DAY 1

THE TIME IF FINALLY HERE!!!! The time for the Route 66 ride is here. We set our meeting place at the Circle K at 35 Ave. and W. Happy Valley Rd. for 7:00 AM. When I arrived, Chuck and Bruce were already there. Chuck was drinking his cup of coffee and I yelled at him for drinking coffee. A few days ago, while we were having our bi-weekly coffee time at Denny's, Chuck told me that I was banned from any coffee in the morning because he didn't want to have to stop every 20 minutes for me to have a "pit stop." I thanked him for giving me the benefit of the doubt in giving me 20 minutes. I told him a more realistic time would be 10 minutes. Anyway...a few minutes later, Jim and Kathleen arrived. Chuck got on his cell phone and called Jan and told him that we were about to leave and meet him in Cortes Junction. We left at 7:24 AM with my odometer reading, "40762."

Chuck started leading the group northbound for Cortes Junction. After going 46 miles and arriving at 8:07 AM at the Chevron gas station, we parked our motors, neatly, and waited for Jan. Jan was coming from home, Enscription Canyon, which is in Prescott. Jan arrived about 15 minutes later and we left at 8:29 AM.

We rode north to Flagstaff and stopped for breakfast at 9:46 after riding 84 miles. We stopped at a little restaurant named, "Miz Zips." We had a good meal and a nice rest and then rode down the street to gas up. We left at 10:45 AM.

It was my turn to take over the lead. We continued for 68 miles and stopped in Cameron, AZ at 11:33 AM for a much needed "pit stop." We continued at 11:49 AM and I was still leading. After riding for 98 miles, we stopped in Kayenta, AZ at 1:22 PM for gas and a "pit stop." We were there until 1:48 PM and then continued on.

It was now Bruce's turn to lead. Bruce led us to the "Four Corner's" monument. We arrived at 3:33 PM after 79 miles. Since Bruce was in the lead, he paid for the admission for all of us. That is the agreement we came up with for the leader. If there is a toll road or admission, the leader foots the bill! It was only $3 per motorcycle. We rode into the park area and parked our motors in front of the monument for a photo-op. We also walked up onto the monument and took some photos standing or laying on all four corners. We left at 3:22 PM and headed north. At 4:24 PM, 2 minutes later, (we gained one hour), and 1 mile, we stopped at the "Welcome to Colorado" sign where we stopped and posed for pictures. We left at 4:31 PM.

As we rode further into Colorado, we noticed the landscape change from "high desert" to greenery, trees, farmland and beautiful scenery. There was snow on the higher mountains and after passing Cortez, CO, we crossed over a snow capped mountain where there was snow on the hillsides and alongside the roadway. The roadway, however, was dry. We saw a lot of "fat and happy" cows, sheep, sheepdogs, a llama and horses. We arrived at Durango, CO at 5:53 PM after 83 miles. It started to get a little colder. It's a good thing that we arrived at the Best Western Durango Inn and Suites.

After arriving at the motel, we tucked our Motors in for the night, changed into our swim suits and went into the hot tub. It was to the rear of the motel with a mountain behind with a large grassy area. While Jan, Bruce, Chuck and I were in the hot tub, four deer came into sight and were grazing. Two of them came within 20 yards of us. After we got out of the hot tub, we returned to our rooms, changed and went to dinner on the grounds to "Christina's Grill." After dinner, we returned to our rooms and prepared for tomorrow. It is supposed to be cold in the morning.

Today was a very good day for riding. After the long anticipation of this "Route 66" ride and last year's Four Corner's Ride, we all adjusted quite nicely. By my odometer, we traveled 439 miles today from the Circle K. Tomorrow we hope to ride to Dodge City, KS.