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June 20

Cortez to Mesa Grande to Durango to Montrose

The day's plan was to go to Mesa Verde first thing in the morning and then see some of the Black Canyon and other scenic areas of Colorado, finishing in Montrose. The 15 mile ride from the gate to the first Viewpoint was slow going and there was a motorcycle accident part way up the tightly winding road, which only further slowed traffic. Franz and Udo had stayed in Cortez to look at some car rims in a store we had passed on the way to dinner the previous night. Udo wants fancy wheels for the new Mercedes SUV he had ordered before leaving for the trip and they were significantly cheaper in the US, even with shipping. The guy at the store told him to look on the website, pick the ones he wanted and he would ship them after they got home. They caught up with us at the first Viewpoint and we decided not to take any of the guided tours as there was a huge line just to buy tickets and we were all wearing heavy boots and gear, which makes a lot of walking and climbing less appealing anyhow. So we went along to the Spruce Tree House site, where we could see some of the dwellings and visit the small museum. We allowed a couple of hours for the touring and the return ride to the gate and then headed out to Durango where we had a short 1/2 hour fast food lunch and photo op and then moved on to the Million Dollar Highway on our way to Silverton, Ouray and eventually, Montrose. As we climbed out of Durango, the temperatures dropped until we hit the 40s and had to adjust our clothing layers to reflect the temperature change. There was still plenty of snow on the ground. Silverton was essentially a gas stop and when we finally shivered our way into Ouray, the first thing that caught our eyes was Mouse's Coffee and Chocolate. Rob and Daryl had seen this shop/cafe on the previous year's Corvette trip. They make all of their chocolate and baked goods on site and actually had "real coffee". Udo ordered the Malaysian Dragonslayer (or something like that) which was 6 shots of espresso, a little Belgian chocolate and a dusting of red pepper. He said it really woke him up. The rest of the group stuck with lattes and hot chocolate and goodies, as much to warm up as anything. After the coffee stop, we mounted up again and headed through the hills to Montrose. This was the location of the first Valkyrie Owners Association meet in 1998 and the reason Franz came to California and met us the first time. Our original plan was to continue further that day, but since Mesa Verde had taken the morning and we were a day ahead of schedule, we called it a day. We ended up finding another "cheap" Motel 6, right across from the original motel where the VOA meet was held. By the time the Mayer, Mayer and Mueller group caught up, we were getting ready to walk to The Red Barn, a steak place and sports bar a block away. Again, we had an initiation as Rob persuaded Franz to try "Rocky Mountain Oysters" without telling him what they were. Franz is a great sport, and everyone actually enjoyed this delicacy which was part of the deep fried appetizer combo platter, which had become the starter of choice along with gigantic plates of nachos. Boy, can these guys (and women) eat.