on, which I thought fit just fine, but it too was sitting too low and I did mention I seemed to be pushing the helmet back as was blocking my upper view. Evan again put pads on the crown to raise it and some to the sides. Not only is the vision better but the mesh part of the helmet that goes under your chin to keep air from blowing in actually fits under my chin now. Much better fit all the way around.

A personal fit is $60 and well worth the cost not only in getting a great fit and comfort from your helmet but, in our case, saved a couple of thousand dollars if we had to go a new helmet route.

 

Well … I can see from your picture you’re a level headed fellow … 😆

 

Hi Jim, your travel stories always excite me, I read them with pleasure and I am fascinated by them. I deeply love America and I am fascinated by its landscapes, its culture and its history. You have a way of writing that makes me participate in the things you do and this makes me dream a little of being there.
I also like your considerations on the various technical choices you made, on the problems you had to face, etc.
Keep it up Jim.
Corrado.
(Sorry for my English)

 

Grazie Corrado, your English is perfect, sicuramente meglio del mio italiano, sì? Thank you for the kind words about America and allow me to reciprocate how beautiful Italy (and Europe) is. We had the fortune to spend time in Tuscany on a cooking vacation and everywhere the countryside was drop dead gorgeous and the cities fascinating,

especially those wanting to shop, eh?

 

We close out 2024 big trips with a return to the Petrified Forest. I say return as we were there last year as part of the Route 66 part II but could only do limited walking due to an ankle injury. Sandy has since had surgery to repair that earlier this year and it was goal to come back to walk places we could not before.

Stayed outside of Santa Fe on the way down at an actual Route 66 motor lodge, the Pecos Trail Inn. Wonderful hotel and location, away from the city and a restaurant on the property with fine Mexican food.

Next day, stopped for lunch in Grants, New Mexico at the Junkyard on 66 Brewery.

Went there for the BBQ but turns out it is an actual working junkyard, brewery, night club. Great BBQ, can you make out what they use for table tops?

Got into Holbrook, Arizona with a heck of a moonrise over the landscape.

Starting out on our Petrified Forest drive on an absolutely stunning day. Want to pause here at the entrance to talk about switching helmets.

The full face Shoei’s fit like a dream now having done the Shoei personal fit system. We both decided that in the park, we’d use our open face helmets as this is an easy drive and want to take in the view. Up to now, Sandy would not wear hers as she had trouble breathing once we got moving with the air flowing quickly past her. When we were at Performance Cycle in Denver getting the Shoei adjusted, the salesman suggested the Gmax Universal 3-snap Flip Shield and now Sandy really enjoys wearing her open face helmet and made all the difference getting the big picture vice what you see with the full face.

Knowing now what a properly fitting helmet should feel like, ordered a medium open face to replace my large which I never realized how loose it was.

What an easy pace, take in the sights ride stopping along the way with no rush or timetable. Got to the Crystal Forest part of the park where there is the walking trail we passed over last time and walked it with no problem at all.

Finished up at the main visitor building for a late lunch (good thing we scarfed those bagels from the Hampton Inn that morning to take with us) and got another Christmas card shot. This time set up the tripod, mounted the iPhone and used a remote shutter control I got off Amazon, worked like a charm.

Don’t have definite plans made on trips for next year but plenty of ideas. Will need to wait on that as we pay attention to a new addition to our family who is already criticizing my writing.

 

Hi Jim, I only use the motorcycle 6/7 months a year, during the spring/summer period, because in the other months it is cold and I do not enjoy the trip. I have a Roadmaster MY16 with 80,000 km, I have always had a motorcycle since I was 14 and I have done many km, then in the last 10 years I wanted to keep track of my trips during the summer holidays and I condensed them in the map you see. (45,000 km) My itineraries are very conditioned by the weather so I always try to go to places where it does not rain and is hot, my wife says that however this precludes many itineraries in other countries that could be interesting. Maybe she is right, but the thought of having rain and cold doing itineraries further north discourages me a bit. We will see next summer what to do.

 

When the temperature hits 16° (60°F if you prefer) here in Colorado, time for a ride. Something that does not get old is having people asking and taking pictures nearly every time you stop. I watched a pickup stop, circle around, get out, take some pictures, circle around again. It's been a running joke with my young bride when I come home from a ride and say it was a bad day with her reply, "What, no one gushed over your motorcycle?".

 

61° here in Delta, Co yesterday. Nice riding weather!!!

 

 

Summer 2025 travel has begun, we have a total of 3 trips planned this year. I purchased the Butler Maps to help me in planning. Butler advertises that their maps, and I quote, “Are waterproof, tear resistant, and incredibly tough.” One member of the family decided to put that to test and concluded while indeed tear resistant, little bite holes began to appear.

Last year was Yellowstone and got us into a National Parks kick and this first trip has us going out west to Utah. Our first stop along the way is in Grand Junction, Colorado and, as always, taking advantage of special moments when they happen, the hotel we stayed at has a real chef working there and with my own Sandy being a former personal chef, got to spend time swapping stories.

We planned this time of year as a trade off between being warm enough in Colorado and cool enough in Utah. First ride of the trip is east of Grand Junction along the Grand Mesa Byway. Every trip we learn how to do things better, such as bringing your rainsuit regardless of what the weather is predicted, and we learned a chilling lesson right from the start. Was 70deg with the sun out in Grand Junction that morning, perfect! Off we go wearing medium weight jackets, happy as can be.

We enter the Grand Mesa ... up, up, up we go. Now for a little science that we clearly decided to ignore. The elevation of Grand Junction is 4,600ft. At the top of Grand Mesa the elevation is 11,200ft. There are different factors but generally the temperature decreases 5deg per 1,000ft. Let’s see, 70deg at start, go up 6,600ft and shazam! hello 46deg. Don't let those smiles fool you, we were cold!

Sandy was a real trooper, the only comment was, “There better be soup for lunch!” While the Wagon Wheel had elk burgers, no soup on the menu. Still, was warm inside and the hot food tasted great.

What did I learn? There is a reason elevation is shown in the Butler maps, eh?

It’s been 4 years and 25,000 miles since getting the TRiO on the bike and have come a long way in learning to properly ride it. Made a short video coming out of the canyon, turning and slowing to a full, smooth stop. Will say am quite pleased with my progress (and Sandy agrees).

 

Not sure if it's on your list, but highway 141 south of Grand Mesa is another ride worth doing. Not as much elevation, but follows the Delores River canyon.

 

If you are doing your route planning from a computer, look at Rever. They have an arrangement with Butler maps. I think Butler may have some ownership, but I am not sure.

 

Today was Colorado National Monument, west of Grand Junction and a ride along the rim road.

Weather and temperature were perfect, thank you very much. Many stretches along the route are not for the faint of heart, tight switchbacks and a l-o-n-g drop over the side. I thought of it as a condensed version of the Grand Canyon, still quite grandeur in scale.

After a terrific ride, over to the town of Fruita, Colorado and lunch at Munchies. Always enjoy watching people stop by the bike trying to figure out what this thing is. We award bonus points when they pull out the cell phone and take a picture.

We are moving onto Moab, Utah that afternoon and, not wanting to arrive too early, stopped by the dinosaur museum in Fruita and splurged getting two senior tickets for $16. Read they had animatronics but didn’t see any, still was quite interesting, seems the area is rich in dino bones and is a working research facility.

 

After leaving Grand Junction we got into Moab and booked a Star Gazing tour that night with RedRock Astronomy. Traveled about 6 miles out of town and started viewing around 9pm. Great area to see the stars, could have been better due to the quarter moon but was the best night of the three during our time in Moab. Whilst looking at a double cluster a satellite zoomed past. As a 30-year aerospace engineer, whose specialty was in that field, had special meaning to me. Finished up around 11:30pm, way past our bedtime, quite tired and cold, but the others were feeling it too. Still, enjoyed it all and glad we went. On a side note, rented a car for that night as did not want to be on the bike at night, especially with Black Angus Cows walking around.

Next day, we ride out Highway 128 which snakes along with the Colorado river. This area was the main goal of our trip, and the travel and weather did not disappoint. Behind Sandy is Jug Handle Arch, had to find just the right spot to see this.

Running through the canyon, leaning into all those curves was sheer delight.

This shot sums up the whole day, and trip for that matter.

Back into town and what a way to end then shakes at the Moab Diner.

 

Today was the main attraction, Arches National Park and will throw in some pictures of a few arches. This first being Landscape Arch

Us under Sand Dome Arch. The ground is filled with the finest sand you've ever walked on, comes from the eons on erosion, by wind and water, of the stone. We saw a family with young children who brought buckets and shovels like you would have at the beach and the kids were having a great time.

Lunch break. While at the Moab Diner yesterday we picked up a box lunch that they sell which was perfect for us to take with us. Can't beat the location!

Did not take much of the motorcycle, that was more of yesterdays trip but wanted to show we did indeed bike the park.

The star of Arches is Delicate Arch, this is what is on the Utah license plate. We knew the hike to the base would be difficult, at least for us, and opted to view from the "upper" viewing point. What we didn't know was just how steep the climb was and, although wanted to turn back, hung in there and got to the top. Unfortunately, that pretty much did us in and skipped going to the last set of arches we had planned and headed back to the hotel.

Certainly the 90 deg temperature played a factor in our exhaustion but has taught us to be more cognizant of how much we exert ourselves so we don't end up shortchanging our plans.

As we head back to Colorado the weather has made a dramatic turn and has become quite cold with thunderstorms. We'll spend a few days in Durango, Colorado taking the Durango-Silverton steam engine train to Silverton (where they are predicting snow if you can believe it), then a night at the Best Western/Star Drive In, in Monte Vista, Colorado who's draw is being able to watch the drive in movie from your hotel room.

That's it for this trip, no broken ankles or dead battery this time which makes this quite successful for us and great memories of some really scenic and relaxing drives.

 

Fun … thanks for all the great pictures…

 

There is nothing to do, your stories always fascinate me and make me dream of your great country and its people. You are great.

 

If you go thru Delta stop by!!

 

To finish out this trip, we ended up with cold, rainy weather in Durango, Colorado and skipped going through Mesa Vera National Park, but we had planned things for us to do in case of a ‘down’ day, so worked out fine.

We did finally get to ride the Durango-Silverton narrow gauge railway, something we'd tried twice before. 3½ hours each way with time to check out the former gold & silver mining town of Silverton. Breathtaking views as you slowly wind through the San Juan National Forest. The couple sitting across from us were Harley riders, so we start off showing pictures of our children, meaning our bikes of course. Got into all the trips we both made and the time flew by. A great trip!

Check out the people in that open air car, it's only 38 deg f (3 deg c) BUT unobstructed views and the tickets were cheap!

Back in Durango a real hidden treat is to visit the railroad museum right next to the station. It’s free and loaded with all kinds of interesting exhibits, not just trains, including this Indian motorcycle.

Onto Monte Vista, Colorado and check off another bucket list item, staying at Best Western Movie Manor next to the drive-in were you can watch the screen from your room. Walked over and got the movie popcorn from the concession stand. The movie was Thunderbolts and, like most of us ah, 'seasoned citizens' not following the Marvel universe did not get all the inside references but the movie was enjoyable. Certainly better than what was playing the week before, Snow White. The sound is piped into the room and was surprisingly good quality. I will admit, much like the Wigwam motel in Holbrook, Arizona, the Movie Manor was ‘nice to have done once but once was enough’.

 

Hit the 30,000 mark and took the bike in for service which they needed two days to accomplish. Besides normal checks, also replaced spark plugs and put on a new drive belt. Got a little bit of a discount since they did not have to do anything with the front end. I continue to praise the maintenance team at Pikes Peak Indian, they take great care of the bike and special attention in not letting the bike fall over as so many think it holds itself up.

Typical weather this time of year in Colorado with thunderstorms every afternoon. I picked up the bike using the IronHorse trailer and noted that one side of the Rock Tamers (See Page 7) seemed to be coming apart.

Since the company that makes them is close by, and they were the ones who put them on, decided to stop by and ask about that. The fellow took one look and said, 'It melted!" Sure enough, looking at the other side you can see the car exhaust in the upper right pointing down right at the material.

They do make an attachment that runs the exhaust through the flap but would not fit on this small of an area. No need to do anything, with the main flap holding up just fine and the clear bra on the front of the trailer, we're not getting the rock damage to the trailer like before.

Next month we'll be going through Rocky Mountain National Park. Yes, will be the busy time of year but, at 11,500 feet, did not want to freeze on Trail Ridge Road like we did on Grand Mesa Byway last month. Should be alright as you need a timed entry ticket which will limit the amount of visitors. I will mention, if you want to go to the more popular National Parks that have timed tickets you need to do some extra work. For Rocky Mountain, the tickets for July became available on June 1st at 8am and within 5 minutes, the best times were taken. We did get ours and with bike all serviced and tickets acquired we're all set.

 

During the July 4th festivities, learned that there is a logo for America's 250th anniversary (Semiquincentennial if you prefer).

There is a great website with information on all the activities and events leading up to July 4th, 2026.

Many of the states have created a 250 logo unique to them, some impressive looking others, like Colorado, Meh...

Even some cities have gotten into the sprit

I wanted fly a 250 flag on my bike and tried my hand at making a custom design which is an option to create your own at X50 Flag Mounts. Got my design put on the bike and very pleased with how it looks.

 

Was an absolutely perfect day for a ride up Pikes Peak Highway. Sunshiny & clear with the temperatures in the 90's at base meaning when reaching the peak at 14,115 feet the temperature was in the high 50's but with the sun beating down felt warmer.

You do have to get a timed entry ticket along with the fee to travel up, $15 per person. There were plenty tickets available when I got online to buy them.

The paved highway is 19 miles in length and not for the faint of heart with no guardrails, tight hairpin curves and heck of a drop off. Actually, did just fine through those curves (thanks Jersey for those private lessons from Ride Like a Pro) although will admit I really had to concentrate and the main thing I kept thinking was, keep giving it the gas through the curve and use that rear brake. Got through it like butter!

Made it to the top and they have a motorcycle parking section. Don't know if those electric bicycles next to us qualify, or more interestingly, did they really ride those up on battery power alone?

You don't have to take the highway to reach the summit, many take the cog railway which is a relaxing 3 hour trip through gorgeous scenery. The peak is open all year around but the road is closed in the winter and the cog railway is the only way up.

However you get to the top, you're rewarded with a commanding view that stretches on forever.

They have quite the visitor centre and home of world-famous delicious donuts, the only ones in the world made above 14,000 feet. Because they’re made specifically at this altitude, if you try saving them for after you leave the summit, you’ll be very disappointed as they will have lost their fluff.

Back down we go and stop at The North Pole, an enchanting vintage amusement park nestled at the foot of Pikes Peak. Home to Santa’s Village and the jolly man himself.

Yes indeed, what a perfect day!